Granada

I spent my favorite holiday weekend in Granada being a tourist. It was an adventure to say the least. The Erasmus group at my school organized the trip and I decided to go so I could meet other international students and have the trip all planned for me. The group left at 8:30 am on Friday, but I had class until 12:00. Being the good student that I am, I went and talked to the Erasmus people and told them I couldn't miss class during my first week of school and they told me I could take a later bus and meet them at the hostel. This all seemed like a great idea. Sondie is in my class and we are so adventurous, we knew we could figure it out on our own. We took a 1:30 bus and got to Granada around 6:30. We were told to take bus # 3 or 33 and were given the address of the hostel. Granada is not as big as Madrid but it is still a huge city. We had no idea where to find this bus and once we were on it, we had no idea when to get off. After riding for about 15 minutes, we saw a big plaza and decided to get out and walk around. Most hostels are near big plazas. We got a map from the bus station and headed off. Unfortunitly, our map only labeled about half of the streets and the hostel we were looking for was on a tiny alleyway. We got horibly lost for about an hour and asked everyone we saw if they knew where our hostel was. No one had ever heard of it. Finally, on a whim, we took a little side street/alley and there was another person there with luggage in front of an unlabeled door. This was the hostel. We got let in and talked to the man who ran the place. He was very confused to see us because all of the beds were already full for Erasmus. We explained that we were coming late but the organizers knew we were comming. He said that the Erasmus group was staying at two hostels and we must be at the other hostel. I thought I would cry. We consulted our map and headed back out into the city to find our second hostel. This one was much easier to find but again had no proper sign telling us we had arrived. The women in this hostel was expecting us but said there was no room for us to stay together. At this point I was just happy to know there was a bed for me. I stayed with two girls from Bulgaria. They were not thrilled to have a third roomate but eventually opened up a bit. I found out from them that it was almost time to meet the group at a plaza nearby to go see a flamenco show. I, of course, had no schedule or itinerary so I followed them. I met up with all of my friends who were staying at the other hostel and we got on the bus. The bus took us to a lookout site where you can see the Alhambra all lit up. It was absolutly georgeous. Then we went to a flamenco show that was in a cave. We got there early so we had to wait outside in the cold for about a half hour, but it was definitly worth the wait. The audience sat in a circle in the perimiter of the cave and the dancers danced inside the circle. It was pretty impressive. Then the bus took us to some bar and droped us off. I had no interest in being at a bar and was starving because I had yet to eat dinner. Me and Sondie ventured off in search of food, but were sad to discover that everything was closed since it was 2 in the morning. We finally found a little smoky bar that served us nasty bar food. Then we found our hostel and called it a night. My room was freezing and all I had was one tiny wool blanket that itched. I could hear everything that was happening outside and woke up when my Bulgarian roomates came home singing and chatting in Bulgarian. The next morning I was tired and cranky...and hungry! Sondie and I went and got a good hardy breakfast at a cafe and then it was time to meet for our tour of the Alhambra. For those of you who don't know, the Alhambra is Spains most visited site. It is a walled city that was the last Moorish city to be conquored by the Christians during the reconquista. It is full of beautiful architecture, art, and gardens. We had a guided tour which was extremely helpful because I had no idea what I was looking at. There are so many parts to the Alhambra that our tour lasted 3 hours. When it was over, we decided to walk back to town instead of take the bus. This way we could see more of the city and could see beautiful views of the Alhambra. By the time we were back in the city we were starving. The group split up for lunch. Since it was in the 60s, we wanted to eat somewhere outside. We found a little patio restaurant and ordered our drinks. 30 minutes later, our waiter still hadn't returned so we decided to leave. We went to a chinese/spanish restaurant instead and it was absolutly delicious. The Erasmus people had told us we were staying in a hotel so I did not bring a towel. Backpacker's Hostels do not come with towels so Sondie and I began a mad search for towels. We found a strange little everything type store and baught the cheapest towels possible. We went back to our hostel and showerd and got ready for the Valentine's day fiesta Erasmus was throwing. Our hostel was having its own fiesta on the roof so we decided to check it out. There were making paella in the hugest dish I have ever seen. We met lots of other international students and had a really good time. Then we went to the Erasmus party which was at a club in town. It was pretty fun, but very crowded. I met up with my roomates and we decided to take a taxi home. I slept much better that night. Sunday, Sondie and I decided to get up early to go explore the city since we had missed the tour the first day. I had my guidebook and my walking shoes and I was ready to go. We walked all over the city looking at monuments that we weren't sure what were. We climbed up the side of the mountain and got a great view of the ciry. I really wish I would have had more time in Granada because I really love the city. The streets are marble and beautiful and there is so much to see and do. Unfortunitly, it was Sunday so most things were closed. We met up with some friends and had lunch at an Italian restaurant and got our things together to leave. The bus was almost an hour late so we didn't leave until almost 5. We rode a double decker coach bus that made me very mostion sick. It was the longest 5 hours of my life. I was able to sleep a little but I was so glad to finally be home. Overall I think the trip was a success. I wish Granada wasn't so far away so I could go back- maybe next time I am in Spain! Although my Valentine's day wasn't typical, and hardly anyone was wearing pink, I still had a good holiday. I think next year I will have to celebrate twice as hard to make up for the lack of celebrating this year. I hope everyone back home had a great Valentine's day and knows that I love them and miss them!