Granada

This was our last program-sponsored trip and it was also my favorite! Friday night when we arrived after a 6 hour bus ride, we walked to the top of the town and watched la Alhambra light up as the sun went down. (So you don't have to wikipedia it: La Alhambra- Muslim palace from when the Moors were in Spain, and then later taken over by the Reyes Catolicos). For dinner, we went to an Arabic restaurant and had hummus, tagine, and couscous. The tagine was really different from the kind I had in Morocco, so it looks like ill just have to go back to Marrakech to double check. Saturday was the big sightseeing day. We started off seeing the cathedral where the Reyes Catolicos are buried- normally Im not into visiting dead people in old churches, BUT I have a history class where so far 100% has been the "power and politics" of the Catholic Monarchs, so this was cool and more appreciated knowing the background. Then, we visited historic arabic baths (similar to the functioning ones we visited later that night!!!). We spent the rest of the afternoon at la Alhambra and the Generalife gardens which were incredible. The gardens reminded me of Alice in Wonderland with a Moroccan twist:

Fun fact: a popular beer in Granada is also called La Alhambra. Kind of ironic- a beer named after a historically muslim monument.

Today was the perfect day of all my days in Spain for the arabic baths. Im not exactly sure what the difference is between that an a hammam, but we got 15 minute LEGIT back massages instead of scrub-downs. We had to get our massages in shifts, so we waited in huge hot tubs and drank tea. I have to find one in the US and/or import the idea and start my own. Sunday, it rained... seeing the trend with every other trip? So, we headed back to Madrid early.


Next Stop: Barcelona in June!