Semana Santa and Granada

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Hey fans! ( Ive always wants to say that)...

A little update on life and travels. I finished up my vacation in Malaga by viewing all the sites of Semana Santa and celebrating vacation with the return of some friends from their various trips. I also went to Granada for a day to check that city out...
Semana Santa is the week before easter. Spain is super Catholic so obviously they go insane over this week. Malaga is one of the most celebrated city's during this week. The streets were packed and over 9 parades are scheduled each day. The buses cannot run their regular route, and the stores all have strange hours. The streets are lined with bleachers and people pay 300 euros a day to "rent" a seat and see the parades. Antonio Banderas, born in Malaga, always comes to the city and rents out a room on the top of a hotel to watch the processions. Mom and dad- he rented out the hotel that we tried to stay at, how cool is that? So these parades consist of elaborate and gigantic floats made of solid gold or silver, with Mary or Jesus on them, decorated with candles and palms and offerings. The floats are carried on the shoulders of 100+ men, all of whom look like they are dying with all of the weight. These floats are followed by a band and people dressed in costumes that look like KKK members. They arent, obviously, but typical costumes of the people who dedicate their lives to God, kinda weird and hard to get used to but I have some pictures of them. It is hard to imagine this, but I have added pictures and attempted to add a video but the archaic internet in my apartment wont let me for some reason. Ill show you when I get home The parades continue for 6 days from 9 in the morning until midnight or later. I was glad when they were over and all those crazy foreigners left Malaga. But it was great to see it all.
One day I went to Granada with my friend Willem and his boyfriend Dario from Miami. We drove their in their car that they rented for the week. Granada is home to the Alhambra, the largest fortress in all of europe. Unfortunetly for us, because it was Good Friday and such a crazy tourist day, the tickets were sold out and we weren't able to see the inside of it, but we did get to walk around the outside. My favorite part of the day was when we were wondering around and came across these street vendors selling exotic spices and teas. I cannot explain the smells that were coming out of these baskets but it was amazing! I bought a tea to bring home for everyone to try, it is like heaven.
Well enjoy my pictures!

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