Granada- Friday, November 26th

Better late than never, right? This trip was a week ago today so I'll do my best to record everything that happened!

We headed out of Madrid with CEA early Friday morning. It was a five hour bus ride to Granada with a 45 minute break in between. It's a law here in Spain that if a bus driver is taking a trip five hours or longer, they have to make a stop at some point to rest. So, there we were, in a cafe/rest stop, for a little over half an hour. The drive to Granada was longer than the other trips we took, but we traveled through hills covered in olive trees. Very pretty!

Once we got to Granada, we checked into our (very nice) hotel and headed out for tapas. Granada is one of the cities in Spain that is really famous for its tapas; if you order a drink, you get a free dish along with it. We went with a group of eight or so to this quaint little restaurant- it was really nice! Unfortunately, when we went to pay, I realized that I had lost 50 Euro somewhere along the way. I think maybe I just have bad luck with losing things when I travel, similar to my camera in Rome. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

Quaint little fountain in a plaza on our way to the tapas bar

Picture at the restaurant (But no food! Aren't you shocked?!)

After tapas, we went to the Capilla Real and the Catedral. The Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) houses the tombs of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand, who conquered Granada- it was the last city in Spain to fall from Muslim power during the Christian Reconquista. We had talked a lot about all of this history and the effect it had on art and architecture in Granada, so it was really interesting, as always, to be able to actually see what it is that we had studied. There was also an interesting collection of art in the Capilla. The Catedral (Cathedral) was also BEAUTIFUL. Lovely to walk through and see everything. It was so much whiter and brighter than the other churches that we’ve been in- not as many paintings or frescoes on the walls and ceilings. But this makes the altarpiece stand out so much more; it really has a beautiful effect!

The plaza and outside of the Cathedral

Halls of the Cathedral

Altarpiece/apse. So beautiful and ornate!

After a short rest (and cuddle session with my girlfriends) in my hotel room, as well as a food run (to Burger King of all places, I’m ASHAMED!), we went to a flamenco show. I LOVED IT. We took a bus through Granada and it was nighttime, so everything was lit up. It was just so pretty! The little flamenco house? bar? not sure what to call it… was at the top of a hill- we walked up a cobblestone street in the dripping rain to get there. The show was about an hour long. There were six different dancers, a flute player, four singers, and three guitar players. The entire experience was so different than anything I’ve ever seen before. The music and singing is just other worldly; the lyrics are about half Spanish and half a nomadic, gypsy (probably not the best word choice) dialect. Very interesting to listen to! And the dancing is SO amazing. I don’t know where they find the beat! I loved experiencing flamenco- it’s one of those things that is just so Spanish, for the lack of a better word.

Outside of the building. There it is, up on the hill!

Flamenco!

Once we made it back to the hotel (after getting stuck in a ridiculous traffic jam and listening to some quality 90’s music on the bus) Alex and I watched Spanish soap operas and music videos before going to sleep. It was so funny and it made me realize that watching Spanish T.V. is one of the things that I’ve hardly done here! Blanca has a certain soap opera she always watches but I never join her- I really ought to! Because it does help me practice my Spanish! And it’s really funny J.

And there’s my Friday in Granada!