Granada

Me in Front of La Alhambra

I had a wonderful weekend in Granada! Rebecca and I headed to the bus station early on Saturday morning and had a restful 3 hour ride to Granada. We checked into our great hostel (Oasis Backpackers) and went off to explore the city. Our hostel was located in the heart of the Moorish part of the city, so it was like stepping out into a mini and much calmer Morocco. We walked past the Cathedral and wandered around some plazas. Then it was time for the famous tapas of Granada where you get a free tapa with each drink you order. We went to Babel and hit some bad luck with our first tapa - it was an ice cream scoop of paté. I ate it, but not happily. We found out throughout the weekend that while getting free tapas is delightful, it is probably easier just to order what you actually want to eat. Also, when I first arrived, I was nervous because I didn't know how it worked, but we consistently got tapas with our drinks throughout the weekend. We went back to the hostel for a street art and caves tour, but they cancelled it. Luckily, there was a big group of people wanting to go so a few people took the lead and took us on an uninformed adventure to the caves. I thought the caves were normal caves that we could walk through, but they turned out to be caves where people live. Who knew? We ended up basically climbing a big hill and trying not to scare the cave people. I slipped and slid back down but survived with the help of a sweet Venezuelan man. We all enjoyed some sangria overlooking rolling hills and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Then it was back to the hostel. I went off to explore the Albayzín and find the Moroccan part of town, but after being lost, confused, and deceived, I found out that the main section is the one right outside our hostel. Whoops. Rebecca and I went out for a more edible tapa (a yummy little sandwich) before chilling on the roof terrace and meeting tons of people. We went out as a huge group to the part of town with all the bars, but we spent most of the time standing outside with a smaller group of people we met. Instead of hitting the clubs, we hit the kebab stands and just hung out for a while. It still turned out to be a very late night and I only got a few hours of sleep.

La Alhambra

Inside La Alhambra

On Sunday morning, I had a nice breakfast with tons of people from the hostel. Then I went on a walking tour with most of them. It was led in English and Spanish by a guy from England. It was fun to have it in both languages. He walked us all around the Albayzín and into some beautiful gardens. We had some tapas after the tour and I went to meet up with Rebecca. We continued our own food tour with gelato and another tapa (they're small!). Then we made our way up a very steep hill to the famous Alhambra! It was absolutely magnificent. The Nazari Palace blew my mind and was probably the coolest building I've ever seen. We ended up walking through it about 3 times, but I'm sure I still missed tons of the infinite intricacies in the walls and ceilings. My new life goal is to marry a Spanish prince just so I can have my wedding there. After the palace, we wandered through the beautiful gardens and into the other buildings on the grounds. It was a lovely afternoon. We headed back towards our hostel to chill around there before taking a train home around 9:00. After saying goodbye to all of our new and fleeting friends, we walked out the door only to run into a friend from Tufts, Duncan. My mind was very confused when I saw him standing there because my worlds were colliding. He convinced us to stay another night and luckily the hostel had just enough beds for us. What a crazy coincidence! We hung around the hostel then sat on a ledge overlooking the Alhambra lit up at night while we caught up on life. We had wonderful tapas and sangria at a bar near our hostel. At about midnight, a huge group of English teachers from Madrid showed up at the bar to party before their night bus home. They had a football with them so we started throwing it around in the streets. A bunch of Spanish guys walked by and wanted to play, so they started playing rugby with the ball. I explained to them that it was an American football but they didn't seem to mind the difference. It was hilarious and totally random. Eventually, the other Americans went on their way, and Duncan, Rebecca, and I went to a tetería. We were the only people in the entire place, but it was quite fun, despite the growing tiredness. Once they kicked us out at 2 am, I was more than ready for bed.

Rebecca in Generalife, the Gardens of La Alhambra

We had a lazy and very tired morning lounging around the hostel. As we were heading out to walk around, we ran into Duncan again in the same spot. We wandered around with him and another girl we'd met named Stephan. It was nice just relaxing around the city and chatting with friends. When it came time to leave for real, I had deja vu when I said goodbye to the exact same people while walking out the door. We bid Duncan farewell and wished him luck in Tunisia, his final destination. It is always so nice to see a familiar face when you are so far from home. Rebecca, Stephanie, and I all went to the bus station and tried to sleep on the way home. It was great to return to Sevilla, and it is reassuring to know that it is still my favorite city in Spain.

Me, Duncan, and Rebecca

I only have two more weeks here, which is horribly sad. And next weekend, I am off to Lagos, Portugal for some birthday celebrations with a big group of Americans!