Granada

The mezquita in Cordoba
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This past weekend was probably my best yet. The fundacion organized a trip to Andalucia for students that were interested, but we had to pay to attend. I, as well as about 50 others, decided to go. We left at 5 in the morning on Friday by bus, and stopped for a very large breakfast, covered in the excursion fee, at 7:30. We arrived in Cordoba at about 1 and went to the famous mezquita there. This mezquita was a Muslim palace and a place of worship for the Muslims. After the Christians conquered, they built a church in the center of the mezquita, which you can see in my pictures. It is one of the most known and most famous mezquitas in Spain. It was very beautiful. After our guided tour, we ate a large group lunch, and hit the road once again. The drive was gorgeous; there are huge mountains that we drive around and through on the way. We arrived in the beautiful city of Granada, surrounded by mountains, around 7:30. We stayed at a 4 star hotel, which didn’t quite compare to a 4 star in the states, but it did just fine. The shower head in my room was loose and while I showered, I managed to flood the bathroom a bit, due to the self-moving shower head which would creep its way higher and higher causing water to spray in every direction! (The wood frame around the door was rotten at the bottom from water damage, so I knew I hadn’t been the first to flood that room!) That night we went out to watch Flamenco, which was a lot of fun. We sat around the small stage in chairs, so we were very close to the dancers, which is how Flamenco venues normally are in Spain. This venue happened to be in a man-made cave, which made for a pretty cool atmosphere! (check out the pics). That night we went out on the town, and Granada, just like all cities in Spain has a VERY active night life that lasts well into the morning.

Inside the mezquita
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The next day, we explored Granada! We walked around the streets and shopped (there were tons of stores) and we walked down the street that is supposedly most like Morocco. Basically, the “morocco” street had some hippie-type shops, which sold jewelry, hookas, incense, tapestries, and other things of that sort. We met back at the hotel at 3 to go to La Ahlambra, which is a Muslim palace where the kings of Granada had that court. The gardens were large and beautiful, and quite obviously man-made – sculpted bushes, fountains, etc. We also had a guided tour here. Later that night, we went back to the “morocco” street to go to a hooka bar and café, where we smoked from the hooka and had tea. (For those that are unsure of what a hooka is - it´s the bong from which you smoke fruit flavored smoke, not drugs!!!) We returned to the hotel to find that the fundacion students had made quite a fiesta out of our rooms! It was a lot of fun to hang out with the whole gang together, and after a couple hours, we all headed to the same discoteca. The discoteca of choice also happened to be in a cave (man-made also).  We danced the night away, and had a great time; all of us fundies, one big happy family in Granada! The next day we had a few hours to bum around and then we got back on the bus. Granada didn’t really have much else to see other than the cathedral, where Isabel and Fernando were supposedly buried, but I didn’t really have much interest in going there, seeing as I’ve seen about 300 cathedrals by now. The ride back was fine, and I slept like a baby upon my return. What an incredibly satisfying weekend! I’ve come to find that one of the main things that makes a trip a good one, is the people. The people in Granada were very relaxed and welcoming, just like in Cadiz. It’s impossible not to enjoy yourself in a relaxed environment, especially when you are surrounded by snow-capped mountains and great people.