Granada and Córdoba

Thursday night/Friday morning, Lauren and I boarded an overnight bus to Granada. We arrived at about 7 am, so we couldn’t check-in to the hostel. We left our bags and headed to a café for coffee. We then proceeded to walk around the city until the Royal Chapel opened at 10:30. We didn’t realize it, but we ended up walking up Sacromonte (Sacred Mountain) and got some pretty good views of the city and the Alhambra as the sun was rising. We saw the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabel-which was pretty crazy. Then, we walked around the cathedral and saw a few other plazas, etc. We headed back to the hostel around 1 pm to check-in and nap for about an hour.

View of the Alhambra from Sacromonte

Then, we headed up to the Alhambra. The Alhambra was breathtaking and I have about 100 photos! I loved the Generalife and the intricate carvings on every column. Also, the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas in the background were pretty picturesque.

Pretty proud of this picture!

In the Alhambra gardens

Friday night, we took full advantage of the Granadian (maybe made that word up) tradition of serving a free tapa with EVERY drink. So, for less than two euros, we got a beer and a little bagel sandwich with ham, patatas fritas and a little salad. At another bar, we got empanadas and at another, it was tortilla española! Definitely, could get used to that!

Saturday morning, we went on a walking tour of the neighborhood called Albayzin. It’s on a hill as well, so we were winding our way up, listening to our American tour guide. It was pretty informative and we took some more photos. It’s a really artsy neighborhood with lots of character and great views.

Lauren and Me

We took a bus to Córdoba Saturday evening and met up with some friends for tapas...

Sunday morning, we got up bright and early, but decided to wait until the afternoon to see the Mezquita. Once again, we walked around the city…I think we went everywhere on our map! We saw the Roman bridge and tower, the Castle, many churches, the main plaza and the synagogue. Then, we headed back to the Mezquita and got there in time for mass at 1 pm, so we got in free! The columns looked exactly the same as the slides Sra. Fischer showed us in Spanish III. After chilling in the sun in the Orange Garden for a bit, we got some ice cream and headed to a park…it was a very full, but relaxing day.

Just like Sra. Fischer's slides

On the bus ride back to Madrid, they played two completely horrible, B movies: "Peacekeeper" and "Deadly Water." Lauren (she´s English) commented that these movies are why people have terrible impressions of Americans…great!

Random new food from the trip: the Ham flavored ruffles…surprisingly, not too bad!