The Càdiz and Gibraltar Adventure! Part 1!

Hiya Blog readers! I hope you all had a great fin de semana, (weekend) because boy, I sure had a wonderful one! And this blog gives me all the leisure to write about it! Hurrah! Exciting exciting!

So let`s see.. I`ll retrogress as usual, step back in time and whatnot- all the way back to Friday evening, just a couple of hours before showtime!

Friday night was mostly waiting around for me. I was terrified I would miss my 3 AM bus, so that night I opted to not sleep at all- easier said than done! I paced around my room, I drew, I did pushups, I all but jumped to the ceiling. Trying to stay awake after getting little sleep from the many things I had been doing (concert, arab baths) was a bit of a challenge!

1 AM rolled around, and I decided to head out- I wanted to be there a little early, and I definately wanted to stay awake! So I grabbed my trusty school backpack, my camera, and walked out of my homestay into the night sky of Granada.

Walking to the bus station took me about 45 minutes, since it is on the other side of town! Of course, being Spain, a bunch of people were still out and about as I walked the long way there. I opted to follow more of the main roads, as I wanted to stick to the lighted areas- no need to wander through a dark shortcut and get lost! But soon I was entering into the bus station, and a bit more refreshed and awake from when I had been struggling at home.

2 AM came and went, and I paced in the bus station- all but hoping my bus would soon arrive so that I might run aboard and pass out. It didnt come till about 10 minutes before 3, and a seat change later I was in the the bus. Surprisngly, the bus was quite full- but I think that had more to do with that it had come from Cartagena. But I didnt pay much attention-I was just happy to settle down and try to sleep.

I dozed from a good portion of the trip, only waking when the bus stopped in Seville, and most of the passengers disembarked from there. I then took advantage of having a row to myself, and promptly went back to sleep from there.

When next I decided to awake, my wristwatch clearly displayed 8:15 AM. I only had gotten about 5 hours of sleep, but somehow I still felt refreshed all the same. My bus was empty besides a couple of passengers, and it was a nice way to wake up-all quiet on the bus front.

I stared out my window for remaining hour, watching the countryside whizz past with dozens of olive fields. Brown, rolling landscape and the green trees made the hour go by fast- I was entertained by trying to count rows, and watching the occasional billboard zoom by.

But suddenly the hills morphed away, and lo and behold, the ocean zoomed into my point of view. I sat up higher in my seat, becoming extremely interested at seeing the endless blue- this wasn`t just an ocean, but the Atlantic Ocean.. the same one that sits on shore back home in Florida.

When we first entered into town, it reminded me a lot of Chincoteague, Virginia- lots of marshland, and reeds sticking out of the water. But as soon as we entered into the city, the buildings loomed over, and between them the glance of the beautiful deep blue sea.

Our bus finally rolled into the small bus station, and the few of us hastily climbed out to stretch our legs after a very long night. I went to go buy a ticket to Algeciras the next morning at 6:45, as really wanted to get to Gibraltar early, and Algeciras was right next door. The tender was open, and 10 Euros later, the ticket was mine. Now back to the business of exploring Càdiz!

I had seen the tourist booth as we had pulled in, and thus made my way across the quiet morning street to sit in front of it and wait. The booth didn`t open till 10, so I had about a 20 minute wait before I could hop inside. I opted to munch on one of the small cornbread-like treat I had brought for breakfast, and shoo away lurking pigeons to occupy my time.

Soon enough the tourist reception was open, and I entered in the bright, happy looking place. The staff was extremely friendly, and immediately after asking them for a map, they gave me a wonderful map, and about 10 brouchers about what to do.. in English! (My accent must give me away.) They then proceeded to explain to me how to use the map, as it not only had everything marked on it, it had highlighted roads to follow. There were 5 different roads, each one representing different parts of history- for example, the Trading to the Indies historical route, or the Medieval route. It was extremely tourist friendly!

From there, I wanted to go check and see about a hostal for the night. I had read in my Let`s Go! Book about one that offered rooftop hammocks for 10 Euro night, and for only one night, it had sounded like a fun and rather cheap deal! I then walked down the main road as traffic began to pick up, as the morning was steadily progressing through.

I easily found the hostal I was looking for, however, the bright blue doors were locked shut. I knocked on the knocker, but no answer. Hm. Maybe they didn`t open their doors till 12? I decided to try my luck later, and see if I couldn`t get a room or hammock for the night.

From there, I headed back to the huge plaza building I had seen that morning, and snapped a shot, impressed with it`s official looking front:

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The building was a governmental building of some sort, (I read the plaque early in the morning, and the information about it escapes me EDIT: I wikipedia it, and its the town hall!) and it dominated the whole plaza with its beautiful flags of Spain, Andalucia, and Càdiz flapping in the ocean wind.

My eye caught over to the adjoining part, which had an old bell tower still attached:

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The plaque talked how it used to be part of an old church, and was one of the only parts still remaining of it- the government building had protected this small part by adding it on, and it definately clashed dark against the pale color of the other. It definately made an interesting picture and eye catcher!

I then pulled out my map, and traced the closest historical route- the Route to the Indies. Being an American, I had to see this-the foundations of Europeans living in the Americas, going on have descendants, which makes who I am today!

The walk was barely 5 minutes until I ran into some more old churches, and buildings. Some were built pre-Indies period, but most of them were built after. All the money, gold, and riches Càdiz brought in from the Americas made the city turn into a hotspot overnight, which is reflected in the tall and beautiful sculptured buildings:

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Each one of them had a little sign to read more information about this signs, and also a little dot where on the route you were. A completely free tour of Càdiz- and I didn`t have to pay a cent to hire a tour guide!

I walked up and read a bunch of different signs, each one telling me when and why the individual buildings were built- however, it was a bittersweet tribute all the same- the thought that kept plaguing my mind was that all the funding for these beautiful buildings was mostly taken from a dead native. I guess I learned history a bit different with Dad growing up, which paints a more realistic picture than happier, glorious one that we associate with the golden age of exploration.

But all the same, very impressive!

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(gorgeous stained glass windows!)

I continued walking down the Indies route, but somehow the route overlapped with the Medival route, and I came upon an extremely old looking entryway:

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Definately before the trading to the Indies!

I passed through the large archway, double checking to make sure I hadn`t accidentally wandered off the Indies route- but no, I was still on it- and a huge tribute to it was smack dab in front of me, a huge tribute both to God and the golden age of Càdiz.. Càdiz`s Catedral!

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It definately wasn`t as big as the Catedral back in Granada, but the two different art forms that made up the huge church made for a definate stop and looksee. I scaled up the large steps, inspecting the front door- I had read that the Church had been started and completed in two different time periods in Spanish history, so the church reflected a difference in artistic taste- I wasn`t sure exactly what those arts were, but the color change halfway up was good enough indication for me. (I want to say neoclassic and something else... but so much has passed these couple of days, remembering specific information is super hard!)

I wanted to enter in the looming building, but the main doors were still closed for the morning, so I made to continue back on my route. But a sign right next door caught my wandering eye, happily displaying a large sign in both English and Spanish: Come visit the Torre, and see all Càdiz!

The bait was set out, and I immediately walked into the open door, fishing through my backpack to find my student ID for a discount. The ID found, I walked up to the door to the receptionist. She informed me it would only be 3 Euros, and if I was also interested in visiting the nearby archealogical museum? 6 Euros later, I had two tickets- one for the tower, and one for the museum. Excited I had things to see, I made my way up to the top- after a quick question of I wanted my audio in English, which I insisted be in Spanish, to the delight of the receptionist.

I climbed up the stairs, my mind wandering to a time I had made a similar climb in a lighthouse- but I am sure the lighthouse was not made of the same material as this old rocky one! A small metal rail was implanted into the side, indicating that this was a fairly recent addition. Having a good sense of balance is a must to scale up this winding staircase!

But finally, the stuffy air cleared with a cool breeze, and walking out of the dark staircase, I came up to the tower, with several bells guarding the tower and looking over the beautiful white city of Càdiz:

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I began to look all over the city, but suddenly a loud recording began to play, startling me for half a moment. The tower had a small radio nearby that was the location of this mysterious sound, and as I began to listen along, it began to tell me about the history of Càdiz, and all the different interesting sights to see! It covered pretty much everything, from Columbus to every church of historical value built, and as it talked along, I snapped pictures of every angle:

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(on the left part of the church, on the right the sea looking out to the New World.. eerie!)

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(more on photobucket!)

I really enojyed doing the audio tour, and I spent a good half an hour just staring from all the angles, trying to get a good feel for the layout for the city. But I still had a museum to visit, so with a silent farewell to the quiet tower, I scaled back down the stoney steps, and made my way around the church.

Next was the visit to an archealogical museum, and unfortunatly I was not allowed to take any photos of the area. That just means allof you will have to go and visit for yourselves! Description wise, it was a huge complex with thick, glass staircases so that you can literally `walk`over the site of an anicent Roman complex, as well as some Phoenician structures too. It was incredible to walk and look under my feet, to see aquaducts and edificies, stables, and more. All original, all lying there below the ground, for guests to step back and be amazed at how society progressed in the olden days. Very neat!

I spent a good time walking through the entire museum, and then it was back in the sunshine of Càdiz. It was quite sunny outside, but not horribly hot with the cool ocean breeze that continuously winded through the many buildlings. From there, I decided to go visit the Roman theatre, which during my audio tour I had managed to locate its general direction.

5 minutes later, and a couple of steps up, I had found the theatre. It actually wasn`t where I thought it was, so I pretty much found it on accident. I entered into the complex, (free entry as well!) and lo and behold, the 2nd largest intact Roman theatre in the world lay just below me:

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Sneaking past a slow moving tour group, I waltzed down the stairs, and headed for front and center of the anicent theatre. It was hard not imagine performing for a live audience while I was down there...anyone for a bit of a Midsummer`s Night Dream?

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I then walked through the tunnel behind the theatre, as other people studying the stone layout, I was definately more interested in seeing the actual length.. it did indeed wrap around the entire structure!

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The complex wasn`t too big, so I was only in there for less than 45 minutes, but all the same.. I`m still amazed how many Roman ruins in Spain! You really don`t have to go Rome to see Roman Ruins!

I walked across the street, checking out what looked like another Roman theatre, only to realize it was only a circular shaped sports complex. But I wasn`t deterred: the ocean was right next to it, so I camped on the walkway and ate a bocadilla (sandwhich), a peach and small juice my host mom had nicely packed for me! Yum!

After finishing my tasty meal, I decided to finally get back on track, and finish the rest of the Indies Route. I made my way back to the front of the Catedral, but to my happiness, the doors of the great church were now open. So, I was once again distracted away from continuing along route, and heading inside to check it out:

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(more on photobucket!)

It reminded me a lot of the Catedral in Granada, but it definately had a different charm and setting about it. Different paintings, settings, and even rooms simply for religious officials of the Catholic Church. A huge organ with wooden decorations, and large scale monuments to Jesus and Mary.... a very Catholic Church, indeed! All of the different carvings of stone depicted saints, priests, and angels all around. It was very similar in the aspect of Granada`s Catedral when I had visited before , but I didn`t recollect in Granada there being a crypt underneath the church!

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It was a definately gloomy dark down there, and a rather realistic looking wax-woman lying dead in a crypt made me stare for a couple of hair raising seconds. I remembered hearing that art went through a revolution of realism back in the day.. and I can firmly say it looked pretty realistic. Eeech!

The rest was quite dark and hard to get good pictures of, but the rest were small, simple stones with names and dates of religiously affliated persons. I was soon climbing back into the cheerful light of the rest of the Catedral, and spent the rest of the time looking at all the paintings and sculptures.

With a quick recommandation from the receptionist of the Church, and the promise of free entry, I walked to the other side of the Church to check out its museum:

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(one of the many hallways full of paintings)

There were tons of paintings, religious icons, and a good deal of golden looking statues. Religious organizations have always been excellent at preserving different parts of history, and walking through every level of this enclosure gave me a wealth of knowledge of the progression of Càdiz Church. The later the dates became, the better and wealthier looking the trinkets became... all related to the conquest of the Americas!

After touring the Catedral`s history, I simply walked into a church right next door. It was a smaller church, not as grand and big as the cathedral, but still impressive and historical:

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The thing that caught my attention most was the columns holding up the roof. As I had learned in Cordoba, the Moors liked to use geometric shapes, and they made archways in the shape of palm trees. I am 99% certain that this little church wasn`t always a church- in fact, I was pretty sure this had been a mosque before!

The time was going well into the afternoon, and after visiting the small church, I figured it would be a good time as any to try my luck out at the cute looking hostal I had seen before. Càdiz isn`t too big, so it only took me a matter of 20 minutes before I was back in the front part of the hostal. This time I got in, but unfortunately, the placed was packed full of accented youth. A quick inquiry later had me walking out, hastily flipping through my book. My hostal was full up.. where next!?

Let`s Go!, my constant friend, suggested that I try going to Pension España. A little more expensive than the 10 Euros I had wanted, but when I went, the price was 30 Euros for a night. I was just happy I was able to get a room after my first disappointment, and I wasn`t willing to go hostal hunting to find out all the rooms were full! So I filled out a quick sheet with the pension`s owner, and then proceeded to organize my things into my room:

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After inspecting my quaint room, and discovering a shower down the hall, I then flipped open my book to figure out what to do next. I wanted to try and go to the beach, but a reccomendation to not miss the Museum of Càdiz had me itching to visit. (also free for students!) So I changed into my bathing suit, threw some clothing over my traje de baño, and left my room to explore more!

A couple of winding roads later, I found the grand museum, and immediately checked in with my student ID. I got a brouchure and a ticket of entry, and I was soon exploring the great museum. What was extremely awesome about this museum was that all of these were originals- no reproductions at all! I took several pictures of what I could, but most I could not take pictures of just because of preservation purposes!

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(intact Phoenician sarcophogi! Incredible!!! More pictures on photobucket!)

The next two levels of the large museum had both old and modern paintings, from people to religious imagery, to great ship battles to displays of puppets. It was definately incredible to see these oil paintings, and guards were littered everywhere, inspecting to make sure I wasn`t an art thief. I was really happy to visit this museum, because every single piece in there was authentic!

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(hopefully not this one!)

After my intellectual stimulating trip to the museum, it was well time to go relax at the beach. I shucked my belongings on my suitcase (aka my backpack) and followed where the breeze took me. It led me straight to the port, where I watched some ships head out to see- the port of Càdiz is still open, and being the oldest known European civilization still inhabited, it`s the best in the business!

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I walked along the old paseo, enjoying different sights along the way such as magnificient gardens, cannons, and a bit more of the beautiful ocean.

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I traveled down the long paseo for a good while, until it finally opened into a beach area. But that didn`t catch my eyes: moreso were the two castles stoically perched around the beach:

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I entered in the one closest to me, on the right, and ran amuck in one of Spain`s older castles, a guard against invading British, pirates, and CSU football players:

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(of course, more on photobucket... but you knew that was coming, didn`t you!)

It was definately a lot of fun to imagine myself as a Spanish soldier overlooking the ocean, though I`m not so sure I would have enjoyed staying up all night to make sure no one invaded the place!

The beach was teeming with people and children, but I had to go see the other castle before I could readily partake in the festivities. The other castle was quite a long walk: to get to it, you have to take a long bridge way out into the water to get there. I was a bit hungry and tired when I finally reached its gates, but to my disappointment... it was closed! auggh!!!

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It was a bit of disappointment to walk all that way and it not be opened, but I at least counted it as good exercise! Even though I was beyond starving!

I walked the long way back, but I did get to study the newer part of Càdiz (Càdiz is divided into an old part and a new part) Strangely enough... it remind me a lot of Ft. Lauderdale:

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I finally made it the oceanside, and I hopped down to put my feet back into the Atlantic. I opted not to go swimming: the beach was very far from the water, and the thought of leaving my belongings unattended was too nerve wracking for me.

It was soon hitting around 8 PM, so I decided to locate the Carrefour express, and do some quick lunch shopping for my trip to Gibraltar. After buying a ample supply of nuts, candy, and bananas, (a complete 3 day meal for a student) I treated myself to a paella dinner at a nearby restaurant. I`ll have to say it wasn`t as good as the one in Nerja, but all the same, delicious!

The clock chimed 9, and I headed home to my hostel after a long and fun day in Càdiz. I took my shower, brushed my teeth, packed, and changed into my outfit for the next day. I set my travel alarm clock for 5:30 AM and then proceeded to hop into bed... and not even 5 minutes later, I was dead asleep. But all in all, an extremely successful day in my 2 part trip!

*From here, I`ll stop the entry, and continue with Part 2, which will consist of my adventure to Gibraltar and beyond! Stay tuned! :)*

Until next time!

A Rockin Concert, Divine Baths, and a weekend getaway!

Hola amigos! It feels nice to be relaxing and writing down after a busy week, and now preparing for a busier weekend! But I have nothing urgent this afternoon, so my blog finally comes front and center. Hurrah!

So I left off from Tuesday afternoon, and I`ll start from there!

Tuesday, after typing my last blog and trying to wrestle with the school computers, (apparently, it now makes me click and upload every single one.. grr!) I was ready to just chill and relax. Walking downstairs I ran into Scott, and a quick call over to Brendan and the three of us just sat in the CLM and chatted. Perhaps not the most exciting activity in the world, but I was happy to be able to relax and socialize after doing so much those past couple of days, and in the future days to come. Dinner was again at 9, and soon after I went to sleep, to make sure I had enough energy for the next day!

Wednesday was back to school in the morning, and for the afternoon me, Scott, and Brendan all headed over to Carrefour to take the traditional Scott-lead tour. We showed Brendan how to get to the Parque de Ciencias, what roads to take, and of course, navigated him down the lond road to Carrefour! It was a bit hot when we left around 3:30 PM, but the cool airconditioning of the Walmart-like store was just the thing to cool off on a hot, summer afternoon. The three of us wandered down the aisles, Scott and Brendan buying themselves things they needed, while I opted just to look at Spanish labels.

The three of us then broke up to do our own looksee around Carrefour, and I of course went to stare at the Fish market! As in Spain, everything is fresh, (Spaniards consider anything less than fresh not worth buying) so all the sea food you could imagine was sitting on a large table of ice, the melting water dripping onto the plastic mats below. Studying the fish, octopus, and other assorted critters-imagine my surprise when studying a lobster, and it`s claw arm slightly rotated downwards. I guess you don`t get any fresher than that!!!

Finally it was time for us all to leave Scott`s favorite store, and we walked the shady route back home. We all went our seperate ways home, as in two hours was the go time for.. Juanessss!!!

7:00 PM soon rolled around, and me and Brendan agreed to meet at Correos to walk together to the concert. Two other students from Scott`s homestay, Tharron and Stephanie, agreed to meet us at the Plaza de Toros so that we could all go as a group. But as soon as I was preparing my leave, a quick text message came in to ask about Juanes. Then I remembered- back at Robert and Harriet`s bon voyage, I had met a girl from Czech Republic who was also going to the Juanes concert! She was going alone, so we had exchanged numbers to get in touch when the concert time rolled around. I quickly texted her back with the info, and with a smiley faced reply, she agreed to meet us at the concert. So the time was set, and off I went!

Brendan and I met at Correos, and we walked the long road of los Reyes Catolicos. (Of course, bidding a hello to my very Granada-centric statue, Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus!) The walk itself only took us about 20 minutes, as we are both relatively quick walkers! But we soon knew exactly where the Juanes concert`s entrance was, as a long line had begun to form from one of the many bullring`s entrances. The two of us hopped in the line, and I took a quick snapshot to show exactly how it looked like:

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The air was definately filled with excitement, as several groups of people came clad in Columbian colors- Juanes` home town. We were relatively early at 8 PM, but the ticket said the doors would open at 8... but of course, they definately weren`t open yet!

Tharron and Stephanie joined us about 15 minutes later, and we all waited in the long line- idly chatting about our seperate experiences in Granada, as the line kept growing longer and longer behind us. Finally, at around 8:47 PM, the line began to move! A security guard yelled for only those who were in the standing section, and that meant us!!!!

A quick searchdown, and a rip of a ticket later, we were inside the bullring. It was a bit smaller than I expected, but all the same an incredible view. I could only imagine being a bull in this ring and coming in with hundreds of people watching, or a matador out ready to do his performance. It was definately a surreal feeling... but I`m sure the two bullring stars never had one of these in the ring:

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A huge stage was set up, with lights, hanging ropes-nothing short of a mechanical maze for sure! We hustled in close to the stage, surprised and excited that we were very close to where Juanes would be singing that night. Early bird gets the worm, and early patrons get the best spots for Juanes! About 15 minutes later, a cell phone ring indicated that Petra was here, and me and Brendan both waved our hands in the air simultaneously, and she found us easily through the crowd. She chatted with all of us, everyone interested in her home country, as the sun soon began to disappear over the horizon-thankfully, because it sure was hot out!

10 PM rolled around, and the anxiousness began to permeate through the crowd- when was the show going to start? Soon? Another hour? 45 minutes? But a mere 15 minute wait was all it took, and the band came up on the unlit stage. They began to play, and suddenly a last person came up- the crowd beginning to shriek in excitement. He came up to the center stage, guitar in one arm, the other hand grasping the mike. The lights came on, the crowd roared, and there was JUANES!

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To say the crowd went nuts is an understatement for how excited everyone was. And so close to him too! The loud sounds the speakers played as he sang wonderfully into the mike, with the support of his entire band- it was a sight to behold, seeing such a famous Spanish singer in our hometown of Granada!

He played lots and lots of songs, some of the more well-known including La Camisa Negra and Me Enamora- but the concert was definately a late one, going well into 12 AM. I took several pictures and video of the concert, so you can get a feel for what it was like that night:

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(More photos and videos on my photobucket account!)

With a following encore, the band thanked everyone for attending, and with a bow and cheers from the crowd, the Juanes group made their way off the stage. We then walked out with the huge crowd, all glad we had picked the standing spots to be that close to Juanes. It was definately a very fun way to spend a Wednesday night, and soon we all broke our seperate ways, Juanes songs playing in my head as I made my own way home.

The next morning was definately a challenging get up, as I personally do not function well without at least 7 hours of sleep. But I made it to class, despite feeling a bit out of whack the whole morning! I got to show off my new Juanes shirt to my classmates, who were definately impressed. 1 PM rolled around, and I all but ran home-still exhausted from the night before!

Lunch was a delicious serving of small fishes. I thought I didn`t like fish- I think I like fish, but it`s gotta be fresh Spanish fish! Yum yum! I chowed down on my small fish, leaving only it`s small bones and tail. Eloisa makes the best lunches, for sure!

My afternoon was mostly spent sleeping, as I was waaaaaay tired from the Juanes concert. I`m not used to taking siestas like many Spaniards, being always active, but I definately enjoyed mine that afternoon! I went outside for about 2 hours, walking around to get some of my daily long walk in my schedule, and then headed home for dinner of meatballs with mashed potatoes. 9:40 rolled around, and I bid farewell to my host family as I hurried to another Abroadco trip, a repeat one, but one of my favorites.. the Arab Baths!

I went solo, as my roommate Stephanie had class that night, (her class ends next week, and her teacher couldn`t make Monday, so they made the class up Thursday night.) Brendan and Evelinne were there waiting, and they cheerfully both greeted me as I approached. I don`t get to see Evelinne very often, as she has afternoon classes, and I morning classes! The news with her was she got to move in with a host family, and was very happy with her new residence! (She was in the dorms before.) Soon Inma arrived, with her relative Natalia along with her! (I think she was her cousin? I`m not sure!) We all exchanged greetings in Spanish, Inma verifying with me Stephanie wasn`t coming. A quick call to Scott revealed he would not be attending either, so the 5 of us were soon on our way!

I talked to Inma as the newbies chatted in the back, telling her I would be gone this weekend. I`d been debating all week on where to finally go, and I had a plan and a schedule for her: I would be going this weekend first to Càdiz, and afterwards Gibralter. She was excited for me to go, and said I would have a lot of fun while there! I heartily agreed- there hasn`t been anywhere in Spain I haven`t had fun at, and I`ve really wanted to go see the rock of Gibralter since I`ve arrived!

We all arrived at the Baños Arabes at 10 PM, and the friendly reception ran the instructions of the Baths by us again. I explained again to the newbies what they had missed, and soon we were all bathing suited up, and back in one of my most favorite spas! Once again two hours of relaxing in hot tubs, the cold pool, drinking the tastiest tea, and another 15 minute massage. The trip was definately a great respite from the excitement and energy spent at the Juanes concert, and definately helped me relax and unwind!

Soon 12 rolled around, and we all exited the baths, changing back into our clothes, and feeling overall refreshed. Inma wished us all a good weekend, and reminded us of our trip next week to see a play Wednesday night- Poeta en Nueva York!

The three of us walked us from the Baños, and I lead the two of them back to Correos, so they could navigate their ways home. We got on the topic of the weekend`s plan, and a suggestion to the Parque de Ciencias later, they planned to go this weekend to the Park! I am very happy they are going, since I had *so* much fun when I went! Alhambra tour is for them on Sunday, at 3 in the afternoon- so they`ll definately be having an action packed weekend! After our short conversation, I waved them a Hasta Luego for the night, and went home to fall asleep.

This morning was back to class, and I left class early to go buy my bus ticket to Càdiz. I was a bit confused- my Let`s Go! Book said there were 4 times, ranging from 7 in the morning to 3 AM, and the Andalucia tourist page said there were only two times, both in the afternoon. I crossed my fingers that the Let`s go! Book was right, as I wanted to get the 3 AM time- it`s a five hour bus ride, and I wanted to save a night on a hostel!

I took a bus ride over, and after waiting a long time in the huge line, (the afternoon on Friday is crazy busy at the bus station.) I was finally buying my ticket! However, I had to get a reprint- I asked for 3 in the morning, (tres de la mañana) but in Spain, 3 AM is considered tres de la noche. Ai! At least I now know, and I have the right ticket for tommorrow morning!

I walked home from the bus station, and lunch was a meatball mix with chopped potatoes. From there, I headed to the CLM to write a blog! Hurrah!

My game plan for this weekend is to leave 3 AM from Granada to Càdiz! From there, I`ll spend all day in Càdiz, and go hostel hunting for the night. The next day, dependant on bus times, (my Let`s Go! book has been very helpful, helping me guesstimate my trip!) I will take a bus over to Algeciras, and from there La Linea.. to the Rock of Gibralter! Hurrah! Sunday will be in Gibralter, and from there I`ll head to Màlaga, and Màlaga to home! Needless to say, this weekend is going to be very busy!

So, I`ll update next week with my story of this weekend, and of course, my photos! With that, I wish everyone a buen fin de semana, and a hasta luego!

Until next time!

Comings and goings in Cordoba!

Tuesday afternoon here a rather hot day in Granada, Spain, and once again here to write about the past couple of days here in Granada! So I`ll begin from Friday!

So Friday I left off with my going to a museum and also visiting some original Arab baths! After posting my blog, I left the school to meet up with Stephanie, and from we began our afternoon trip!

We first went in search of the original Arab Baths, (not the nice modern ones we went to!), and it took us a couple of minutes to actually find the place. Only by turning around and looking into what looked like an abandoned construction site did we finally find our baths:

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There was a nearby gate, but it was sealed shut with a huge lock. We were a bit confused to why it would be locked away, but according to a nearby tea house it was only opened during the mornings. But I was happy just seeing it, as it still was better than not finding it at all!

From there we only walked a matter of minutes before finding a local Archealogical musuem:

It cost us 1.50 Euro to get in, (not free since we aren`t members of the European Union) but it was super cheap to see all the things that we got to:

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(more on photobucket!)

There were different exhibits documenting different periods of time: examples included the Copper Age, Bronze age, and different periods of time where civilization was conducted differently. We spent about two hours just walking through the exhibits, seeing things such as old arrowheads and bone tools, large plates and vases for remains. I definately felt a bit more knowledgable about history after seeing all the exhibits this museum had to offer!

Afterwards Stephanie decided to go head to Granada`s bus station to buy a ticket for the next morning.. at 3 AM! She had been thinking about visiting Cartagena all that week, and after some inquiries with Inma and our host mom, she ultimately decided this was the weekend for it! She had already been to Cordoba, so the timing couldn`t have been better.. even though her ticket was to leave so early!

From there I took a leisurely stroll around town, visiting some stores and browsing for the rest of the afternoon. It was nice to simply enjoy a walk through town, and relax after a first week of school. I headed home at about 9 PM for dinner, and right afterwards went asleep, as to be able to wake up the next day at 7 AM!

The next morning I woke up, and Stephanie was long gone for Cartagena. I quickly dressed myself and grabbed breakfast, throwing a filled waterbottle and my trusty camera in my much loved Abroadco backpack, and took off to meet Inma at exactly 7:40 AM at Correos! (I use my small bag so much the interior is becoming ratty!) Scott was a mere second in front of me, Inma a minute after me. Brendan (name confusion from earlier- I heard it pronounced like`Devan`- but its really Brendan!) and Evelinne arrived exactly on time, and soon the five of us were walking to our bus location, everyone chatting of how their Friday night had gone. (Like me ,the consensus was early to bed!)

We made it to the bus 10 minutes earlier, and Inma went to chat with our profesora, (Marie Carmen, venga venga!) as we all took our seats in the middle of the bus. There were only 30 people on this trip, so it seemed a lot smaller as compared to the Seville trip. 8:10 AM rolled around, and soon we were on our way!

The trip took about 2 hours, including a brief stop to a local rest station. Marie Carmen lead the way as our bus rolled into the parking lot of a historic site, keeping up with her Venga-ing. We weren`t in Cordoba yet, but we were in a city all its in own.. the ruins of an ancient Moorish city!

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We spent about a good hour just touring through the old ruins, Marie Carmen explaining different parts, such as guard`s quarters and where the Caliph, the long dead ruler of this old place, would have lived:

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(not a bad place to be caught in, huh!)

The weather was pretty hot out, but there was luckily enough shade to duck under the trees to escape the heat. Our tour was only for about an hour, as we had to quickly pace through a good portion of the complex to do the rest of the day`s activities. But soon enough we were all back on the bus, with another head count by our profesora, and then we were headed into town!

Along the way our teacher began to talk about bullfighting, (and how she was passionately against it) and a look out the window revealed why- out in the pastures were several large groups of bulls! It was very incredible to see all of them out there, as these were the very bulls fated to meet their ends in the bull ring. It was also surreal in the fact I have recently purchased a bullfight ticket.. I wonder if those same bulls I saw will be participating in the 27th of July match?

From the Moorish ruins we headed into the city, and made our first stop in the city`s famous Cathedral/Mosque, la Mezquita! A combination of both Muslim decorating as well as Christian adorned the walls- it was strange to see such a fusion of religions inside this interesting building!

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(a slightly ironic painting of a Moor bowing down to a Spanish King.. somehow I don`t think that`s the way it exactly happened.)

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(as always, more on photobucket!)

The history was diverse as the place itself-originally an ancient Christian Chapel, it was then converted into a Mosque by the invading Moors- in turn, was turned back into a Christian Chapel when the Reconquista took over. Thankfully the reigning invaders didn`t change much of this old Church-opting instead to add on what had already been started.

2:30 PM rolled around, and lunch time with my host mom`s delicious bocadillas was just the thing for the warm afternoon. Me, Scott, and the newbies toured into the souvenir shops, Evelinne buying herself some pretty postcards, while I just browsed. An hour later an optional tour was held by our profesora, who lead us to a couple of the more recent, (Baroque-recent) parts of the city:

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We weren`t in these parts long, because a poor girl in our group had developed a continous nosebleed! Our group spent the rest of the time waiting for her troublesome nose to cease, and we were all feeling sorry for our companion-but I guess this just demonstrates how hot that afternoon really was!

After our afternoon tour, we all met once again to hop on the bus to return home to Granada. Everyone slept the whole way there-the bus was nice and quiet, and a good respite for the missed siesta. Two hours later from there, we were all safe and sound back in our university town. As my host family was out for the night, the newbies and I decided to get some churros for dinner, which they hadn`t had before! It was fun watching their delighted expressions at the chocolatey treat-and not a bad time either, since I am quite fond of them too!

We chatted about our trip and ourselves for more than an hour, and a yawn indicated it was well time for bed. The three of us waved each other off, as the night sky gleam in the awakening nightlife.

Sunday morning was another relatively early getup of 9 AM, and a hasty shower and dress later I was out in my dress. Why.. well that morning I decided to attend Mass... at the Cathedral!! I was definately excited to go into my favorite Church and spend some more time staring at the huge altar!

I then made my way into the kitchen where a new sight greeted me- a new member of our homestay, a boy of 12 years old! His name is James and he hails from Hong Kong.. and he came all by himself! James went to explain (in excellent English) that he was fond of math and sciences, and all sorts of strategy games (very smart!) but he was weaker in languages, so he came to Spain to improve Spanish. He didn`t know any Spanish at all, so for the first time since I got here, I got to take a role of a translator! My host mom wanted to ask him some questions and him likewise, and for several minutes I helped the conversation along. Hurrah!

But soon I had to get going, (and my host mom told me I looked great in my dress, she is just so nice!) and I bid my host family farewell, taking off to go meet at Correos. We had discussed the previous night about going, and the time that came up was 9:35 AM. I was five minutes later at 9:40, but to my surprise, no one was there! I hastily searched my bag to inquire on my cell phone.. and realized I had left it home to charge! Malo suerte!

I waited for about 15 minutes, but no sign of anyone approaching, and the clock was ticking towards 10 AM. (I had thought the service was at 10) I wondered if I should go by myself, or choose another day? Well, I had went through all the trouble of getting myself all dressed up, so I clacked my heels and headed on!

My arrival at the Church was greeted by the same old gypsies that hang around trying to sucker tourists into buying their rosemary, but within a minute of harassment they went off, not getting me! Being their so often makes me experienced with the heckling, so I usually tell them a firm no and pretend I`m deaf afterwards. It seems to work well!

I walked up to the locked church gate, and a sign told me why: 10:30 AM. I had an half an hour to kill, so I looped around the Cathedral, taking a longer route than normal. That only took me about 15 minutes, and when I returned to the steps, the doors were opened! Two old ladies preceeded me, and I waited for them to enter- I wasn`t sure if there was anything I should do when I entered, so I hung behind them to mimick!

The three of us entered the dim church, it dismally empty for 15 minutes before service. The two older women slowly made their way up, I lingering towards the back, watching their every move. They finally picked seats towards the very front, and with a kneel, entered in their respective seats. I chose a couple of rows behind them, (to observe!) and did a kneel as well, and sat in my wooden pew.

About 5 minutes later more people began to enter in the church, and some lights began to flick on, highlighting paintings of saints and clergy. When the doors finally shut and the service began, there were definately a little more than a handful present, but not as many I assumed would be. I would guess it was because it was the first service, or because it`s summer!

Soon a priest and a assistant came in, and everyone rose- me a second behind to figure out what was going on. The priest then began to speak in Spanish to the entire assembly, but his voice was a bit muffled, so I had a bit of trouble understand what was going on most of the time-but I di hear some things I could hear and understand: for example was a Spanish version of the Lord`s prayer, which was awesome to listen along and interpret!

Several times the assembly would kneel and cross themselves, and say chants in Spanish along with the head priest at different points in the sermon. I definately was putting on my best mimicking act as I tried my best to fit along with the crowd, oftentimes mouthing along to not seem too out of place! All in all I felt I didn`t stick out too much, which was of course a good thing.

After a final communion, (I opted not to participate as I wasn`t sure how it would go-but I wasn`t alone, so I wonder if other people there weren`t locals either!) Church was let out after an hour worth of Mass. The only disappoint I had was that I was hoping for some church music, which I had heard was very beautiful! Not too sure if it was the service I was in or just special occasions.. but one of these days I have to figure when they play organ music!


Finally being let out into the warm summer air, Brendan and I opted to do a bit of souvenir shopping, as the Cathedral is just a few steps away from the huge touristy shop section in Granada. We both bought a few things for friends and family, and about an hour and a half later, we broke off for our seperate lunches.


That afternoon was a return trip to the graveyard, as Evilenne and Brendan, ( as well as Scott!) expressed interest in visiting. We walked the cool, shaded way through the park, much unlike the frying pan route I had took a week ago! It was definately an easier way, and we spent a good two hours simply walking through the quiet graveyard. Afterwards, we walked back down to the city, running into my host mom, Eloisa, and our newest resident, James. My host mom, (who shares the name Eloisa with her daughter) then took the three of us, (Scott took off-as he likes to do!) out for ice cream! She was very happy to talk to our new buddies, and everyone got on famously as a group of friends... family!. Afterwards was a head home for dinner, and a few tapas to celebrate Scott`s birthday. All in all, a successful weekend!

Monday was back to school, and afterwards I came home for lunch, then back to work on my blog. Two hours into typing, and not achieving much, (writer`s block, ahhh!) I decided to go for a relaxing walk. I walked about two hours, going farther than I had ever gone outside the city`s limits. I stopped eventually, luckily not venturing too deep into the outskirt`s more dangerous area, but I encountered no problems. 9 PM came rolling around, so I headed home to enjoy dinner and my tales of the afternoon!

Today was class in the morning, and now I`am here in the CLM lab, typing up my blog! Today I am doing some research for what city I am going to visit this weekend, as I dont have any activities for the next couple of weekends=ample opportunity to go outside of Granada. So wish me luck as I try to find the best, (and cheapest) way to go on a mini vacation!

Tommorrow of course... is the Juanes concert! Hurrah! Brendan, me, and two other people are all going to go together to hang out at the concert in the Plaza de Toros! I am way excited...a concert of a famous Spanish singer, in Granada! A very great experience for all of us, for sure. 8 PM the doors open, 10 PM Juanes comes on stage. Wheeeeeeo! Ill have lots to tell in the next entry!

Until next time!

Adventures of the past kind!

Hola once again, amigos! It`s a hot Fridayafternoon here at the CLM building, as the main computer lab is being used for class, and I`m out at the outside computer room! I definately wish I remembered to bring my fan today!

(Continuing from Wednesday`s blog, as I just barely had enough time to post that one before we all got chased out for the night!)

So at about 3:45 me, Scott, Stephanie, and our new student Devan all met at Correos to get up and going for the Cathedral tour. I was pretty excited- I`d been itching to get inside and explore the huge church since I first saw it. Evelinne wasn`t able to join us due to her late class, but Devan`s class didn`t start until 5 PM, so he opted to show up late and come for the tour.

Inma had called earlier to check in with us, and asked us if we knew where to go. I replied yes, and to that it was just simply us four heading over to the Cathedral. I can almost say I could walk to the Cathedral blindfolded, because I`ve visited it on a day to to day basis so often!

We walked the short distance from Correos to the Arab Quarter, and I lead our small troupe through the minature bazaar before the Cathedral. Stephanie surprisingly hadn`t been there before, as she had been sick when we had toured this part of the Cathedral-so of course we had to walk through it, so everyone could know where it was.

Our group finally made it to the Cathedral, where Inma had told to me to meet at the largest door, which I associated with the front. We came up to it, but there wasn`t a tour group in sight. Wasn`t there a tour today? Glances cast around and locking on to me, inquiring had I led them to the wrong area? I said no- it was the biggest door. But where was everyone?

The consensus was to check the other side of the Cathedral, where most of regular tour groups go through. We hastily walked around the long church, not much of a bad detour since I usually only looked at the very front of the church. An outside tea vendor and other associated touristy stuff lined the way along the church, and it was only a brief look at them all before we got to the main door.

But of course, no one was there. Glances were cast around again, and I shook my head in confusion. The big door had been empty of a group, and now this- I whipped out my phone to ask Inma again, our group watching me for indication of where we were supposed to go.

A 5 second conversation later, and my suspicions were confirmed- it was the largest door, from which I had heard earlier. But why hadn`t anyone been there? I shrugged...perhaps the group was running late? It seemed we were as well as the clock chimed 4 PM, and I half ran back to the steps to make sure the tour group wasn`t just walking inside. But there still wasn`t anyone at the door...but a look over to my left hand side, a bit aways from the steps, and a medium sized group was standing in the cool shade. Apparently they`d been there the whole time, but we had took the `next to the large door` too literally!

I jogged up to the group, our professor from the Alhambra heading the group. She simply gave a quick scold at me as I hastily explained in Spainsh my companions were still coming- I had been the only one to sprint over there. She gave me the name list to check off all the names, and barked at the slow walking others to come over MAS RAPIDO! Needless to say, the other Abroadco students came up jogging up as well!

So finally, our Cathedral tour was starting, after a bit of running amuck! Our professor went to explain different parts of the Cathedral`s main entrance, and the many statues and biblical imagery carved into the front part for all to see:

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The center piece of the Cathedral was explained to be visit of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary Magdalene, and the large words above the circular enclosure read AVE MARIA. Also of interest was the huge star like window above the Mary statue, which was to represent the morning star. Different saints and archangels also are present all over the very front of the Cathedral, representing different time periods as well as biblical stories. You could say the Cathedral isthe bible in 3-d form!

After that our professor lead us to the side of the Cathedral, all the time barking MAS RAPIDO and VENGA! I could only hide my smile at her antics, because it was more for show than anything- the group was of the same mind, and would break out into laughs as she turned on to the slower moving students. With her, it`s always good to stay towards the middle!

We then looked over to some grafitti that was slowly fading on the side of the Cathedral wall. I`d seen it before, but I had naturally assumed it was similar to all the graffiti that seems to cover every building in Granada:

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Our profesora commanded our attention to the building straight across from the Church:

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And explained to us that this grafitti was history as well! Apparently, this reddish building used to be part of the University of Granada way back in the day, and as a part of graduating, the graduate students would go get the blood of a bull, mixed with a special die, and paint their initials on the side of the Church wall. The indication that this was the work of students instead of your everyday Joe is shown by all of the initials being preceeded by a `D´- representing a P.h.d I suppose that`s one way to celebrate success in school!

From there we walked over to the side of the building, and then over to the Gothic Church that was alongside the Cathedral:

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Our professor then explained to us that this small Church, a fine example of Gothic architecture and Queen Isabella`s favorite form of sculpture, was the final resting place of Queen Isabella, King Ferdinand, and their family. We then walked into the building, noticing along the way the carved initials of F and D- Ferdinand, and the old way of initialing Isabella!

The main lobby was full of historic pictures and items on display, and as our teacher went to get our tickets, I went ahead and took a bunch of pictures:

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(more on photobucket!)

There was a lot to see in the main lobby, but my eyes were definately drawn to the large scale painting of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand kicking the Moors out of Granada for good. Our teacher explained to us that this wasn`t the original painting- as pretty much everything original seems to make its way to Madrid- but I wouldn`t be able to tell the difference if you had told me otherwise! However, a nearby sign read that no photos or video recording was allowed beyond the large door, so I sadly put my camera away. I`d just have to save it for later, it would seem!ª

Finally we were ushered through the door to the tomb, and the sight that greeted us were large scale paintings of Christian figures, as well as gold altars adorning the sides, of course with even more Biblical imagery. You definately didn`t have any question in your mind this was a Catholic Church! Up further ahead though, was the huge tombs themselves. (You can do a quick google search to see what they look like!) Large engravings of Ferdinand and Isabella, as well as their daughter Juanita la Loca and Felipe el Guapo. They were extremely nice looking tombs, full of carvings of their exploits and conquests all through the huge grave.

Behind them was another golden altar, depicting several different scenes of religious history. The top showed the Passion of Christ, the below different saints and scenes from history- (a couple of them a bit gory showing the beheading of one saint, and the water boiling of another.) Another one showed the persecution of the Granada Muslims, and how the Catholic Church impressed upon them Christianity. A sad part in the long history of Catholic dominated Spain!

We then headed back to the large tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella, and then were told that we were going below them to visit the extended Royal Family`s tombs. It was a bit eerie to think we were going under the crypts, but a quick walk below showed five wooden caskets lying all next to each other. I guess the rest of the family didn`t get the marble slab deal!

After viewing the crypts one final time, we walked into the adjoning room, where dozens of different relics were on display- such as Queen Isabella Crown or King Ferdinand`s scepter. We were all drawn, however, to a large treasure chest on display- our professor realizing that most of us were from the United States, began to explain that this chest had a big significance in the history of the New World. Apparently, as legend goes, when Columbus propositioned Queen Isabella (Ferdinand told him no) to help fund his voyage, she didn`t really have any money to buy him three ships to go off and prove the world wasn`t flat. Instead, (and this part is 100% true!) she took off her earrings and necklace and gave them to him to sell for money- which he did, and got all the money he needed to make his infamous trip.

The legend goes that this displayed box was actually where Queen Isabella put her jewelry in for Christopher Columbus to go out and sell them for some quick cash. A highly interesting story, for his voyage made most of our group members who they are today!

We then had 5 minutes of free time to explore more of the display items, and lots of tapestries, Christian paintings, and relics from that long ago time were everywhere to be seen. Two statues of the King and Queen also lied on the far wall, marble etchings carved as they were bowing down in prayer. Most of the paintings were of Mary, as the Catholic religion centers a lot on her!

Soon we were being led outside again, and around to the front where the four of us Abroadco students had been earlier. Devan`s class time was quickly approaching, but he was too interested to leave- I assured him that the first day of class was always the easiest, and the teachers super nice, so they wouldn`t mind him being a little late. (Which I went ahead and verified with him later on, in which his teacher hadn`t minded at all!)

We walked through the large door into a small waiting area, as our profesora went ahead and got our admission:

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(Stephanie taking a water bottle on the right hand side!)

Then were back on track as our teacher went to fetch us, chiming once again: VENGA VENGA or MAS RAPIDO- NO PHOTOS! -to the delight of the onlooking students.

We made a right hand turn into a large room, our profesora ushering us in a close group:

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She then explained this room was where priests would go and prepare themselves for Mass, robing themselves up to go ahead and perform religious ceremonies for the large groups of Catholic churchgoers.. Religious icons were everywhere in this room, as well as huge paintings a bit higher up:

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But our stop there was relatively short, as the next part was what I had been waiting for all last month to finally see.. the inside of the Cathedral!!!

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(a LOT more pictures on my photobucket.. make sure to stop by and check them out!)

We toured for about 30 minutes in the Cathedral with our profesora, learning about different parts of the beautiful interior. One large scale outcropping was of a famous Spanish conqueror who helped drive out the Moors from Spain. His tale was a bit grisly as how he actually ridded Spain of the Muslims... the large encarving of him on his horse trampling a poor Moor to death definately showed a grimmer depiction of the Reconquest of Granada.

There were lots of paintings and dedications to Mary throughout the Cathedral- paintings of her life before the birth of Christ, and even one that depicted her own birth! It was extremely evident who was one of this Church`s favorite religious figures!

After our brief tour, we were turned loose to take some of our own pictures, and the majority of the pictures I took were from this period of time. I definately enjoy looking up at the many windows in the ceiling, (no artificial lights powered this church- all a system of windows and white painted walls to reflect light!) and the many different religious iconography. Wandering down the long hallways and looking at the masterpieces of sculpture and painting, it was hard not to wonder how humankind could even capture such beautiful masterpieces!

Finally it was time to go, and after a brief tour of the Church`s gift shop, I was back outside in the hot afternoon air. From there I headed to go to the computer lab to work a bit on my blog entry to hopefully post, but since my blogs usually take me 2 plus hours to write, I definately didn`t have enough time! Dinner was at 9 PM as usual from the ever cheerful Eloisa, and soon the clock struck 10:00 PM. For as I mentioned in my last blog, me and the newbies were going on a brief tour to the Sacromonte!

We all met at Correos at exactly 10:15, Scott showing up with the two buddies from the futbol game as well. They wanted to go to the tapas restaurant we had been to the night before, so we all decided to join them for a tapas, as it was along the way! We walked back down the long road up past the calle de los tristes, and made a stop in la Bella y la Bestia for some delicious sandwhiches and chips. Yummy! We spent a long time chatting away, the majority of the group having only a few days in Granada, and me and Scott discussing our own adventures!

But we had to get going soon to get a quick look at the Sacromonte, so we bid our buddies farewell, and the Abroadco students were on the move again. We walked the inclined path up to the Sacromonte, the newbies snapping awesome shots of the Alhambra at night, while the oldbies had fun relating the information we had learned the month before! We showed them the cave houses and how they were built into the cliffs, and even on the way back down to the city we heard the echoing sounds of a Flamenco performance. It was a definate fun night for all!

The next day was back to school in the morning, followed by an afternoon lunch of delicious pasta. I was exhausted from the two nights of staying out late, so I finally took a 2 and half hour siesta just to re-energize myself. I was extremely thankful I did, because I don`t think I would have made the rest of the day!

6:30 PM hit, and soon I was back at the computer lab, trying to get this entry up and running. But we had to visit the tea house at 8, so I quickly saved my work, and jogged over to meet up at Correos. Inma, Stephanie, and Devan were all there waiting, but also an older couple as well! I assumed that they were friends of Inma`s, so as I approached to say Hola to them as well, I got a hello back in English! Well, I supposed they weren`t Spanish after all!

It turned out that these friendly Americans were Devan`s parents, who were on a vacation in Spain for their wedding anniversary, and were spending 3 days in Granada. They were extremely nice and asked all about my experiences so far, and they even knew about Boca Raton! It was fun chatting with everyone as we waited for Jaime and Evelinne to join up. Soon they were with us, and we were off to get some delicious tea at our favorite tea house!

We walked the main road and detoured into the Albacin, everyone snapping photos of the transition from modern day to yesterday. We then reached the tea house once again, and a friendly welcome later, we were all sitting down and ordering our teas:

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We all had a great time relaxing, trying out tea, (me for the 4th time, since I like tea so much!) and all around getting along. I of course stuck with the house special as usual, as it is definately my favorite flavor of tea.

Afterwards, Jaime and Inma had to take off for the night, and the topic came up that Devan, Evelinne, and Devan`s parents had to go see the Mirador de San Nicolas. Well, as Jaime and Inma had to go for the night, the tour guiding got turned over to me! How exciting! I had been up to San Nicolas twice, (overlooking the Alhambra) and with my memory of my own tour up there, I conducted my own tour. I definately enjoyed repeating all the information and history I had learned, and taking all of them to see the sun set on the Alhambra was a big thrill. Tour guiding was super fun for me... maybe someday I can do it as a job? Who knows!?

After taking them up to the Mirador de San Nicolas, Devan and his parents (after leading them to the Alhambra buses) went up to explore the Sacromonte and find a Flamenco show. Me and Evelinne walked back to Correos, her to go home and relax a bit after a long day, me to venture off and bid farewell to my English friends, as they leave today, July 4th. But I had to go home for a quick before going off, as I had forgotten my cell phone!

A call later, and a meeting point set up, we all went to go for a couple of tapases. It was good times as always, but always the thought that this was our last night together all hanging out! It was a fun time had by all, but definately a bit sad to see my buddies for the last time!

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Finally I headed home, after exchanging Facebook addresses and hugs with my English buddies. I was bit exhausted after a couple of days of touring, talking, and all around exploring more of Granada- but it was definately worth it!

This morning was class as usual, and a delicious lunch of pork and french fries. This afternoon me and Stephanie are planning to go look around one street our host mom recommended, that had original Arab baths and a museum as well! Tommorrow is a day trip to the city of Cordoba, which should prove to be really exciting! Thought waking up at 7:00 AM and leaving my house by 7:30 will definately be tough..guess that means Im going to bed early tonight!

Oh, and as a final note, a very Happy 4th of July to the United States! It`s weird not being home for this holiday, but I`m sure all my family and friends are all having awesome celebrations!

As always, until next time!

New places and some new faces!

Blog time ago, Nati reporting live from Granada, Spain- Why Nati, you say? Well, you`ll just have to read on and find out!

Regression time!

So Monday night after typing my blog entry, I was stumped on what to do. Tuesday was a day off from classes for me, so I definately wanted to go out that night and sleep in the next day.. but what to do!? I decided to first go for a bit of shopping, and actually spent a good hour plus just looking in the touristy section near the Catedral. It was enjoyable to look at all the different souvenirs on sale, and buy some different things to bring back home!

But I wasn`t there for as long, because soon I got a quick text from Stephanie asking if I wanted to go out to eat that night, since there wasn`t any school the next day. I replied, `por supuesto!`(of course!) She texted back to meet near Corte Ingles at 8:15, and 20 minutes later, I was on the road heading towards the large department store. Corte Ingles is a store much akin to Burdines or Macys- however, I`m pretty sure that Macys doesn`t have fans for sale! Also of interest- Corte Ingles translated means `Cut of the English-`describing the special kind of cut English clothing imported would have. Nifty eh?

Me and Stephanie then met behind Cortes Ingles to go ahead and wait for our English buddies Robert and Harriet. A quick phone call later we finally managed to run into them, as they had gone to the restaurant first. They leave on the 4th of July, so we are trying to spend much time with them as possible before they go back home!

We decided to go out for some Mexican food, which was pretty OK, as I`m not a huge Mexican food fan. I decided to nibble on some nachos, as you can`t go wrong with cheesey chips. We had fun just talking about classes ending, and the rest of the month for all of us, as the sun began to set in Granada. Next time I see them this week, I will grab some pictures of them for you all to see!

After eating our dinner, I was still a tad hungry since I had only ordered a small appetizer. The general consensus was to go out for a quick tapas at a place we knew served great tapas, so we walked down the central road a ways out to the calle of los tristes, where I had visted way back in my first weeks in Granada. There we got to view the beautiful Alhambra at night, and eating some mini-sanwhiches and chips in the cool air. We had a lot of fun just talking and sharing our experiences in Granada, and I`m definately going to miss them when they leave! When we finally decided to head home, they told us they were going up to visit the Sierra Nevadas for about 2-3 days, and come back and leave the 4th of July.

So hopefully I`ll see them tommorrow, to extend some sad farewells- But, we`ve all decided that when we all visit each other`s own countries, we`ll all come stay with each other and eat all the food. So it`s all good in the end!

Tuesday morning I had the enjoyment of sleeping in until 9 AM in the morning. Nothing beats getting up without hearing the chime of an alarm! I had a quick breakfast and shower in the morning, as I very much wanted to return to the tourist shops to go ahead and look around a bit more! It was a lot of fun going in the morning, as the stores were all open, but it wasn`t very crowded. I spent all of my morning just browsing around, all near my favorite church, the Cathedral!

I then went home for yummy lunch of fried pork, which was of course veryyyy good! (The kids love saying veryyy gewwwwd in English. It cracks me up!) Stephanie was just getting up as she`s still recovering from her cold, and we all had a great lunch together, our host father joining us for lunch as well. We all chatted about our trip to Nerja, and our classes coming up, and of course, when were the new Abroadco students coming in? We were certain that Tuesday they were registering for classes, but we weren`t going to see them until Wednesday at the Cathedral.

I then brought up the question of where to buy concert tickets- because a very popular and famous Spanish singer, Juanes, is coming to Granada next Wednesday as part of his concert tour. I felt I definately had to go see him while he was here, and my host family was of the same mind! They recommended that I go visit the Corte Ingles to go buy tickets, as most of concert events were sold there. So right after lunch, I went straight over-a few floors of clothing later, and I finally found the area where they sold tickets.

Some pensive thinking later, and asking in my accented Spanish, I found out that they were only selling tickets to Juanes Màlaga concert. I instantly became fearful that were none left- but they then said that the tickets were being sold at the nearby teatro (theatre) de la Reina Isabella. So soon I was back outside, making my way over. (But not until I had bought an album of Juanes to enjoy!) But the hour on a nearby building read that it wasn`t open until later in the day, at about 6 PM. So what was I to do until then? I decided first thing first- as I always have my Ipod in my ears while walking around the city like most young adult Spaniards, I was going to go home and upload my new disc to my Ipod!

I came home, the house dark and quiet for the afternoon siesta. As my roommate will attest, I never, ever take siestas. I`m too active to sleep at anytime that isn`t night! I quietly made my room into my room, where Setphanie was getting up to go out and explore a bit, and for some afternoon shopping. I went ahead and started uploading my music to my Ipod, all the while doing some activities that needed to be done indoors, such as organizing my books for the next day of class!

Soon my ipod was full of Juanes songs, and I was ready to go out again. But I still had about an hour and a half to kill until the theatre opened again. So where to!?

I ultimately decided to go revisit the Neptuno Mall, which is very close to my house. The mall reminds me of the Casper mall in Wyoming- it`s pretty small, and hardly any brand name stores inside. But I did enjoy walking around for at least 35 minutes looking in store windows- half of them were still closed for siesta, so I did mostly window browsing. Three floors of exploring later, and stoppping by and eyeing the front inside movie theatre, I was back outside in the hot Spain air. But I still had a little under an hour.. what to do now?

I looked beyond the mall, and decided to walk to the back of it to see if there was anything of interest behind the huge exterior. I quickly paced to the back, only seeing a busy road and a bridge from a highway. Some memory pulling seconds later, I realized this area is was my taxi had taken me from the airport into Granada for the very first time all those days ago. It was definately cool to see it again!

The traffic was heading to the right, so I decided to follow the cars along the sidwalk to see if I could find anything interesting. Juanes was jamming into my ears, so I barely heard the small sound of a honk. Turning my eyeglassed eyes over to the road, a family had sided along the road in their car to ask me directions. They asked where to find a certain street name that I hadn`t heard of them, so I replied back that I didn`t know where it was. I`m pretty sure my accent gave me away, but it always tickles me when I get mistaken for a local! I then watched them drive up a few yards and ask some other adults, and from the looks of it, the family did get the directions they wanted!

I then saw a sign nearby that read Palacio de los Patos. My eyes locked on that, as my brain processed it through.. a duck palace? Where? I definately had to see this. I crossed the road to where the sign pointed, and walking along a gated enclosure, I finally found the entrance.. to the most beautiful public park I`d seen since I`d got here:

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Huge trees, dozens of flower patches, and shaded benches provided me with all the eye candy I could ask for. I simply walked up and down the long roads of trees:

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and taking advantage of a park bench:

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(taking a self photo here.. go me!)

This place was incredibly large! I decided to veer to the left hand side first, because I had definately seen a palace looking structure as I walked on the outside of the park. And my efforts did not go unrewarded, as I found a beautiful lake, full of ducks!

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Quaaaaaaack!

After visiting the ducky palace, I then walked through the rest of the huge outdoor park. I took a lot of pictures in sheer amazement, so I`d say you`d get a pretty good idea what it was like if you stop by my photobucket :http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/

Shady pathways, large trees, fountains, and the chirping of nearby birds made this mini adventure a definate repeat trip in my mind!

Soon it was heading on 6:15 PM, and I wanted to make my way back to the theatre to buy some Juanes tickets. I silently bade the beautiful park good-bye, but it`s so close to my house, I know I`ll be back! That place just made me want to bring a book and sit on a cool bench and read all day.. but with so much to do in Granada, I think I`ll stick through walking through!

15 minutes later had me back at the theatre near Correos, and walking into the labeled Cultural Center, I quickly enquired if this was definately the place where they sold tickets. They replied no.. next door! AUGH!!!!! I went next door to the large theatre, (which I had assumed only opened when they had events) and a small sign with times said they were only open from 9AM-2PM, and not on afternoons. Needless to say I was a bit frustrated with myself! But I made a definate mental note to return the next day, straight after class!

It was heading on 7 PM, and it was still about two hours away from dinner time. I decided to head over to the CLM to quickly check my email messages, and I was outta there by 8 pm. I had gone mostly to see if I had recieved an email about my classes the next day, because Inma had told us there was going to be an email sent out telling us all where to go. The email hadn`t been sent yet, so I just mentally reminded myself to check the next morning.

I left the Centro de Lenguas Modernas, and was back out on the street, making my way past Correos to head home early... When all of the sudden I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turning around, there was Inma! She was all smiles as usual, and we greeted each other- I of course, asking what the heck she was doing at Correos! Inma then explained that in a matter of minutes, the new students were coming over, and she was going to give them a small tour of the city like she had done with us so long ago! She then asked if I was interested in coming along.

Well you know what I said!

We waited on the steps for only about 5 minutes, then a young man and woman appeared out of the crowd, Inma pointing and telling me who they were. They beelined for Inma, not recognizing me at all, (I could be a Spaniard for all they knew!) and a few seconds later, I met Devan and Evelinne! (still unsure on name spelling..!) They explained to me in Spanish they were both from the United States, and both from California-but they lived in different cities. The two newbies were all smiles and friendly exchanges, so right off the bat we all got along!

Inma then lead us on our tour, which revisted the hospital de San Juan de Dios, the law school, the music school, around the Cathedral area, and finally the area where students could go to do sports. Inma got a call from Jaime in the midst of the tour, and then told me where my class was for Wednesday. I was to go back to the far off building again, in the exact same room as before! I was confused-wasnt I going to a new class? But apparently it was a new class-just strangely in the same exact room!

All of the places we visted yesterday I did my first weeks here, so it was fun to redo the mini tour, all the while getting to meet the new Abroadco students. Devan is staying here until August 16th, while Evelinne is staying for two months. So they`ll get to wave me good-bye when I head home at the end of July!

We ended our tour at the Sports complex, and Inma then lead us back to Correos, cheerfully thanking me for coming along and helping. But of course for me it was a fun trip, (In which I did get to do some practice tour guiding!) and sooner than later the three of us were waving Inma goodbye for the night.

I quickly texted my host mom that I was running a bit late for dinner, as I was still meeting with the extremely friendly new students! They were all ears to everything I had to say, and were eagerly inquiring to everything about Granada! I couldnt answer everything as I had to head home for dinner, but a question of what to do later and a discussion later, we all agreed to meet up at 10:15 PM and go out for some delicious tapas! I had just the place in mind- the place me Stephanie, Robert, and Harriet had all gone the night before! I was sure the newbies (My favorite word of the week) would love to get some traditional tapas, and view the beautiful Alhambra at night!

I then went home, and chatted with my host mom, who was extremely happy that the new students were very curious and wanting to do lots! I then told her of our plan, and with a hearty agreement I was quickly snapping up my dinner. I mentioned the plan to Stephanie and asked for her participation, and she then went aheaded and dialed Scott as well-as I called Devan and Evelinne to reaffirm our plans. Less than twenty minutes later, me and Stephanie were back outside in the cool night breeze, going to Correos to meet Scott, Devan, and Evelinne for a tapas and a Alhambra viewing!

We all met up at 10:15 PM, Scott and Stephanie introducing themselves to the newbies, them in turn introducing themselves. Everyone hit off from the start, and by 5 minutes we were all chatting like old friends. They are eager to learn, and to explore- as Stephanie remarked, I have some more people to join me in my organized wanderings!

We walked along the main road as the lights lit up of the night, the two new kids snapping pictures of everything to share with their families. As we passed different stores and parts near the main road, we all chipped in our suggestions and recommendations of the best places to visit, or the best places to find ice cream, or even just a good place to sit down! It was a lot of fun explaining stuff to them- at the moment I felt like I actually was a permanent resident in Granada!

Our small group stopped several times, I stepping in as an acting tour guide, pointing out stuff of interest that they definately enjoyed. We finally made it to the calle of los tristes, and the looks on their faces at seeing the lit up Alhambra made the late night venture all the worthwhile! They snapped lots of pictures, the three oldbies watching in recollection of our first view nights exploring Granada. It was like watching a movie of yourself all but a month ago- a glance into the Twilight Zone!

We then walked over to the tapas resturant from the night before, la Bella y la Bestia (ring any bells of a famous Disney movie?) Our group settled down at a vactated table, and began to dine on our drinks and traditonal tapas plates. Devan and Evelinne then began taking pictures of the three of us, and I was only seconds behind them to take some pictures of them!

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We all chatted about how much fun we three oldbies had been having our first month and how much the newbies were going to love it- in turn, the newbies telling us about their first few hours in Spain, and more about themselves. Finally 11 oclock hit, and I was beginning to feel a bit tired myself. So from there we all walked home together, everyone all smiles and a happy atmosphere. It was fun getting to meet the new kids a bit more in a little informal tour!

Today was my first day of class at 9 AM sharp, in the same exact room as before! I now have two teachers instead of only one, and I am in the higher intermediate level as well! Whats really nice is that this class pretty much picks up right where my first one ended..awesome for me! Everyone minus two other people are new in the class, and Im sure as the days go on we¨ll all bond like my last class did!

One cool thing in lecture I learned was with my first teacher, who was very interested in my name, since I shared it with one of her best friends. Apparently, Natalie, or Natalia, has a nickname form in Spanish.. Nati. Later on in the second half, when we were doing a verbal excercise, one my classmates called me that, to the delight of the 2nd teacher. Im thinking Im going to have that name stuck with me for the rest of the semester... but I definately dont mind, as its a neat name!

After class, I headed over to the theatre to go and buy my tickets for Juanes! Devan and Evelinne joined me as well, as they were possibly interested in attending as well! I was happy to learn that Evelinne had gone shopping in the tourist shopping area I had recommended, but saddened to learn that the University only offered an afternoon class for her level..on the other hand, she gets all the morning to sleep in and enjoy Granada at a less hectic rate!

As 2 oclock was fast approaching, the three of us made our way over to the ticket booth inside the now open theatre. I questioned inside, and a matter of minutes later, I had a standing centered ticket for 45 Euros to go see JUANES! I was definately estatic, as I had been worried there wouldnt be any left this close to the concert! The other two didnt buy the tickets as they really didnt know much about Juanes, but as I told my host mom, Im sure to make some new friends in the pit at the concert!

I then went this afternoon for a quick lunch, and then afterwards.. the Cathedral!

I dont have enough time to write about the Cathedral this entry, (heading on dinner time as I type) so the next entry will beabout all the interesting stuff I did Wednesday afternoon and night! However, the pictures from the Cathedral are up and running on my photobucket, so if you are curious, you can definately stop by and peer at them! ´

Tonight I am going to take my new friends up to look at the Sacromonte and Alhambra after dinner, as Im sure they are going to love the fantastic view! Its so great to have some new friends that love exploring and learning about Granada as much as I do!

So.. until next time!!