in the land of pomegranates

that's right! i spent my weekend wandering around the land of pomegranates--granada, spain. granada, in spanish, is the word for pomegranates, and granada's citizens do not take their name lightly. everywhere throughout the city, pomegranates are used to decorate everything--door handles, stop lights, sidewalk blockers, everything! it was very charming and very beautiful, but now to the heart of this blog: my lovely summary of the two days in granada...

saturday:

I woke up early on Saturday morning in order to walk downtown and catch the bus. I met up with Rachel on the way, and we walked together. The Sevilla mornings are still bright and beautiful, so it was a pleasant walk (even though we had to hurry towards the end in order not to miss the bus). The bus ride out to Granada took us up into the hills, and everything became greener and more alive. It was beautiful. I definitely fell asleep on the bus (having not slept very well the night before), but I woke up in time to sing Christmas songs. We all sang traditional Spanish Christmas songs together, and they were definitely interesting. I’ll try to post the lyrics of one of the songs (along with my rough translation) so that everyone can experience the beauty of Spanish carols.

We arrived in Granada around noon. Granada is a beautiful city, built into the mountains of southern Spain. Across the valley, Spain’s tallest mountains stand guard. They were beautiful, covered with snow and looking so very much like something from home. I guess that the ski seasoned opened in Granada while we were there on Saturday, so the mountains must really have a lot of snow. Anyways, the hotel was a beautiful hotel—4 stars, which felt a little bit extravagant after having stayed in hostels and other hotels of lesser stars, but it was nice to be somewhere beautiful and clean. I headed upstairs to my room with my roommates (Liza and Rachel). I was really tired, and Liza was too, so we spent the afternoon lounging around and being totally lazy. It was glorious.

We met up with the rest of the students around 4:00 to head into town. We took a walking tour of the city, and met up with our professional guides for the weekend. The city, like I’ve already said, is a really beautiful city. Granada is one of Spain’s top tourist destinations. As such, they keep the city very clean and well kempt. It’s full of plazas with bubbling fountains and beautiful stone walkways. Everything is decorated with the figure of a pomegranate. It’s pretty ridiculous, but also charming and cute. We met up with our guides outside of a large church and headed towards the center of town. On our way in, I got accosted by a crazy man. He walked up to me and said something, but I didn’t understand what he said, so I looked towards my group leader and the guide for assistance. Instead, they just watched while this crazy man (who wasn’t very intimidating… he was balding, older, and wearing a maroon Mr. Rogers-style cardigan vest) started to grab at my arm. I felt like he was trying to pull my hand out of my coat pocket, maybe to try and get at my camera. I held fast through and wouldn’t budge my arms, but I was too stunned to do anything else. He circled around my back and went to try and pull my other arm out of my coat when my friend, Afton, who is pretty wonderful, yelled “No!” and swatted at him. That scared him away, and I was left standing there just wondering if that had really happened. It was pretty interesting. Even more interesting was the fact that the guide nor the trip leader did anything to help me in the situation. Nice to know that I paid for a trip chaperone, and he was no help!

Anyways, after that adventure, we continued walking through the town. We say their city hall, complete with a mosaic coat-of-arms laid into the stone work. Then, we walked through their old plazas and winding streets, through the big arab market. Granada has a large Arab history (it was the last Arab capital and home to the last Arab dynasty in Spain). The market was really cool, filled with strong incense, different teas, and brightly colored fabrics. It’s probably the closet I’ll get to an Arab market (after the Turkish Bazaar, that is) in my life! It was really impressive, and I could have just wandered around and gotten totally lost for hours.

We finally reached our destination: the Capilla Real. The Capilla Real (or Royal Chapel) was a chapel commissioned by Queen Isabella, the catholic monarch who paid for Columbus’ voyage, united Spain (along with her husband) and drove out the Moors (Arabs). Pretty important queen. Anyways, she commissioned this chapel to be built in order to house her remains after she died. Well, she died and there she lies, along with her husband, King Ferdinand, and her daughter (known as Juana la Loca) and her daughter’s husband (Felipe el Hermoso). It was interesting to see the monument built in their honor. These figures are all so important to Spain, and it’s incredibly to see what respect and honor they are given by their citizens. The chapel was beautiful, and I got see Queen Isabella’s actual crown (it wasn’t too impressive… just silver). They wouldn’t allow pictures, so I have nothing to share, but it was pretty cool.

Afterwards, we were given free time. Liza, Rachel, Hanna, and I hiked up to the top of the Alhambra (very famous Arab palace in Granada… more on that later…) to try and get a view of the city. It was a failed mission, though, because we arrived at the Alhambra and the view was covered with trees. Liza and I headed back down the hillside and into the Arab market. We shopped for a little while and bought a few things, though nothing major, and then decided to head back to the hotel. It was getting late, and Liza and I went in search of food. We finally found this little hole-in-the-wall kebab restaurant, with cheap sandwiches. We both grabbed a sandwich to go, and headed back to the hotel. Man, were those sandwiches AWESOME! They were so good, and I probably could’ve eaten at least three. We spent the rest of our night relaxing and enjoying our hotel. I took a hot bath (yaaay!) and then we found “Finding Nemo” in Spanish! It was a pretty great way to end the day.

a look at the center plaza in town... granada has a lot of fountains, and they are all very lovely!


granada´s city seal in front of the city hall. i don´t know if you can see them, but there are pomegranates there!



hanging out in the arab market!



a look at granada´s cathedral (spain´s third largest)...



a live (well, not really alive because he´s stuffed) bull!



really amazing kebab (which they smell kebap in spain) sandwich in our awesome hotel room!

sunday

Sunday morning, we woke up early, got ready for the day, and headed down for our hotel breakfast. The breakfast was good, but we were all really tired. I think that my body is officially worn out from so much traveling, which is why I have dedicated this week to resting and homework. Anyways, after breakfast, we hopped on the bus and headed up to the Alhambra. The Alhmabra is a Moorish palace complex, complete with army barracks, gardens, and, of course, royal living quarters. It is built on a hill overlooking the city and it has a gorgeous view. More people visit the Alhambra than any other place in the entirety of Spain! They only sell 7000 entries per day, and they sell out every day. Pretty amazing, if you ask me.

The Alhambra was beautiful, we sprawling gardens, gorgeous views, and beautiful old buildings. I enjoyed wandering around the complex with our guide. He had lots of interesting information about the history and the purpose behind the Alhambra. We spent the first part of the visit in the gardens and army barracks. I climbed up the watchtower overlooking the entire city, and it was pretty spectacular. Finally, we were all able to enter into the royal palace. Entrance into the royal palace is time controlled. Only 300 people get to enter every half and hour with the idea that they can only stay for a half an hour. It was a madhouse. There were people everywhere, and as soon as I had stepped into a room to enjoy it, our guide would be yelling at us to hurry up and run. It was maddening to be in such a beautiful place and be unable to enjoy it. I’ll admit: I was a little disenchanted with the Alhambra. I ran from room to room, trying to absorb as much as possible. The decoration was beautiful. Intricate patterns molded out of plaster on every wall. Tile mosaics covering the floor. Ceilings made of intricate wood tessellations. I wish that I could have memorized it all. Instead, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

After the Alhambra, we headed back to the center of town for free time, which was a little bit of a joke, seeing as everything is closed on Sundays. I ended up eating lunch—well, socializing while others ate lunch—with a group of girls. It was nice. Afterwards, we wandered around for a bit, killing time until we were to get back on the bus. The bus ride back was fine. I definitely slept and I woke up still feeling exhausted.

looking outside to the patio of our hotel room... so pleasant!

me, enjoying said patio!

really cool spiral staircase in the hotel! i want one of these in my house when i grow up :)

maze-like garden at the alhambra.

a glimpse at the arab gardens...

the city of granada!

looking out over the functional garden (where they grow crops and such) out to the city...

hanging out in the royal gardens.

a look at one of the many palaces...

soldier barracks!

mountains with snow! how wonderful!

me on a tower, taking in the sun an the view of an old arab city. how cool is that?!

trying to look serious in the judge´s room.

a look at the barracks from the top of the watchtower.

crazy plaster details!

oooh! the arabs used water in order to make beautiful reflections, like this one!

another look at some of the intricate plaster work... it´s pretty amazing.

royal quarters (i´m not sure whether it is the king´s or the queen´s... they lived separately from one another).

hanging out amongst the pilars...

this one is definitely the queen´s quarters... i remember thinking that this is where i belong (ha! just kidding!)

hanging out and eating lunch with Hanna, me, Rachel, Liza, and Ashley!

I had a good reason to feel tired, too, as I came down with the flu that night! I spent all Monday in bed, unable to really do anything because I was so out of it. Fortunately, I had recovered pretty much by Tuesday, because I had my dance final on Tuesday! I think it went well, but I’m honestly not worrying about it. It’s done, and now I only have class on Mondays and Wednesdays—yay!

This week hasn’t been too interesting. Between being out with the flu and having a lot of homework to keep me busy, I haven’t had too much time for exploring and adventures. Those will come next week, when I get to spend the entire week with my parents and Kevin—I’m so excited that I could probably pee my pants! They get here on Sunday afternoon, which means I still have a few days to work on things before they get here. I just learned last night that my big term paper for my Franco class is due Monday, Dec. 1. I should probably start that sometime this week, lest I end up in big trouble!