Travelling in a rented car across Andalusia (By Hyuna Kim)

Travelling in a rented car across Andalusia

                                   By Hyuna Kim (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies)

 

Hyuna Kim is a rising senior at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies majoring in  Spanish and English Linguistics. She graduated from Bongeui High School in 2016, and is currently studying at University of Malaga in Spain as an exchange student. She won the silver prize in the 2014 Ban Ki-moon English Language Competition. – Ed

 

One of the greatest parts of studying in a European country as an                international exchange student is that you can easily travel around Europe during the holiday vacations (Easter/Christmas) and long weekends. Since I spent the whole year of 2018 in Spain as an exchange student, I also had the opportunity to         travel to cities that have long been my dream to visit. I travelled to many major     cities such as Barcelona, London, Paris, and Amsterdam, but the most memorable trip for me was the most recent one, where I rented a car and travelled around the southern area of Spain (also called Andalusia).

In the beginning of December, there was a long weekend break due to the  Spanish Constitution Day, and my closest friend and I had made plans for the trip months ago. We were planning to visit 3 cities, Ronda, Granada and Nerja             (pronounced as Nerha), and a small village called Frigiliana (pronounced as           Frihiliana).

As we were making reservations for accommodations and tourist sites, we could see that it was a tough schedule to follow if we were to use public                   transportation to move from one city to the next. That was when it came to my      mind that it would be so fun and exciting (not to mention convenient) to rent a car for the trip. Technically, there was no reason why it should not be possible. I knew how to drive, I also had an international driver’s license, and by the time of the      trip, I would have been 21 years old (the age limit to rent a car). At the same time, however, I was intimidated by the idea because I had very little experience with      driving and was scared of speeding. I could not easily decide if I should give it a try or not, but after a month of consideration, I eventually decided that I wanted to     challenge myself.

Despite all the fear I had about driving, I knew that the experience would be like nothing else I had had before. I felt like I would be able to learn, by the time     when the trip is over, that there really is nothing to be afraid of. Of course, I took  every precaution available such as the driver’s insurance and the damage             coverage program offered by the rent-a-car company. Thankfully, I quickly got    used to driving, and could travel without having any accident or getting anyone     hurt.

Our first destination was Ronda, a city built on a canyon. The village is       divided by a river, and the two parts are connected with the famous “Puente Nuevo (new bridge)”. Because the canyon is so deep, the bridge is very tall. Along with the two cliffs on each side, it creates a great view from the observation point, which    you have to walk down to from the village. The bridge was so huge that I could not believe that it was built during the 1700s when there was none of the construction equipment like we have today.

The second city we visited, Nerja, is famous for its beautiful sea. The most  famous tourist site is called “the balcony of Europe”, and you can appreciate the  beautiful scene of the Mediterranean ocean from there. It takes just 15 minutes by car from Nerja to get to the small village of Frigiliana. This village is also known as “the Santorini of Spain,” because of all the white houses on the mountain. The       reason why the buildings of the Andalusian villages are painted white is because    the sunlight is so strong during the day, and Frigiliana, among others, is   the         prettiest because of the surrounding mountains.

The last city we went to, Granada, is personally one of my favorite cities in Spain. Granada had been the capital city of Arabian Spain for centuries until it was finally re-conquered by the Spanish Catholic Monarch in 1492. Therefore, Granada looks different from any other city in Spain, as there remains many aspects of      Arabic culture. The Alhambra is the most significant tourist site in Granada, which is also culturally and historically important. You can appreciate the exquisite        Arabic architecture as well as the Renaissance architecture that blended into it      later in history.

No matter how beautiful all these cities were, however, the trip would not   have been so precious as it is to me now if I had given up the rent-a-car plan for   the fear that I was facing. For once, I trusted my capability, and what originally       seemed impossible became something that I now feel confident about, and I was    able to enjoy the beautiful cities of Andalusia in the best way possible. Therefore, if you are also hesitating in doing something because you are afraid, I would             encourage you to believe in yourself and go for it because once you overcome the fear, there will be so many new adventures to come!

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