A popular phrase in Spanish, "Sí nos has visto Granada, nos has visto nada" (If you haven't seen Granada, you haven't seen anything), was a big motivator for my birthday weekend trip to Granada. As I would prefer to see everything rather than see nothing, I was very excited to go! But, before we get to Granada, here's a little about my 23rd birthday!
On Wednesday night, my friends came over and we had a tapas potluck with lots of delicious food! My friend Haley even brought pigs in a blanket, which cracked me up! We had a nice "tranquila" time, which was good because I've been feeling under the weather, and they surprised me with a GUITAR! WOW! I was not expecting that! Needless to say, I was VERY VERY excited about Raul (that is the guitar's name), and about having my lovely friends over to celebrate with me!
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| tapas from friends! |
The next day, I relaxed a ton, had coffee with my neighbors, and then Krista and I headed to Albacete to hang out with our friend David before taking a 2:30 am train to Granada. Albacete was so fun! We got some cañas and tapas and had a blast, and then headed back to the RENFE station to catch our train.
I would be lying if I said it was the best train ride I'd ever had, but it got us there, and we explored for a little while until Helen, Jaclyn, and Natira joined us! Before they came though, we walked over to the Cathedral area surrounded with orange trees, markets, spices--Granada is just very unique in my opinion! I really liked the feel there. Very cool. After the other ladies arrived, we went out to get some cañas and tapas and then went back to the hostel and played BS--that was a throwback for sure! Haven't played that game in ages, but it was super funny and we had a great time. We had a really late dinner, but I left early because unfortunately I wasn't feeling well. The next day I felt a lot better, all recharged and ready for the ALHAMBRA!
I definitely needed all my energy because it was a LONG walk through the Alhambra. Totally amazing and worth it, but we were there for about 5 hours. It's huge people, be warned. Huge, yet one of the coolest things you will ever see. I will let the pictures do the talking here.
Needless to say, I loved it. Also, I ran through the Generalife gardens pretending like I was competing in the tri-wizard tournament. And you wonder why the rest of the world hates America.... haha :) Seriously though, it was lovely and I am excited to go back again when Jackie comes!
We also got a nice view of the Alhambra from a high point of the Albaycin neighborhood, and then headed back to the hostel to get ready for dinner (after a Kebab snack, of course).
Helen and her great researching skills found a nice Moroccan restaurant that was a lot closer to our hostel than we realized. After all of us piled into taxi cabs for literally a two minute drive and got lost walking everywhere, we finally found the restaurant, Arrayales, and had a delicious meal with the best house special lemonade I have ever tasted! It was so nice to celebrate my birthday with these lovely ladies is such a cool place. I know there is still so much to see, so in May, I'll see even more I am hoping!
I would like to thank my beautiful friends Helen, Jaclyn, Natira, Corinna and Krista for joining me on this great weekend. Natira gets extra props for sympathizing with my illness and telling me to drink "a crap ton" of water. Also, a big thanks to HELEN for the YORKSHIRE tea and my new special mug, haha :), and to all who gifted me Raul, my new Spanish guitar, whom I am sure will help me relieve stress and relax! I am very lucky to have such great friends and to have these travel opportunities. So, year 23 started out in Spain...let's see where it takes me next!
besos!
Mary
