I can’t believe how fast 18 weeks went by! It feels like yesterday that I was heading to my first Spanish class, super nervous with very little ability to communicate. Now here I am, 18 weeks later, obviously with a long way still to go, but with a heck of a lot more knowledge, vocabulary and confidence. With the family heading on vacation I decided to celebrate the conclusion of my classes and take advantage of the 3 day weekend…off to the south of Spain! Granada is located about a 4 hours from Madrid and about an hour north of the southern coast of Spain.I got to the city on Thursday night and thankfully in Spain restaurants are open late and there is still life in the streets, regardless of the hour or day of the week. One thing I’m definitely going to miss... With a 3 full days I was able to relax in coffee shops and enjoy the sunshine and gorgeous landscape around the city. All in all, it was a much needed break from the chaos of the city life. Although there’s no better way to escape the mayhem than a mountain excursion. Just my luck, Granada is right next to a national park! Saturday morning it was off to the Sierra Nevada’s! I didn’t have a very good idea of exactly where I would be going, other than mother nature, so when a lady on the bus asked me if I’d like to join her on her hike “up, up, up”, I couldn’t think of a reason why not. After about 4 hours I decided to head down a different trail while my new friend headed towards a village to catch a bus back to Granada. The sun doesn’t set until about 9:30 and I wasn’t quite ready to be back in civilization. After scaling up the side of Trevenque (much of the mountain is covered in pebbles and it’s quite steep so in your every day running shoes, it’s more like a scramble) I was rewarded with an incredible view of the Sierra Nevada’s still capped with snow. With 7 hours remaining until the sun set I hiked (more like slid) back down Trevenque off in the direction of a nearby river (a father and his son on top of the mountain pointed me in the right direction). My curiosity got the best of me and I got a little lost wandering off trail but ultimately ended up in a gorgeous valley surrounded by lush green trees and even though I may not have found the river, I could hear it in the distance. I popped out in an area where “man meets mother nature”, surrounded by local farms and at that point I’d been wandering through the mountains for about 8 hours and decided it was best to head back. One last stop before catching the final bus! I finished my day in a gorge next to a tranquilizing river surrounded by towering walls. Completely exhausted, I headed back to Granada for a much needed shower and pillow. The only “to-do” I had on my list the next day was the Alhambra, one of the best preserved palaces of it’s time. When I arrived in Spain I had never heard of Granada or the Alhambra but it is one of the most visited sights in Spain (and according to some sights, the most visited). Tickets sell out weeks in advance but I was lucky enough to get one for Sunday afternoon. I spent the morning relaxing in the city before heading off to see what all the hype was about.
There are 3 parts of the Alhambra…the gardens, the palace and the old fortress. I took my time exploring the grounds, stopping to smell the roses (literally) and taking in the views of the city below. Summer has officially arrived and the weather has been gorgeous. Hot, but gorgeous. Following the gardens I took a trip 8 centuries back in time to admire some incredible plasterwork decorating the walls of the palace. I finished the trip with a tinto de verano (Spain’s version of Sangria…red wine and fanta), some free tapas and headed back to Madrid. Only 3 weeks left before I bid farewell to my temporary home and I've got to get my fix of Spanish tortillas and daily coffee before heading back to America.
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