Granada

Friday and Saturday was our trip to Granada! Granada is a city about three hours to the East of Sevilla. It's a bit smaller, but still a city and very hilly. There is a castle and a palace on a mountain and it's very scenic. The city has more of a hippy feel, with scarves and artwork spilling out of the shops, and people playing guitars in the plazas. There is also a huge Arab influence in the art and architecture. The most exciting thing about Granada is that when you buy a drink, you get a free tapa, or snack.

We left for Granada Friday morning, hoping that it wouldn't rain. We went into our hotel, which was pretty swank. We had some time to wander around then and eat the bocadillas (sandwich) that our Senora packed us for lunch. The worst thing about Granada is that we had no directions and received only a sub-par photocopied map from our school.
We went on a visit to the Cathedral. The catheral in Granada is of course, smaller and very bright. Everything was white instead of gray. Then we got to see the royal chapel, which is the burial place of Ferdanand and Isabella. This was fun because it is one of the things we have studied and analyzed in our Art History class and we got to see it in the flesh! The alter pieces are spectacular in real life.


Then our professors left us to have three hours of free time in the city and find our own way back to the hotel. We went into a lot of shops and also got Gelato! Dinner in the hotel was fancy. We had steak and vegetables and also ice cream.
Friday night, I went out with some friends who had a friend studying in Granada. This was fortunate because she knew exactly where to take us for tapas. At the first place, I had "Vino sin alcohol" aka.. white grape juice and a tapa of bread with egg and artichoke. At the second bar we had fresh squeezed orange juice for 2 euros and a free hamburger tapa. The Hamburger tapa was delicious! We got a little lost going home but we successfully asked for directions.

On Saturday we had the delicious hotel breakfast, and then went to the Alhambra, the castle on a mountain with an amazing view, the palace of Carlos V, something else we have analyzed in art class, and El Generalife, which was the garden. The palace is very Arab, because it was constructed by Muslims.

After the tour, we took a bus down the mountain and up another mountain to El Alabyzine, which was an old Arab neighborhood. It consisted of white houses built on the side of a mountain. We came to a very hippy plaza with people selling jewelry and art and of course, guitar music. We also saw a bride, which was fun. We then made the trek back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch we took the bus back to Sevilla.
Pictures soon to be seen.