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Published: September 22nd 2008
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granada city view
it was a long hot day of steep climbs, well worth it The 'final stage' of my trip began before dawn. I had to pack out from the caravan on horse hill in the dark, stumble along with my huge pack, and flag down the coach bus on the side of the road in the eerie silence of early morning. A few hours later I had settled into a hostel in Granada and was off wandering the streets of the city. For one long day I felt the litstlessness and freedoms of a lone traveler, privately discovering new sights, self-muttering about my sweatiness, and romancing myself with gelato, a fountain, and street music. My dreamy day concluded with a bus ride to the airport to retrieve my brother. It was exciting, and actually a little nerve racking, to be one of those bystanders that eagerly waits outside of the custom doors, standing on tiptoes and craning your head to catch a glance of the someone you recognize, trying to ignore the fear that he may have never made it onto the airplane. But within an hour, I had Ben whisked away, showered, and eating his first unidentifiable jamon tapa that is complimentary with every cervesa.
The next day we wandered through the
ben's first night
the glow in the upper righthand corner? the alhambra palace city, trying to get a feel of neighborhoods away from the shopping center and mobs of tourists. To our surprise, and delight, we went on a psuedo museum exhibit walk through the city viewing elaborately painted graffiti murals. It seems that the city has decided to combat the pervasive practice of spray paint with spray paint. Walls and long white fences are adorn with finished pieces of art that intimidate anyone from painting over the works. The white buildings throughout the city now have electric colors of artwork done by both spanish and international artists. Although I am not sure about the legalities behind the works, granada's street art was a highlight for us.
Early thursday morning, day 3 of the two week trip, we visited, along with 5000 other tourists, the Alhambra. The alhambra is the old Islamic palace of the region that now exhibits the remaining ruins, a renovated palace, cultivated gardens, and the most intricate wall carvings. We split the time between standing in the slowest lines possible and running through the grounds. it reminded me of a show that I saw at the Tate Britian while I was in London. An artist was inspired by
alhambra
ran through this place in 60 mins his experience at some old burial grounds when he only had ten minutes to see the place before it closed. He ended up running through the site, probably feeling more exhilarated from his running than by what he saw. He then installed his 'artwork' in the Tate, which was a team of boys taking turns running through the galleries every 30 seconds, reminding the viewers that life is short, enjoy it. So that was Ben and I, attempting to see the most of everything in no time before we caught our bus to the southern coast. We managed to get some good photo shoots in too.
On our first bus together, our adventure had really started. We were on a bus headed to Cabo del Gata, a national forest on the south eastern point of Spain. Continuing my journey of exploring alternative ways of living and types of communities, I had read in someone's blog about a hippie community that was established somewhere along the coast there. We landed in a little town and began asking people with dreads and/or beat up cars with peace signs about the place. Everyone knew about it and was happy to tell us
alhambra article
i wonder what the king would think... the directions. It was farther away than we had expected, so we learned the first lesson of unplanned, spontaneous traveling. Everything takes a lot longer to happen; it's best to relax and enjoy where you are right now. We swam in the sea at sunset, set up our tent at a campsite, and explored the town under a sky of bright stars. not bad
Southern spain is hot, especially in august. Add a 20 kg backpack, 1 pm, and a couple hours trek through desert mountains to some 'spot'. what i remember most is floating on my back in the mediterranean sea forever afterwards. the high salt content of the sea has allowed me to learn how to finally float. The strenuous hike was actually a good thing to do and, part of the experience of going to this community, made us appreciate the area. We descended upon a ideallyc beach cove scattered with tents and beautiful sun drenched people. Although ben had to get used to the amount of 'wang' that swung around, we spent a few days living a foot away from the sea. The community is open to anyone as long as you bring respect to
wallwork
words cannot describe the intricate wall craving the land. There are some residents and lots of people that come for a few days stay. Everyone does their own thing, but people wander from on circle gathering to another. the area was an old site of a castle and we had fun exploring the coastal caves and mountains. allowing nature and simplicity to be the focal point of life is actually the most rewarding and wholesome experience. I would like to learn how this type of lifestyle can be incorporated with 'the outside world' as well, rather than outcasting oneself and pretending it does not exist.
We lost track of the days and entering the world again, unfortunately realized that it was sunday = no buses. so our plans were slowed down even more and we beached it another night. an early rise and a couple of buses later we found ourselves in the loud, dirty, and busy bus station of malaga. a rude transition from where we had been before. Ben and I realized how uninterested we were in being in a city. We read a description about a 2000 year old bridge in a town in the mountains a few hours away, hopped on a
graffiti boy
surprising art in granada bus, and left the beach behind. Winding on a skinny almost one lane road through olive orchards, cliff ridges, and rocky mountains on a huge coach bus reminded me of the crazy driving practices of costa rica. But people drive this way, public transportation works, and you just do with it. the fresh air of the mountains and the change of scenery was welcoming. Although you find places you love, traveling allows you the brief illusion of a life and then pushes you back onto the road. Things worked out and it happened to be the town's fiesta that night. Each spanish town has a fiesta weekend honoring their patron saint with fireworks, parades, and merriment. I had gone to some in girona and in the pueblos of the sierra nevadas and was happy ben could see this ridiculous but wonderful spanish tradition.
We spent the next day enjoying our campsite. europeans like to camp and take it to the extreme. perhaps there are sites like this in america, but these campsites are more used as cheaper alternatives to hotels and best for your RV. This site had new bathrooms and showers, laundry, a cafe, mini golf, bball, and a
brand new pool. We utilized everything to its capacity and left squeaky clean. Hasta luego a Espana and wilkoomn to Berlin. We begin part II of the journey.
p.s. We binged on spanish melon. We had to restrict ourselves to one a day. I have never liked melon and had only tried it to be polite when I had lunch at a family's house earlier in the summer. After saying how I had hated the texture of melon, it was difficult to express how I was able to swallow my words and why I wanted another slice. Their green melon is the perfect combination of all melon textures and flavors. Crisp yet melts in your mouth. It is always just ripe. And in the heat, the most refreshing thing to eat. A sticky mess
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