Family, Friends, and a Food Crawl

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Granada has always held a special place in my heart, and the last three days have been a wonderful reminder as to why.

After an exhausting 23 hours of train and bus-riding from Paris, Nick and I walked into the Plaza Fontiveros, looking for a rambunctious red-head named Monica Garcia. Three years ago Monica was my “host mom” during my study abroad. Before we left Paris I was able to correspond with her via e-mail, and she was kind enough to offer her sister’s uninhabited apartment to us for a few nights. Not having a cell phone has made it extremely difficult for us to make concrete plans to meet up with people, so it seemed like a miracle when she walked in to the plaza less than 5 minutes after our arrival. Monica was walking arm-in-arm with her handsome, and welcoming, boyfriend Juan Antonio.

This day just happened to be a famous holiday in Spain, el Dia de la Cruz, so the city was hoppin’. They took us to the apartment to freshen up (it had been almost 3 days since we had taken a real shower), then the four of us headed out for some drinks and tapas.

I was definitely nervous about the condition of my Spanish-speaking skills, so I can’t imagine how Nick felt. Monica talked a million words per minute, as usual, but Juan Antonio spoke slow, and used what little English he knew to converse with Nick. To this day one of my favorite things to see when traveling is when a person, like Nick, realizes that no matter where you go in the world there are people that live lives not unlike ours. Before the evening was over, Nick and Juan Antonio had arranged a rooftop barbecue for the following evening. 

The next day was spent reliving memories from my college days in Granada. We walked to my old house, the university where I took classes, and ate in the Plaza Bib Rambla. After testing several flavors of helado (ice cream) form my favorite ice cream shop, I was beginning to remember exactly why I gained an extra 10 lbs. during my study abroad. From now on I don’t think I’ll complain about the 3+ miles that we’ve been walking every day…

That night, Nick and I met up with Monica and Juan Antonio for a barbecue that rivaled those at the Halfmoon Ranch. Monica and I prepared the food, while the boys started the barbecue and set up the terrace. In the English words of Juan Antonio, their boal was to make the barbecue “romantic for the women”. This included candles and wine, all under thousands of Granadinian stars. I will never forget their gracious hospitality. Nick is currently laughing at me for tearing up as I type this. Haha.

Our goal for Thursday was to eat all of the traditional Spanish foods before our train left at 10:00 p.m. Here’s a quick rundown- minus the tortilla de patatas that Monica made for dinner.

Breakfast: Tostada con tomate and café con leche
Lunch: Paella Valenciana (rice with chicken and vegetables)
Snack: Helado (cheesecake flavor and cinnamon with honey)
Dinner: Shawarma (mystery pita with chicken)

Don’t think that all we did was eat, though. Sometime between helado and shawarma we hiked up to San Nicolas, a gypsy hangout that overlooks the Alhambra and the city of Granada. Muy bonita indeed.

We’re now off to Barcelona and Switzerland, even though it feels like I could spend months living in Granada. The city is, and always will be, my Spanish home away from home.

Besitos,
Laura

P.S. You can definitely count on us being tan when we get home! Oh, and happy belated birthday Mom. 

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Comments

[Stefanie]

SQUATTER!
What's that kid doing? crazy spaniards.

[Stefanie]

Oh look it's Nick....
....and he's eating. Why are there no other pictures of him??