Welcome to Spain

If you follow me on Instagram you'll know that I recently took a little trip to the north of Spain with a group of friends. We stayed in pairs in various flats in Santander, lodging with kind Spaniards who were willing to give up their homes and help us to improve our somewhat broken language! In the mornings we had language classes at Unilang, then home for lunch with the families and back outside at 3.30 for the afternoon's activity.

My friend and I lived in an apartment right in the centre of the city. Two years ago I'd visited Santander on a family holiday; but it had rained non-stop and the city was incredibly bleak and grey.

What a change it made to see the city in the sunlight! It didn't rain at all whilst we were there and the temperature was 22 degrees most days - not bad for October! 

Santander really is beautiful. There is a mixture of old and new buildings, and the city is not too big. It's easy to walk to places and is relatively safe in comparison to other cities such as Barcelona.

I'll share some of the highlights of my trip with you and go into detail in the next few posts. 

1) Waking up to this beautiful sunrise! 

2) Being able to walk around the town in the evening. I think the warmer weather encourages socialising and I really loved being able to stay out later! Here in Ireland no-one wants to be outside after seven o'clock due to the cold and wind.

3) Trying new foods and experiencing Spanish culture, in the form of tapas, market visits, bakeries...

4) Being totally immersed in the Spanish language. Our host didn't speak English and neither did our class teacher, so we were thrown in and had to speak Spanish if we wanted to know anything! 

5) The stunning scenery and the beautiful buildings.