Easter, Sun, and Vineyard Fun

So, I have had yet another lovely week in Spain.  We had our second exam (blegh) but then we got to go to a vineyard with our culture class.  The vineyard turned out to be pretty darn cool, and the whole place was organic.  It was really interesting, and the wine was AMAZING.  I mean really, absolutely wonderful.  I’m kind of obsessed. 

I’m also kind of obsessed with Marbella, we went there for Semana Santa, but before we went everyone warned us that it was supposed to rain the whole week.  However, like the reckless American youths we are, we decided to throw caution to the wind, pave our own paths, and take life as it came. 

Or, you know, maybe we had already paid for the hotel and didn’t want to waste the money.  

Whichever seems more plausible. 

But I am glad we did!  It was absolutely marvelous, the whole coast/mountain landscape is breathtaking, and the weather was practically perfect.  

PLUS the dirt cheap ‘hotel’ we booked turned out to be a resort,  it was fantastic.  It was absolutely amazing, and there was a kitchen in our little apartment so we could cook.  A kitchen.  

AND to top it all off, I didn’t even get burned!  I know, it’s amazing.  My dedication to applying some serious SPF every ten minutes worked wonders.

We spent Easter in Ronda, and got so see a few of the big Semana Santa parades.  We also got to see this teeny carnival type set-up in the park.  There were several rides for kids, and some food vendors, overall it was pretty cute.   What was slightly less cute was the transvestite train dancer who wacked kids with brooms.  

I’m not even kidding.

The train ride was run by the worst cross-dresser I have ever seen in my entire life and he would seductively dance on the train and whack kids with straw brooms, the kids would try to steal the brooms from him, and if they succeeded they got to keep them as souvenirs.  The Spanish kids/parents thought it was great fun.  The little girl I went with was horribly offended and hurt when she got smacked. 

I was mostly just confused. 

I guess evil-cross-dressing-train-dancing-violent-children’s-ride-conductors are some of those things that just get lost in translation.  

But overall, Easter in Ronda was a success!