Granada

Friday through Sunday were spent in Granada, Andalucía on an excursion through ISA. After my second weekend in a row in southern Spain, I could really see myself coming back!

Spanish Country Side

The bus to Granada was around 6 hours on Friday but well worth the trip. We spent the afternoon exploring the city with two friends of a girl in my program as our guides. We checked out some plazas, picked out our future homes, and tried some pasterlerías. It was gorgeous outside and so nice to feel the sun again!

The white one is my new home

We made sure to stop by a tea store called Medievo because my host mom exclusively drinks tea from here multiple times a day, and sent us on a mission to get her more. It was cool to see the place that she's obsessed with first hand, so I bought some tea for myself as well.

Casey and I at Medievo

Our planned activity for the evening was a Flamenco show in a gypsy cave. On the way there we hiked up to a site thats perfect for seeing the Alhambra at night when it's lit up. It was gorgeous! We also passed by the Albaicín, an area full of Carmens - white medieval moorish houses that cannot be altered to preserve the look of the area. Owners can't change anything but the name of their Carmen, and one we passed was named Hakuna Matata!

La Alhambra

Albaicín

The Flamenco show was amazing - I sat right next to the dancers and our program lined the entire room. At the end of the show the dancers picked out random people from the crowd to dance with them, including two of my good friends from ISA and one of our directors.

Flamenco!

Later that night we went out for tapas at La Antigualla. The great thing about tapas in Granada is that they're free with a drink, and drinks are always just about 2€! The tapas were basically a meal at this place - ham and cheese sandwich with fries for your first drink, and a mini hamburger with an egg roll and olives (weird combo) for your second. Awesome! Next we went to a more mediterranean place for wine, hummus, and couscous. Granada, since it is in southern Spain, has a huge mediterranean/arab influence in the culture so there are little moroccan shops, kebabs, shawarmas, teas, and hookah lounges all over the city.

La Antigualla

The next two days were rainy and cold. We went to the Alhambra Saturday morning, and despite the rain it was still gorgeous. It reminded me a lot of the Alcazar due to the arab influence and the gardens, and we spent a few hours there touring the site. Afterwards we went to go try shawarma, which is similar to a kebab.

Alhambra

After a short nap I headed out with a couple friends to explore the markets with little trinkets. We ended up spending a few hours looking at every single store and bargaining with the shop keepers to get the best prices possible...from one euro down to 50 cents in some cases...cheap either way. To regain some strength we popped off into a hookah/tea lounge for about an hour and a half of relaxation, then headed off to La Antigualla to start night number 2 of free tapas. We explored another tapas bar then headed back to the hotel to get ready to explore what Granada's night life had to offer.

Little shop packed full of trinkets

Hookah/tea lounge with Maggie and Becca

Sunday was the rainiest of all days, so our walking tour that morning was cut short. We still managed to pop into the cathedral for a minute and see the site where los Reyes Católicos tombs resided. It was cool to see the first Kings and Queens of Spain, but also very creepy. We not only saw the decorative tombs, but also the caskets with the actual bodies beneath.

After some recuperation in the hotel lobby for a couple hours, we headed back to Madrid. The trip was overall very successful and again, it was great seeing another city in Spain!