Granada-dada

Granada round 2...I had mixed feelings going to Granada this weekend.  On the one hand, I was so excited to get out of Madrid, not that I don't like it here, but it was just time for an adventure.  And I went on a trip totally planned by me and friends, which just gives it a whole new sense of adventure and excitement.  On the other hand, I had been to Granada before so I thought that I would kind of know what to expect.  Boy was I wrong.   

The travel family

Last I saw Granada, I was there for maybe 23 hours, probably less, and we just saw the Alhambra.  I realized as the bus rolled in that I didn't even know what Granada looked like.... I also saw it in summer, which is what you think of when you picture Southern Spain...however seeing it in winter gives a whole new dimension.  It is cold!  And also, those castled made of stone are really not that warm...sometimes it was colder inside the rooms in the Alhambra than outside.

Kelly, Greg, Rodrigo and I boarded the bus at 7 am from Madrid to Granada.  It was going to be a long day from the start.  The buses here though are so comfortable, and also so prompt.  We rode the 5 hour bus ride, with a half hour stop in the middle.  It was a good time to get some much needed sleep, journaling, reading, and chilling accomplished.  We were all really excited to be going on this adventure!

We got to Granada at 12 pm exactly, and took the bus to our hostel, which was in a pretty central part of town.  First on the list was a walking tour of the Albaicin, the white washed gypsy area of Granada.  The walking tour took us to one of the main plazas in Granada and has us follow the river up the hill, so the river separating us from the Alhambra was on our right and the Albaicin was on the left.  The spots on the walking tour weren't really much...it seems like all anyone cares about in Granada is the Alhambra, and for good reason.  Eventually we turned left into the white-washed little town.  The streets were cobblestone and narrow, and it was amazing that people actually drove their cars up there.  Each time we stopped at a view we though it was amazing, and then two seconds later we saw an even more beautiful view.  This trend, of the views getting better and better continued into the trip, with the best views at the Alhambra on Saturday.

One of the many views from the Albaicin

One of the beautiful views from the Alhambra

Cute street name in the Albaicin...apparently it is called such for a more morbid reason than one would think...

We walked around the Albaicin, taking in the view of the Alhambra, city, gypsy caves, and the snowy Sierra Nevada (yup, the mountain range here is called the Sierra Nevada, so its like I never really left California.)

One cute part of Granada are all the little mandarin trees they have growing all over the city.  The fruit obsessed person that I am, I figured I had to try one, even though I assumed we probably weren't supposed to pick them.  Greg got one down for me, and it tasted like acid and sourness, and not so good. Ben later informed us that its very illegal to pick the oranges, and also said you don't want to eat them anyway, because who wants to eat something thats been growing out of cement. Good point. 

After our self guided tour we met up with Ben and Sean, Ben who goes to Oxy with me and Rigo and Sean who goes to CMC with Greg and Kelly.  Ben took us to his colegio, where he lives.  It was beautiful, right in the center of town.  There were tile floors, a cute courtyard/patio in the middle, and just had such an old and distinguished feeling, it seems like an awesome place to live.  

After seeing the colegio, we went to a tea/hookah place and had some Baileys tea.  It was a much needed warm drink, did I mention that apparently Friday was the coldest recorded day in Granada history? Anyway, the tea was great, but the atmosphere of the restaurant was even better.  I felt like I was in a harem, with tapestries draping the walls, a candle on our table, and really cool stained glass lamps.  It makes you realize how close the south of Spain is to the Mediterranean and all of the influence from the Arab culture that still proliferates the Spanish culture. 

We went back to the hostel after, and huddled together in one room because the heater only turns on from 6 pm to 9 am, so we had to come up with creative ways to get warm (nothing like huddling under the heater with a box of Don Simon (Spanish version of Franzia...)  Later that night we went out for Southern Spain tapas, which are 3948723984702 times better that Madrid tapas.  You get an entire meal with your drink.  It was amazing.  As a cheap skate, I loved it.  One glass of wine and dinner is complimentary.  So cool. 

Granada is also a lot smaller than you think.  Well it was a lot smaller than I thought.  Nothing is a far walk, and they have buses and stuff, but there is no need for metro or bussing if you are staying anywhere near the center of town.

Anyway, we had an early night for SST (Spanish Standard Time) and woke up pretty early the next day, 10:30.  Best treat of the day, waking up to no water in our hostel.  Not that the water ever seemed like it would have been hot enough to take a shower anyway. We finally make it out of the hostel (Thanks Rigo and Greg for waking up and youtubing instead of getting ready...) and wander more into the heart of Grandada.  We had breakfast at a little cafe, I had a tostada con tomato, so yummmm. We also happened upon a little panaderia and fruit stand, and bought some 20 cent bread to keep us going through lunch and an avocado.  When the woman got the bread out of the case, 3 trays of donuts and muffins fell on the ground, we felt really bad, but we got our bread and headed out.   

One of the fountains leading up to the Alhambra.  It was so cold the water was frozen.

Really not as miserable as I look, but you can see a tear running down my check from the viento and frio (wind and cold)

After breaky, we had to walk up to the Alhambra, which wasn't really that far, just up up and up.  The Alhambra was awesome, there is a reason why it is THE attraction in Granada.  It was interesting to see it a second time.  I'm glad I'm fortunate to have gone twice, each visit was a different experience.  When I first saw it, I was messing around with a bunch of teenagers the whole time, taking silly pictures, but also listening to the tour, which was very informative.  This time, we didn't spring for the 50 euro guided tour, but it really is more interesting to see a place and actually understand what went on there.  However, not being on a tour allowed me time to explore the nooks and crannies on my own, using my imagination about what went on there and also take in the little details and the view; the types of things that you miss when you are on a tour.  I am also older so I able to look at things a little differently, and just have a different perspective.  The Generalife, or recreational area of the king was one of the best parts, it is the pretty gardens and fountains where the king went to escape the court.  However, it may have been my favorite simply because it offered a great view, was sunny, and surprisingly unreachable by the frigid winds that proliferated the rest of the Alhambra.  The Torre de la Vela was the very last place we went (we spent 5 hours in the whole compound...) and had the best view of all.  After climbing to the top, we saw a 360 degree view of Granada, and the mountains were especially beautiful.  

Avocado bocadillo with a view....

Post Alhambra, we meandered our way down to the city, and were starving.  We picked up some bocadillo provisions and pastries and went back to our hostel to make some grub.  (I think after this weekend I have eaten close to an entire baguette...maybe more.)  We also polished off two sleeves of cookies, one before dinner and one after dinner...  Then we napped (well I napped), shared a couple bottles of wine and were ready for the night. 

Low point at the Alhambra: we all huddled on the wall in the sun to try to catch some warmth.  Feeling pretty miserable right about now...

We went to another place that also gave us giant tapas with our drinks.  But the highlight of the night was Cambodio, the nightclub that is part cave and has an amazing view of the Alhambra all lit up at night. We danced the night away, into the not so wee hours of the morning.  Favorite moment of the night: when "Ai se eu te pego" came on, which is a song by a Brazilian guy that is absolutely huge in Spain right now.  When I came home tonight, Sergey and listening to it on repeat and learned the little dance that goes along  with it.   

view of the Alhambra at night

When we got back to the hostel, circa 6 am, Kelly, Greg, and I passed out onto of the bed completely clothed.  We got a solid 5 hours of sleep, most of it still in our clothes with the three of us in one bed, Rodrigo had sense to go to his own room and got that bed all to himself.  

As I sit here writing this, there are still many parts of the weekend still going through my head: stereo love (The theme song of the weekend), my aching and calloused feet from walking around and not really taking my socks off once because it was just too darn cold,  the marks on my hips from literally wearing my money belt for almost 48 hours straight (it felt weird to finally take it off since I felt like it had become a part of me, but mom, you would be proud), ai se eu the pego by michel telo, which has been stuck in my head all day, and my complete exhaustion from a crazy weekend well spent.

I came home tonight at around 7:30, and it felt so great.  I really felt like I was coming home, somewhere safe, secure, comfortable, and where I belong.  First I took my shoes and socks off...my feet are still angry with me for not letting them breathe all weekend.  Next went the money belt, then the shirt I had worn for 3 days straight.  The shower was more than anything I could have asked for, and Pilars Spanish tortilla and salad was a perfect meal after eating loaves of bread, ham, cookies, wine, and not enough water all weekend.