Last weekend, I went on my program’s trip to Granada for Saturday and Sunday. Even though I was still a little sick, I absolutely loved the city. It is situated among beautiful snow-covered mountains with a great view from almost everywhere we went. Sevilla is very flat, so all of the hills in Granada reminded me of being back home in Pittsburgh a little bit.
We jumped on a bus Saturday morning at 8 am and made the three or four hour trip from Sevilla. As soon as we got to the hotel, we had a huge lunch and began our day. First, we walked through “el barrio del Albaic�n” (“barrio” means neighborhood). There were gorgeous views of the mountains, the city, and “La Alhambra y El Generalife,” which I’ll explain later. We also stopped by at a convent and bought “dulces” (sweets/candy) from the nuns. They use a revolving door to exchange the money and dulces, so we never actually saw them. This is their only contact with the outside world, and their dulces are amazing. The photo below is of a Spanish woman buying these dulces at the revolving door while we waited in line.
After the convent, we visited “La Capilla Real,” which is where the Catholic Monarchs (los Reyes Cat�licos) Ferdinand and Isabella (Fernando y Isabel) rest. For a quick reminder of history, they sent Christopher Columbus to the Americas. The following is a photo of them. Isabella’s head rests lower on her pillow because of the amount of power she had possessed.
After the tour, we went to “la Teter�a Kasbah,” which is a beautiful place with amazing tea and Arab sweets. We all had Moroccan tea, which was minty. Of the next two photos, the first is of one of the rooms, and the second is of the food.
After tea, we did a little shopping in a small side street and had a big dinner at the hotel. That night we went out to see some of the city at night. What’s really cool about Granada is the way they serve tapas. A beer is a little more expensive at about 1.50 euros, but you get a free tapa of your choice to go with it! We loved it.
Before we left on Sunday, we visited “La Alhambra y El Generalife,” which is the the palace, complex, and gardens from the Moorish empire. Washington Irving also wrote his “Tales of the Alhambra” here. It dates back to the 14th century and earlier, and it was unbelievably beautiful. I might say that it is the most beautiful thing I have seen in Europe so far, but that’s very difficult to decide. The next photo was taken on Saturday from across the hill. This is La Alhambra from the outside:
This is a view from inside the complex:
The next two photos show the view of the snowy mountains and part of Granada from “Torre de la Vela,” which is a watch tower in the complex:
The next photo is from part of the palace. It used to have many bright colors, but they have worn away over time:
It was very difficult to choose which photos to post, so I definitely recommend looking up Granada online if you’re interested. It was amazing, and I had so much fun!
Location: Granada, Spain
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