Happy Halloween!

I have been anxiously waiting to dig into my pumpkin. It has been sitting in my room while I have patiently waited for the perfect time. This round orange pumpkin is the symbol of my happiness for this time of year. Simple things like this can do wonders for me :) 

This little pumpkin produced sooo many seeds! My mother would be quite proud of my pumpkin picking! Every year I send her a large gallon bag of seeds to share the goodies of this season. I love the smell of pumpkin seeds roasting with paprika and salt! Yum!!

Although this isn't the right type of pumpkin to roast and use to make puree for baking, I could not let it go to waste. This meant no carving a scary face this year but rather I quartered the pumpkin so I could slow roast it in the oven!

After roasting my seeds and pumpkin I decided to finish the evening with making my favorite cookies, pumpkin chocolate chip!!!

My return to Sevilla

This weekend I returned to Sevilla to visit friends. I did not have my camera on me most of the weekend so I didn't get to take very many pictures. After a long long bus ride to Sevilla I met up with some friends for a few drinks. I did not do the sight seeing that I usually do on my travels and took advantage of the weekend by just relaxing in good company. There were many highlights to the weekend but one that stands out most is my purchase of a Halloween pumpkin at the Triana market! I am sooo excited and cannot wait to cook the seeds! I purchased a five kilo pumpkin for 3.50 euros and took it home in my backpack on the train. I am hoping to find at least one more before the month is through.

The next two weekends I plan on doing things more locally and staying home. I might do a nice day trip to Granada to meet with some friends and hopefully will have some visitors along the way. The weather is finally cooling down a bit and it seems more like fall finally. I will be posting some pumpkin pictures soon :)

Picasso!

This weekend I was able to visit some friends who are living in Malaga which also happens to be the birth place of Pablo Picasso!! There were two birthdays to celebrate so many people were able to make the trip and it was such a great visit! I was so happy to see all of their faces and catch up since internet has been slow to arrive at many of our new pisos (apartments).

After seven hours of traveling on the buses I was able to catch up with friends and get some much needed rest. The next morning we started our adventure with a visit to the Picasso Museum. This past year I was able to visit the Seattle Art Museum and see the Picasso exhibit with my fourth grade class. They would have really enjoyed this museum in Malaga! The government spent 66 million euros on creating this museum with over 200 pieces of Picasso art.

After the museum we headed over to the house in which Picasso grew up in as a child. Pablo Picasso was forced to leave the country at the young age of nineteen and never returned but he did send much of his work to be displayed and several other family members have contributed as well. The house was redone and resembles a museum more than an apartment.

This is part of a theater from the Alcazaba. This part I hear was newly discovered in the past couple of years after some digging.

My roommates and I in the gardens of the Alcazaba.

This is a beautiful view of Malaga from the top.

After a long day of walking we decided that we could use a massage before hitting the town center for a night of fun.

In the town center there were people blowing large bubbles and children going crazy for them. It was so cute I just had to take a picture. I had an amazing weekend and can't wait for the next adventure. I am planning on heading back to Sevilla again for the next weekend.

Los Velez

For our second travel day in the luxury of a car we decided to head north. This is a 16th century castillo in Velez Blanco. We were able to tour the inside as well as walk around and take in the gorgeous views.

From atop the hill with the castle you can see the white buildings that make up the pueblo of Velez Blanco. I hear that in the winter time it is beautifully covered in snow. Hopefully I will be able to come back and visit!

Here I am climbing up to a door that is shorter than my height. Most all of the doors were around five feet tall!

To finish our trip we drove around Velez Rubio and Maria as well. We were hoping to visit the caves which display cave drawings from 6,000 to 3,500 B.C. Within these caves are the Indalo which is the symbol of luck for the province of Almeria. When we reached the caves we learned that they did not open until 6pm that night so looks like it will have to wait for a later visit!

Autumn in Almería

I still haven't gotten my hands on my very own pumpkin but a friend of mine said that he could help me out. This pumpkin I found at a local bar and it gave me much hope for my pumpkin search! It would not be Autumn without my pumpkin fix!! Thank goodness Dad said he would send me some canned pumpkin to help out as well.

This week was my first full week at school. Everyday I started out with cereal out on the terrace while watching the sunrise! Everyday is a vacation here and I am loving every moment. At school I am surrounded by smiling faces and welcomed with hugs and kisses. The education system is much different here and I have thoroughly enjoyed learning the way of life in southern Spain. All of the teachers are so kind and willing to help with everything.

I am planning to venture to Morocco in December but couldn't resist from taking this picture of the camels that you can ride on the beach  in the town over. We discovered these camels as we took of towards the car rental place. My roommates and myself decided to rent a car for the weekend and venture around town. Luckily they had an automatic transmission because that is just about unheard of around here. It was pricey but so nice to not sit on a bus for ten hours.

This is a picture of Turre which is a town close to where I live located atop a hill. I loved the way the white contrasts against the hillside.

First we ventured of to Las Negras. This is part of Cabo de Gata which is a natural park reserve in the province of Almeria.

Upon entering Las Negras we saw this sign and couldn't help but laugh!

After soaking up a few hours of sun we headed further south to the actual pueblo of Cabo de Gata. The water was absolutely gorgeous!!

After our photo shoot and sight seeing we decided it was time to head back. This picture is just before the road turns into one lane. It is real narrow and has a lot of curves! There was no way to see if a car was coming in the other direction and no where to really pull aside if they did come. Luckily we made it safely and decided to honk the horn the whole way just in case. This made for a funny sight and we couldn't stop laughing!

Lastly we stopped at the observation sight to check out the flamingos. They are difficult to see in this picture but if you look real hard you can the the pink in the water off in the distance. Tomorrow we are headed in the opposite direction for another adventure!!

Salud!

Finally found a home!! This was after our celebration dinner at a wonderful Italian place in Vera. The Italian owner was so kind and made wonderful food! Definitely a place that I will be coming back to again.

This is the view from our kitchen window :)

Here is our large salon and also the dining area as well.

This is part of our very large terrace where much or our time will be spent.

This is the amazing beach view of the Mediterranean Sea from our terrace. I still cannot I will be living here! I am rooming with two other American women and we are only paying a total or two hundred euros!!

This is part of our residential community. There is also a pool if we decide that we have had too much beach time, as if that is possible.