12.3.2009.
Hello all! Sorry I have not updated. It has been a busy few days. Let me update you on everything before I leave (because I'm flying out for IRELAND tonight!).
This past weekend, I thought we were going to Jerez de la Frontera to go to the bodega of Tio Pepe and see where they keep all the sherry casks. However, plans changed.
There was a giant mis-communication between the members of our group going where half of us thought we were going to Jerez when the plans had changed to catch a free ride with the LSCS group on their trip to Granada and spent the weekend there.
So Friday morning, Ricky and I were waiting outside of a bar to meet Derrick to catch the bus and go to Jerez when we were informed by Olivia that we needed to hurry to catch the bus to Granada. What? When did that happen? After racing to the bus, Derrick had heard we were waiting for him and went in search of us. Basically, we switched places. Also, my phone has no money on it so I can only receive information, Ricky lost his phone, and Derrick's would not sent messages. So we missed the free bus ride out of Sevilla to Granada but decided to go anyway. Ricky and I raced back to our senoras's pisos (apartments) and packed hastily for the weekend. Derrick and Olivia went to EUSA to look up the bus schedule and book us a hostel.
By noon, we were on our way to Granada with an amazing hostel located in the city center, Plaza Nueva, booked. Now, there is a running joke with us SAS kids that the LSCS group always gets the horrible weather whenever they have an excursion. So when we got off at the bus station in Granada, it was misting and cold and we thought: oh no, we're going to get stuck with awful weather. Also, our hostel was literally a 45 minute trek across town (without a functioning map, mind you. We had one from last time that only had select street names written in. How is that useful?). When we reached Plaza Nueva, we could not find the hostel and no one seemed to have heard of it. After standing around for a good ten minutes, we realized the sign was right in front of us. The clerk at the desk gave us the keys to the "attic room". Uh oh. We climbed three flights of steep stairs up to find our door. Upon opening it, there was another set of what looked like homemade almost plastic stairs. Apprehensive, we wobbled our way up.
That was when things started to look up. The "attic room" was basically like an upstairs apartment. We had five beds instead of the 4 we only needed, plenty of space, windows galore, a private bathroom, and a terrace looking out across the rooftops of Granada. You could even see one of the watchtowers of Alhambra from our little balcony. It was fantastic, even if the weather was no so great that night.
We went out for tapas and beer that night. Remember, there you can buy a beer and tapas for around 2 euro. It's great because then you jump from bar to bar and sample each food for very little money. After we ate, we went back to the hostel and played cards, talked, enjoyed the fact we were away from everyone else and could be as loud as we wanted, and waited for the LSCS to finish their dinner.
After, we met some of them at a bar in Plaza Nueva. That night, we just bar hopped and tried not to get run over. The side streets are very narrow and the cars and mopeds come speeding by. You have to jump out of the way a lot of times.
The next day, we did not have an 8 am wake up call like last time and slept til after 11. Instead, we woke up to the most beautiful day outside! The temperatures got up into the seventies and it was a clear clear blue sky without a cloud to be seen. We got up and went out on the terrace to greet the day. After a fantastically hot shower, we went downstairs and across the street into the plaza to get breakfast because it was not included at the hostel. The plaza has a couple of restaurants with outdoor seating and so we all got chocolate croissants and cafe con leche (coffee with milk, that's how they do it here.) while sitting in the sun.
The day before, some of the boys from the group had pampered themselves and went to the banos arabes (Arab bathhouses) and so we decided to follow their example. We made an appointment for 2pm to go for an hour and a half. Olivia paid a little extra for the 15 minute massage. While we waited for the appointment, we wandered the shops nearby.
I think the people in Granada are some of the most friendly I have met. Olivia and I bought matching sundresses from one man. We mused over oil paintings while talking to the painter/shop keeper at another. The sound of flamenco drew us into an old guitar shop and the sweetest older man helped us pick out a CD of just the Spanish guitar. I'm listening to it right now; it's wonderful. We haggled with a hippie from Colombia who told us he had come to Europe to share his culture with the world and he addressed Olivia and I as amor and guapa.
Finally, the time for the Arab baths came and we were really excited. It did not disappoint. The bathhouse is modeled like the ones the Arabs used back in the day, and so they have the same architecture: Horse shoe arches, star shapes cut into the ceiling, columns, natural light from candles in lanterns, etc. It's almost like being in a grotto. They served a sweet minty tea at the beginning. After, we were free to roam through the bathhouse which offered three rooms with baths of varying temperatures. There are fountains that allow the water to flow from room to room. At one end there was also a very steamy wonderful sauna. We spent the next hour and a half just lounging, jumping from pool to pool whenever the need urged us. It was the highlight of the trip, in my opinion.
After our spa-like experience, we dressed and headed back into the plaza. We stopped for a tapa and beer to satisfy our snacking-urge and could not pass up the best gelato afterward. The sun was shining hard by then and so we went and sat in the plaza to enjoy it. A street performer was setting up and we watched his entire show. He was something like a payaso (clown) mixed with a mime. At first, he stalked behind unaware couples with a fake hammer or cleaver and then would turn away as soon as they noticed. He juggled balls and fire, danced, called Derrick Obama (Derrick does not resemble Obama but I guess it is unusual to see black tourists and so he is forever being called/compared to Obama. Spaniards are not PC.), and picked volunteers out of the crowd.
Afterward, we invited some of the people from our group up and we sat out on the terrace, watching the sun go down. Dinner was more tapas and a bocadillo that night. We played cards again waiting for the LSCS people to finish their dinner. After that, we wandered around the streets looking for a bar that would fit all of us. Unfortunately, that was not the case and so we broke off into smaller groups. We made our way to one place that was a Chupiteria (a bar that specializes in shots). (PARENTAL WARNING) They had over 100 shots to choose from and if you bought two of the same kind, they were a euro a piece. We bought a whole line for our group that were flaming shots! You had to drink it through a straw. It was very cool.
Later, we reunited with most of our group and were about 15 to 20 strong. We decided to go to the discoteca Granada 10. Unfortunately, they were charging a cover just to get in. However, there was a girl promoting them outside, and so she helped us walk right in past the bouncers. Granada 10 was fun; they even had a smoke machine.
We made it an early time that night (3:30 ish. That's early here. People will stay out until the wee hours of the morning) because we were going to get up early enough to check out of the hostel and catch the bus with the LSCS group up to Alhambra. We convinced one of our friends to snag some breakfast goodies for us from the hotel buffet.
Sunday was equally, if not more, gorgeous than Saturday. It was warm enough for me to wear my new sundress and get sunburned. The contrast is incredible because it is warm in the valley where Granada sits but then you see the Sierra Nevada mountains rising up in the distance, shinning and covered in snow. We made it to the hotel with plenty of time to spare and went and socialized, eating our breakfast out on the balcony and enjoying the sun.
The program directors, Wayne and Fernando, were downstairs (smoking and having a beer at 11 am, typical). They were happy that we had been able to make it to Granada and informed us there were extra tickets for Alhambra. We looked at each other apprehensively: another three hour tour? Then they said we did not have to stay with the group so we agreed. Instead, we took in the view from the watch tower for a good 30 minutes, staring at the mountains and the city below, bought bocadillos and ate them while people watching, took pictures in the central patio of the Palace of Carlos V, and caught up with the group later.
They allowed us to stop off at a mall for lunch, and I will admit it, I got a BBQ chicken sandwich from Burger King and ate the whole thing. It was so good.
Well, that was our impromptu trip to Granada, the second time, and I have to confess, it was probably the best weekend I have had in Spain. The weather was fantastic. I was with great people who are becoming even better friends. We enjoyed the Spanish food and met so many welcoming people. There were no tiring tours, we slept late and stayed up late, and we were not stuck in a big group the whole time. It was so incredibly relaxing.
Today, I am getting everything together to go to Ireland! I will be visiting a friend from UNC Meredith. She is studying abroad in Coleraine. I will fly into Dublin, take a train to Belfast and meet her there. We'll take in the city for two days, and then head back to Coleraine for Sunday and Monday where she will show me her university. On Tuesday, we're taking a 6 am bus to Dublin to get there before the St. Patrick's Day parade starts. And yes, they do wear green there for that day (I have a green dress and jacket, just waiting) and there will be green beer.
I'm really excited to get out of Spain actually. I love Spain. It's great, but I am ready to experience another culture. They'll speak English there too! How strange will that be? One goal of mine is to visit a castle and Meredith assures me, they are everywhere.
On a side note: There was ONE thing bad about this trip to Granada which was that I lost my camera. So I do not have pictures from that trip to put up unfortunately, but my dad sent me his camera (we have the same kind) and I will make sure to take plenty in Ireland. Hopefully I will be able to blog there, but if not, I will write again in a week or so.
love you and miss you all
Elle
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