Trevor Huxham

When I lived in Spain and taught English , I always took full advantage of the annual Semana Santa vacation during the week leading up to Easter Sunday to go on a major international trip, since you use up half your time off just getting out of the country and flying back on weekend trips. For my first year, I rode a ferry across the Mediterranean and explored northern Morocco , while in my second school year abroad, I train-hopped from Santiago down into warm, sunny Portugal . Procesión de Jesús Nazareno (Cofradía de Dolores) Although in 2015 I still planned on leaving Spain for a brief getaway to Germany , I wanted to be back in the country before Holy Week was over. After all, Spain throws one of its biggest, most unique celebrations for Semana Santa, and I would have regretted not experiencing this fascinating cultural tradition before moving back to Texas . So I decided to check one off the ol’ bucket list and spend all of Good Friday chasing religious processions in th...

Right before I came back home to Úbeda from traveling across France and northern Spain, I stopped off for two nights in a medium-sized town called Alcázar de San Juan about two hours south of Madrid in the flat region called La Mancha . How did I end up here, you ask? Well, in late December I was telling the parents of one of my private English class students about my plans for Christmas break, how I was going to make a loop around western Europe, and they were so kind as to invite me to stay with them in their hometown of Alcázar for the January holiday of Reyes  (Epiphany) . Naturally, I took them up on their offer and had a wonderful time speaking Spanish, learning about how in Spain the Wise Men take over Santa Claus’ gift-giving, and getting to know a little-visited yet very typical Spanish part of the country. Windmills in Campo de Criptana In between cleaning up the house from the big Reyes dinner and presents-opening fiesta from the night before and heading back so...