Proxima Estacion: Forbes and Morewood

Tema and I had decided to go to Granada over the weekend rather than staying in Alicante. It was a spur of the moment decision that had to be finalized in a matter of a few hours. We found buses to and from Granada, booked a hostal, and bought our entrances to Alhambra (the whole reason for going to Granada). The only issue was that our bus to Granada left at the time we’re usually in class. We talked to our professor about it and she did not see a problem with us missing one class considering we hadn’t missed one yet. And so our journey began. At 2:50 PM we boarded a bus and at 8:00 PM we got off of it. On the ride I saw some pretty interesting things such a giant wind mills. It was scary and amazing at the same time. I also saw homes and towns built into mountains. Like actual homes inside the mountains; the doors and windows were carved on the outside and inside were the buildings. The rest of the time I was sleeping. When we arrived in Granada, Bus Station was very far from our hostel, so we got on a local bus to get there. The buses in Granada don’t tell you what the next stop is so we had to guess. (RANDOM: during this time on the bus I thought about how in Madrid they always say what the next stop is on the Metro, then I thought about the buses in Pittsburgh. For some reason I couldn’t remember what they sounded like so for some reason I combined the metro in Madrid with the buses in Pittsburgh….so it sounded something like proxima estacion: forbes and morewood…..hence the title of my blog.) We arrived at our hostel and the manager greeted us. He was very happy that we could speak and understand Spanish. He ranted on and on about every little thing in the hostel. He pointed out important things; told us about keys, showed us where the microwave was, etc. he was talking to fast and with such excitement that I started laughing. It was just so comical. He noticed that I was laughing and asked me why. I told him and he responded that his wife tells him that all the time. We then headed out to find some food to eat. I had read about a street that was famous for its tapas bars, and so we decided to check it out. We found several places, but it was difficult to choose! We settled for one that had an open table outside, and ordered our food: churrasco y tortilla española. Yum yum.
Afterwards we walked down a path called El Paseo de los Tristes or something to that affect. Once you reached the end you could see la Alhambra in all of its glory. It was really pretty because it had all these lights on it, making it seem like something magical. After being good tourists and taking tons of pictures, we headed out to see what there was to do. We found a club literally down the street from our hostel (coincide, right?). It’s a theater by day and a club by night. We went in (since it was free) and checked it out. The place didn’t get very crowded or lively until about 1.5 hours later. During this time three strange things happened, all having to do with guys (of course). First, this one guy asked me to dance and I said no. Then he asked me to kiss him and I said no. then he asked me to kiss his friend and I said no. then he asked why and my response was “Por que necesito besarte cuando tengo un novio tan guapo esperando me?” yeah, they got a kick out of that one (and did I mention I told him I was Cuban and his response was “really? Che Guevara is my hero!”…..and then he wonders why I won’t dance with him). Second, some guy grabs my arm and tells me that his friend has been wanting to talk to me all night. So he drags me off to go sit by his friend, whom introduces himself (and his name? none other than Javier…my luck and Javiers). He told me his age, 19 (BS), and asked me dance. I also avoided him. Third, some guy comes up to me and asks me if I’m from Miami, then walks away. Weird. Either way it was entertaining.

The next morning Tema and I walked up a very steep and long hill to reach La Alhambra. Being sleep deprived it was painful but worth it. We got there a little after 8:30AM, and the people at the entrance told us that we should hurry up or we’d miss our entrance to see the Palace which had the entrance time slot of 8:30. Apparently, you have a 30 minutes time slot in which you can arrive to see the palaces. And also, it’s about a 20 minute walk from the entrance to the palace. As you can imagine, Tema and I power walked all the way there. Once there we waited a bit and then got in to see the palace. And what a beautiful thing it was! The ceilings and all the columns were amazing. Everything had intricate details and awesome shapes. I took plenty of pictures (though my camera battery was dying). However, the one thing I wanted to see, El Patio de los Leones or whatever it’s called, was under restoration so I didn’t get to see it. I had to look at a picture of it  either way, it was worth it.

We then went to the Alcazar (FIND OUT REAL NAME) which is the fort of La Alhambra. We went up various torres that had magnificent views of Granada (more pictures!). It was sweeeeet. We then headed out to see el Generalife. I’m not sure what its purpose was, but it was beautiful. Big gardens with lots of fountains and flowers that smelled delicious. It’s the perfect picture spot, except for the fact that everyone wants a picture so it’s literally a battle to see who can get the picture taken. One of my favorite things was the staircase that had water flowing down its railings. It was called la escalera de agua I think. It was pretty neat. The cool thing about all these fountains is that the water comes straight from the sierra nearby. Interesting, isn’t it?

Afterwards we had a few hours to kill until we had to head back to the bus station. So we headed out and got some lunch. Paella to be exact. Yum yum. We had el menu del dia which is basically a three course meal for the price of one course; pretty awesome deal especially when you haven’t eaten anything all day. Once lunch was done we got on the bus and passed out until we got back to Alicante.