Granada

This past weekend, a group of us decided to take a trip to visit Granada. I was a little uncertain at first because of the cost of tickets for the train and for the various places we were going to visit, but it was definitely worth every euro and then some! We had to be at the train station by 6:30am and the train left at 7 - it was a very early morning, but we got to sleep on the train. We got to Granada around 10am and started walking toward our first destination - la Catedral de Granada (Real Capilla de Granada: Crypto y Museo de los Reyes Catolicos). On our way we stopped at various buildings and statues to take pictures. In front of the Cathedral I was cornered by a clever gypsy who then proceeded to tell me that I would have a long life, that my mother was happy, etc, and then I had to stomp three times to seal the deal. Of course she wanted some money in return and I felt badly, so I gave her some (not the two euro she asked for!) and escaped, making sure I had all my belongings still in my pockets. The group laughed and said that I better not go to the Gypsy Caves or else I would end up losing all my money. Needless to say, I steered clear of those sneaky women the rest of the trip.

We made it to the cathedral and forked over some euros to see the exhibit even though we weren't allowed to take pictures. It was pretty cool. We got to see the crypt of the Reyes Catolicos (Catholic Kings) behind a glass window and a bunch of displays of items and artwork. After that we stopped by the plaza where they used to burn people at the stake but is now one of the most peaceful plazas. We had lunch there (I had lasagna -- making sure I tried new things) and then moved on to our main goal - La Alhambra!

The walk to the Alhambra seemed like miles and miles long (sorry - kilos and kilos in Europe) and it was all uphill! To make matters worse, the walkway was made up of a bunch of stones put together, making it really slippery. On the plus side, sometimes we could glipse over the wall and see an amazing view of Granada. After what seemed like hours and miles later we caught our first sighting of the Alhambra. Then, miles and hours after that, we actually made it to the front door. This place was giant! From the section of it where you could look out and see the whole city spread out before you (Alcazaba) to the gardens with the long, thin pools of water and fountains in the middle to the Generalife with its own great view of the Alhambra to the actual inside of the main building, everything was incredible and beautiful (I'm going to attach some pictures). They say that you need to have at least three hours to take the fastest tour of the whole Alhambra and I would agree with them.

Then, as the sun was setting, we took the bus down the mountain we had climbed and started to walk back up the other side to get to this famous viewing spot (Mirador de San Nicolas). After much more uphill walking, we made it to the spot right at nightfall. I can't even describe how it was in words - it was absolutely beautiful. La Alhambra had all its lights on and you could see the entire thing. Unfortunately my camera had died (of course!) and I couldn't get any more pictures out of it, but it was just like a postcard.

After feeling very accomplished and satisfied and tired, we walked down, down, down to the train station, got something to eat at a restaurant near there, and then got on the train home.

It was a great trip and I'm looking forward to having many more cool experiences in the near future!

(And I'd like to give a quick hello to Mrs. Gimeno (my high school Spanish teacher) and any of her AP class that is reading this!) (and also a hi to my family!)