When I went to Spain in grade 11, I fell in love with the country.  More specifically, the Costa del Sol part of the country.

Our hotel was in Torremolinos, but we took day trips to Malaga, Mijas, Gibraltar and Africa.  If I remember correctly (which I might not), we stayed in Spain for 11 days before moving on to London for 2 days.

I remember the warm heat (sans humidity), the clear skies, the fact that it was April and it was averaging 34 degrees (celcius)…  I’d never felt so warm and comfortable before in my life.  The beaches were a beautiful blue and the sand was so soft.

All over Spain there were candle shops that with open doors and large windows, so that you could watch the staff make candles.  They had rows of melted coloured wax, and you could watch them dip the candles, and then score and twist the wax to create beautiful candle-sculptures.  I could have spent hours watching them work.  By the end of the trip I was planning on running off to Spain after graduation to make candles. 

Even though my life-choices have changed, I still dream of Spain and making candles.  Despite my lack of knowledge of the Spanish language, I want to go back.  I have friends who like to go South during the winter, but I’d much rather go East. 

And there is one of the problems with traveling – you can fall in love with a place so much that never want to leave.  This isn’t a huge problem (depending on your annual income), but it doesn’t help when it’s a dreary, rainy day outside and you’re spending all your time thinking of sandy beaches and blue, blue water.