La Alhambra

Last weekend, Nelia and I had this crazy idea to rent a car and go to Granada. Originally we had planned to go to Portugal but that ended up getting pushed back to the last weekend of November, so we decided to get out of Alicante and check out Granada. I had heard so many good things about it and I thought it would be nice to see it before I left.

On Friday afternoon we went to the airport to rent the car. After filling out all the paper work (super easy and cheap!) and packing it full of our suticases and bags, Nelia decides to tell me that she hasn’t driven a stick in four years! Automatics in Spain are hard to come by so our car was obviously manual. I was a little nervous but I thought, “Hey, once you know how you can’t really forget, right?”

So Nelia and I decided it best to drive around the airport parking lot a little bit, just to get the feel for the car. Well, to put a long story short, we ended up taking a wrong turn and merging right onto the freeway haha! Thankfully she was great and everything ended up smoothly, but it was a little scary at first . Anyway, the best part about this trip was how spontaneous it was. We had no map, no hostel reservations and really no idea of where to go once we actually got to Granada.

The car ride only took about three hours and before we knew it we were right smack dab in the middle of Granada, a pretty big city. I don’t know how much you all know about the roads in Spain, but there’s roundabouts EVERYWHERE! So there’s yeilding, cutting people off and  speeding up just to break all the time! It was scary at first because we were in a different town but we made it to downtown Granada and even found a cheap place to stay.

That night we got all dressed up for a classy dinner. We found the perfect little restaurant and ordered some wine. In Granada tapas are free with every alcoholic drink you purchase. That’s probably the best part about it! So we drank wine and had delicious tapas. After our dinner, we went back to the hotel and fell asleep. We were both so exhausted from the drive.

The next morning we got up, went to a cafe for some coffee then got back in the car and drove up toward the Sierra Nevadas to see La Alhambra, which is this gorgeous palace that the Muslim king built before he and the rest of the Muslims were run out of Spain. We got to it around 2:30 p.m. but had to wait a couple hours because they only have groups going in at certain times of the day.

The palace was one of the prettiest things I’ve ever seen. It was so Muslim influenced and I wasn’t expecting it to be so beautiful, but it was! I was in awe at everything about it. The best part was the view. Because it’s set up on a mountain, every window has a spectacular view of the city below it. It was amazing, to say the least.

As soon as we got done touring the palace we decided to not stay another night and to just get home a day early. So we got back in the car and drove home. It went by quickly and before we knew it, we were back in Ali in one piece.

It was a great trip and I really, really, really liked Granada. I hope to go back there very soon! Everything else in my Spanish life is going wonderfully. I have a final on Thursday (my third one!) and then we start our last section on Friday. I can’t believe I only have a month left. It seems unreal. But I can’t wait to get home and see all of my friends and family. I’ve missed you all terribly!

As far as Thanksgiving goes, Neil and I will be making a feast for ourselves, including a turkey! So as your all sitting down with your families in the states on Thanksgiving, know that I’m keeping the tradition over here and missing you all back home!

Siempre un beso,

Kate

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