GRANADA

i think they should change the city's name to "grand-ada."

i think that this may have been the best 2 days of my time here, so far. 

not only because the alhambra is beautiful, the city has an intimate and artsy feel, and our hotel meals were buffet-style, but i laughed with tears in my eyes (twice)... and i realized i hadn't done that yet here. if you read this blog, i'm sure you know me pretty well, and that it doesn't take much to get my tear ducts going. but seriously, i think it's an overactive problem. 

and to say this is the first time i cried in spain is erroneous. 

to say this is the first time i cried due to laughter - true. 

alright. granada!

we got there after a 3ish hour bus ride and checked into our hotel. i roomed with Christie and Katie, 2 awesome chicas from Indiana University. we had to wait 45 minutes until lunch, which was no easy feat to say the least, we were huuungry. but we had no idea how worth it that wait was. 

one word: buffet. 

that's right.

i think everyone in that room went crazy. and it's not even that i don't get fed well at home. esperanza does good work in the kitchen, it's just that we could pick and choose what we wanted, what we didn't want and how much of each thing. fruit, salad, cold cuts, cheese, wheat bread!, vegetables, pork, chicken, veal, gazpacho, ice cream, rice pudding... 

i'm not sure we've ever been so uncomfortable after so many meals in a row (4).

and especially the kids who don't eat much in their homestays. there are 2 guys who said their senoras don't make meat and don't make much of what they do make... they've both lost a few notches on their belts. i wish i could say the same. but at the same time, i'm glad i can't.

the alhambra: the moorish palace

if you ever get the opportunity to go here - please do it. it's amazingly beautiful.

 i could have stayed here for much longer

 katie & i

 and the gardens... ah!

 a little view of the alhambra from the gardens

then we went to the muslim quarters:

there is much more moroccan influence in granada than in sevilla. 

there are 'tetorias' everywhere, which just means they serve tea instead of coffee (because it's a tetoria instead of a cafeteria... get it?) we went there as a huge group and were treated to tea and 'dulces' (sweets, pastries)...delicious. there was a plate of different ones that we shared with our table. they each had dried fruit in them and nuts. some were sticky. some had powdered sugar. some i couldn't really tell because of the dim lighting. the lighting, the incense smell, the pillows around me, it was really getting me, especially since it was about siesta time. so we left and started to wander around the shops. 

 tea & spoon close-up

 our plate of dulces!

 mango & watermelon... AWESOME. not that i tasted it, but look at that fruit!

we found the cathedral!

by the way, rick steve's and i have started up our relationship again, after about a 2 and a half month hiatus. he's still the man. i got him out inside the cathedral and was able to share a lot of fun facts with the two other girls i was with. granada's cathedral is the 2nd largest in spain (the first is sevilla's).

 the walls were painted with lime during the time of the plague, but the people liked it so the walls have stayed white since (which is much different from the darker cathedrals in spain)

we returned to the hotel for dinner (oh yeah) and then rested for a little before we went out to explore granada by night. it's pretty chilly there at night, but we found a place that served free tapas with any drink you bought (because we needed more to eat...) but who can turn down something that's free?!

then we went to a discoteca in a gypsy cave. 

that overlooked the alhambra from across the valley.

lit up at night.

alright so our heads kinda block it...but the picture wouldn't do it justice anyway.

day two in granada was a tour of the old, christian neighborhood & then we saw where the kings and queens were buried! 

Fernando & Isabel

Felipe & Juana (who aren't next to each other because they didn't like each other)

(this is a picture from wikipedia. we weren't allowed to take pictures/my camera was dying)

then about 8 of us sat on the hotel's porch for about an hour until lunch and talked about everything we miss about america. i freaking love america.

my list:

seedless grapes, cold pizza, homemade baked goods, pretzels, wheat bread, holly, smoke-free public places, driving & singing, hugs, cereal (or anything other than toast for breakfast), poop-free streets (thank you dogs & horses. or i guess...dog-owners & horses), snacking, live tv/sports...

and so today marks 2 things

1. i left my house exactly a month ago. 

2. the beginning of the first series. Philly v Cincinnati

<3