I said I would update more often, but I lied. It's been another couple weeks since my last update, and it's been a couple weeks since I got back from Spain, but here goes nothin'.
My adventure in Spain started in Malaga, a fairly good sized city on the Costa del Sol, in southern Spain. I stayed outside the city at a place called Benalmadena. While the beaches and accommodations were great, Benalmadena was FILLED with older Brits on holiday. Not exactly what I expected. When we went into the city, and went to the beach there (the beach was not NEARLY as nice in the city) we found many more people our age. It would have been nice to see people closer to my age, but I was on holiday, and was relaxed as person could possibly be. I got a little tan (you know, bro, a nice base for the summer), watched some food network, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
After a week on the beach, my adventure continued in Granada. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, a couple hours north of the coast. From the city, you could see houses built up onto the sides of mountains and snow capped peaks in the distance. The city has been around for quite awhile, so there is some great history and it's most notable example of this is Alhambra. Alhambra was built in the 14th century, and it is essentially a castle. It's also much harder to get tickets to than we anticipated. It's a huge fortress, how do tickets sell out?! Anyway, we got a workout hiking up and down hills and exploring. There were some excellent views over the city and into the mountain range. It made me miss the mountains and Denver. Since I was travelling the week before Easter, there were the very strange parades that followed us from city to city to city. I say they are strange because I don't understand them and they are a HUGE deal to the spanish people. Streets are completely blocked off on weeknights, sometimes multiple nights in a row, and the people in the parade seriously look like they are members of the KKK. They wore hoods very similar to those worn by members of the KKK, which would be strange to any american. A quick google delivered me a short explanation of the rituals. They obviously were in no way affiliated with the crazy racist cult, but it was weird to see nonetheless.
While football (soccer) isn't big in the US, it's almost a religion in Spain. The two biggest teams in Spain (Barcelona and Real Madrid) were playing in the Spanish Cup Final while I was in Granada. The game was on EVERYWHERE, and everywhere people were watching it. It ended up going into extra time, but while we were walking back from watching the Arsenal game (hehe, I found a bar in Spain, on the night of the Copa del Rey final, that was playing Arsenal on one of their tvs. win.), we were walking through a square and the was an explosion of cheers and shouts. SOMEONE SCORED! I couldn't see the tv, but I KNEW someone had scored. Real Madrid went on to win, but as the final whistle blew, I stick my head out of the window of my hotel room and could hear loud, synchronized cheers across the city. It was something I won't forget. And to think if the game had been the next day, we would have been IN Madrid. THAT would have been something to remember. The streets in Madrid were lined with people cheering as the players rode through the city on a double decker bus after the win (I saw videos). It was a huge deal, especially to come against Barcelona.
From Granada, a 5 hour coach ride brought us to Madrid, the final stop on my 'Spring break' if you will. The weather in Madrid sucked. It was cloudy and chilly most of the time with intermittent showers. Highlights from the capital of Spain include:
1. Parque Retiro- a huge park, very enjoyable.
2. Tapas
3. Black paella against my will, it was still good though.
4. Sangria, lots of it
5. Not being able to choose where to eat.
6. Long lines and Museo Prado (an art museum)
Madrid was nice, but I think the weather kind of ruined my impression of it and it wasn't as good as it could have been. Granada was my favorite city of the trip, and one of my favorite cities that I have been to thus far. I didn't know what to expect, but it didn't let me down.
I'm happy to be back in London. I feel comfortable and safe here. It is honestly the only city I have been to that I can actually see myself living in. This may have something to do with language barriers, but maybe it doesn't. May is finals month, and I have four finals, the first one in a week. So if you will please excuse me, I have some revision to do.
ADIOS!
