Granada

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November 4th, 2011

We left for Granada at 6:45 this morning on a train. We got off the train in Sevilla and walked to the bus stop in the rain so we could meet the group of API students studying in Sevilla. I definitely wanted to smack the girls that were singing rap songs on the back of the bus early on. We arrived in Granada around 1:30 pm. The hotel is situated on top of a large hill near the Alhambra. It was beautiful, inside and out. The Moorish architectural influence consumed the style of the lobby and dining areas. We decided to walk around and explore the areas of Granada surrounding our hotel before we had to meet up with the group at 4:30. The colors of the leaves were saturated from the rain and the abundance of trees created a tunnel of bright green, yellow, orange and red splotches of color. Everything looks so alive here even though leaves have begun to fall. Had it been a little warmer the enchanting atmosphere would have held my attention for hours, unfortunately it started pouring and we were soaked to the bone and shivering so we returned to the hotel in an attempt to let our clothes dry before we had to leave again at 4:30.

Luckily I brought an extra pair of shoes because my toms remained soaked despite my efforts to blow-dry them. I packed light so I had to put on my damp clothes and jacket to go to La Capilla Real with the group. La Capilla Real (which means royal chapel) interested me for one reason: it is the burial place for Fernando (Ferdinand) and Isabel (Isabella) who were the king and queen of Spain when Christopher Columbus discovered America. Aside from seeing their tombs, La Capilla Real didn’t have much appeal other than a few religious paintings. After La Capilla Real we walked to the Cathedral, which was closed, something I will admit I was happy about. All of the churches start to look the same after awhile! Juan and Marta decided to surprise us with churros con chocolate—compliments of API! They were delicious and I enjoyed them a lot more than the churros that I had tried in Cádiz. After churros we had free time again until dinner at the hotel at 8 so we shopped around a little bit and explored more areas of the town center.

Dinner was a delicious buffet that had a wide variety of foods that were all of high quality. All 80 of us looked as if we hadn’t been fed in months as we went back for thirds and fourths. Keep in mind that this is the first time in months that we have been able to choose what we want to eat and how much of it we would like to have so I think our freedom got the best of us. We regretted eating so much afterwards because our next activity was a flamenco show, which was a thirty-minute hike up a hill. I will say that it was worth the pain! Flamenco dancing is an important part of the Spanish culture and it was my first time to see it in person. I had expected the show to be in a large auditorium, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the room was only big enough to fit our group and the experience seemed very intimate and personal. My favorite dances involved couples rather than just a single dancer. It is fascinating how the dancers were able to tell a story with the way they danced. A live singer and guitarist accompany the dancers to set the mood and give them a tempo. I enjoyed the show a lot.

We were all tired after the show and wanted to get back to the hotel so Devin, Hayley and I power-walked back to the hotel. When we got to the hotel several taxis pulled up behind us with a lot of our group members in them. Apparently we were the only people who walked! At the end of the day all is well. My hamstrings are sore from walking up all of the hills, but it feels good. Hopefully tomorrow it won’t rain!

November 5th, 2011

The second day in Granada began with a buffet breakfast, which was delicious, and a trip to la Alhambra—the most visited site in Spain. The Alhambra is a Moorish citadel and palace. Alhambra comes from an Arabic phrase meaning “red castle”. It was intended to be a palace, a fortress and a small city inside another city. Our tour guide referred to it as the world’s largest book of poetry because of the poems written in Arabic on the walls of almost every building. The detail they put into every single square inch of la Alhambra is mind-blowing. The symmetry and mathematic strategies used in the ceramic tiling are ahead of their time. In addition to the buildings, the Alhambra has many gardens both within the buildings and surrounding them. The colors popped against the contrast of the overcast sky. The tour was almost 3 hours long. Our tour guide’s name was Daniel (pronounced Danielle in Spanish). He is originally from Italy, but moved to Granada few years back. He is passionate about the history of the Alhambra and he speaks Italian, Spanish, French, Arabic and English. When we were leaving the Alhambra he commended us for speaking Spanish so well and for making the decision to study abroad. He was talking about the difficulties that he still faces when he learns a new language. When he studied Arabic in Egypt a few years ago, he felt like a baby who could understand the language, but not intellectually express himself. It was a great feeling for all of us to have someone outside of our group that can relate to us and describe exactly how we feel every day.

After la Alhambra we had a free day. Hayley, Frannie (Hayley’s friend visiting from the states), Brian and I explored the city. We went to all of the little shops, which was an amazing cultural experience in itself. Granada is filled with hundreds of little stores owned by Arabs. They sell a lot of different and interesting things that aren’t very common in other cities. For lunch we had tapas because Granada is known for their tapas. The sangria was delicious as was the food. Devin and I split a dish that consisted of a baked potato with Ratatouille on top of it and we enjoyed that as much as we enjoyed the chicken kabob tapa.
We walked up a steep hill to get to the Albaicín, which is more or less a section of Granada characterized by its Moorish constructions. The day was really relaxing and fulfilling. After the Albaicín, we went to a bakery that Juan recommended to us, where I proceeded to eat one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. It was some kind of white cake with layers of crème and a hard chocolate shell on the top layer. For dinner we ate at the hotel buffet because API was paying for both breakfast and dinner this weekend. It was a great surprised and a good money saver.
I was so exhausted after dinner that I decided to stay in for the rest of the night. Hayley, Frannie, Brian and I stayed up discussing movies and watching “Meet the Fockers” in Spanish.

November 6th, 2011

We left the hotel at noon to go back to Sevilla. We stopped the bus along the way to go hiking for an hour. The scenery was pretty, but it honestly didn’t hold a candle to the hike that I took with my parents in Italy. It was nice to get some fresh air though. I slept on the bus until we got to Sevilla. Juan and the Cádiz students ate dinner and then got on the train to go back to Cádiz. To kill sometime during the two-hour train ride we played an old game from middle school called MASH. It is hard to explain to those who have not played it, but I will say that it is the most I have laughed in weeks. Even Juan seemed to enjoy it!

Finally, we got back to our house in Cádiz around 10:30pm. We were excited to walk into a clean room that had tortilla de patatas, bread, and fruit laid out for us by our host mother. Milagros is the best of the best! She had done all of our laundry and it was folded and waiting for us on our counter. I am so lucky to be so well taken care of!

I loved Granada and I would love to return in the future and explore the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Things I will remember about Granada include: great food, kind and considerate people, mountains and hills, beautiful scenery, Moorish architectural influence and a rich history.

Blake comes in less than two weeks and we will be busy with Thanksgiving and visiting Portugal while he is here. I am so excited!

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