A Guiri Journey to Granada

While I was in the process of trying to decide between the numerous amazing cities in Spain to go visit for a weekend trip, I talked to my great friends Becca and Vicki and asked them for their advice on where to go. Vicki tells me that they are going to visit her boyfriend Pedro in Granada, and I conveniently invite myself along for the journey. Mind you, this entire conversation occured as we were carrying Vicki's newly bought eBay bed through Retiro Park. And by bed, I mean entire frame and slats and all. Yes, very fun process that unfortunately was not captured with many photos. But I'm sure you can create the photos in your head of Vicki, Becca, Miguel and I all carrying pieces of wood and metal through a park with people rollerblading and walking their dogs as we pass. But yes, Granada. I then promised to bring the "fun," as I always do, on an amazing trip to Granada.
A little background: Granada is a small city in the south of Spain, between the Sierra Nevadas and the Mediterranean. It was the last Muslim stronghold in Spain when they were kicked out of the country in the 15th century by the Catholic Kings Isabel and Ferdinand. It's also the sight where Columbus went to ask the Kings for money to go exploring. With that said, the city has a lot of amazing Muslim architecture and Islamic building, as well as a pretty cool Columbus statue.
The city is about 4 1/2 hours south of Madrid, and we took a Thursday night seat. Since there were 3 of us going (Vicki, Becca, and I), I was lucky enough to get to sit next to a stranger. And I hit the jackpot, getting a guy who smelled bad, talked loudly on his phone, and kept leaning into my light space to read his newspaper. Yeah, great guy. And after we stopped for food, he got into a great fight with the lady sitting in front of me. When he got on the bus, he starting shaking her chair, which was down pretty far. I at first thought it was a friendly joke and he knew her, but then realized he was serious after he started hurling insults her way. He was not happy with the fact that her chair was so far back and all in my space, even though I insisted I was fine. The bus had started moving again by this point, so the bus driver STOPS THE BUS and comes back to deal with this little scuttle. He asks me if I want to move seats, and I am pretty much crouched down saying I'm okay and I don't care and just wanted to be left out of it. The lady in front of me was really nice to me about it all, but my ol' seat buddy would not let it go. Luckily I could just put my headphones in and tune him out.
Fortunately, this was not a preview of what the entire weekend would be like. The three of us had a great time in Granada, and had a great city host in Pedro. He has lived there and studied for 6 years (and is from a small village outside the city), so he knows the city well. Unfortunately he is taking the GRE in a week and couldn't show us around because he was having to study all day. I know the GRE was really tough for me, so I can just imagine how it would be for a Spaniard whose English is just a second language (even though he is very good at English). Luckily Becca had studied in Granada for a semester in college and Vicki had been to Granada many times, so we were great between the 2 of them.
The highlight of my trip was definitely the Alhambra. It is the fortress/city that served as the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. It was built in the 9th century and kept being added onto over the years. That being said, there are numerous elaborate palaces and gardens here. A lot of them have amazing Islamic carvings that make the building magnificent. It was in the running to be one of the "New 7 Wonders of the World," but unfortunately didn't make the cut. I know why it is in the running though, and it definitely is on my list of 7. The carvings were so elaborate and were everywhere. And the architecture was memorable. I definitely seeing myself going back there again while I'm here in Spain.

Me in one of the main courtyards.
Some of the awesome architecture in another courtyard.
An up-close look at some of the carvings that covered pretty much every wall.

One of my favorite areas inside the gardens of the Alhambra. My camera battery had died at this point, but luckily I was able to use Becca's battery.
The group (me. Becca, and Vicki) outside at the Alhambra.

Granada had many other amazing parts to it, including:
- A really cool cathedral, which we saw a flamenco group taking pictures in front of on Sunday.

The cathedral, and the flamenco group posing (possibly for an album cover?).

- Lots of cool markets in the Arabic Albaicin, including cheap hookahs. Yes, I bought 2- one for me and one to give as a gift.

One of the streets in the Albaicin, the old Muslim area. It was filled with shops and crafts.

- Free tapas with every drink you got. For those of you who don't know, tapas are the common food here in Spain. They vary, but are normally little sandwiches or croquetas or something like that. And here, they were good.
- Great views of the Alhambra with the Sierra Nevada's in the background from the lookout point.

The lookout point across from the Alhambra, complete with man playing classical guitar and singing. It was a little too cloudy to see the Sierra Nevada's in the picture.
And of course I had to jump in front of the Alhambra.

In all, there was a lot of great things that I loved about Granada. I can't wait to go back and see it again!

Oh, and a guiri is what they call a foreigner. It's kind of like "gringo" in South America, except pretty much always used in a friendly manner. So yes, I'm a guiri.