Two week before this one, we had the week off of normal classes to travel with our Travel Class. My class went to Andalusia (Southern Spain) and as a class, we were there from Tuesday until Friday.
Córdoba:
We spent the first day in Córdoba and then continued on to Sevilla that night. In Córdoba we saw the Mezquita-Catedral. It was very beautiful, but Helen and I both decided that we would have liked Córdoba much more had we ventured outside of the tiny touristy town that surrounded the Mezquita-Catedral (it was honestly one store after the other with the same postcards, purses and tacky souvenirs all boasting "I ♥ Córdoba! I ♥ Córdoba! I ♥ Córdoba! I ♥ Córdoba!" so I really did not feel comfortable buying these things as I LIKED Córdoba, but I'm not sure it made it to the "♥" echelon)
My Favorite Part:
The inside of the Mezquite-Catedral (because of the beautiful craftsmanship and because I made a new friend - Tyler [seriously one of the best guys you will ever meet. This was actually proved during a particularly uncomfortable conversation on the following day where Tyler alone restored my faith in the male population]) and the cute bull I bought at one of the tacky tourist "tiendas." [okay I caved but it had no ♥ on it and look for yourself... it's very cute]
My Least Favorite Part:
Realizing that my lunch was not big enough (and covered in tomato because that is what our señora packed us) and getting a bag of chips that ended up making me feel gross and sick... because I ate the whole thing in about 7 minutes.
Seville:
We arrived in Seville that night with enough time to get to our rooms, shower and head out for dinner. We were on our own for dinner so I attached myself to a new group of amigos and we went off to explore our new city. One of my nuevo amigos had been to Seville before and remembered loving this particular restaurant. He knew the general direction of the restaurant and warned us that it might be a little bit of a walk to get there. Surprisingly (as the streets in Seville are not only not parallel [one of the reasons it is hard to navigate in Madrid still] but they are often not marked and when standing in the middle of an intersection, all of the streets look exactly alike) we got there with fairly little trouble. Once we got there we sat outside and ordered 5 plates of tapas for four people with the intention that we would sample the tapas and then order larger plates. I am not quite sure if I have mentioned it before, but I am a pescatarian. This means I eat fish. However I do not usually tell people this A. because I would prefer something other than fish usually (they have feelings, families and friends [<--maybe this is a stretch] too) and only eat it if i. my hair is falling out ii. it is the only non-cow/chicken/turkey/rabbit/duck/quail/hamster thing on the menu iii. my mom makes it for me iv. I am in a different country and trying to embrace the culture... and B. because usually when I tell people that I am a pescatarian, they think I am telling them what religion I am ("Oh Pescatarian! What makes you different from all the other Protestant denominations?") Here at this tiny little local restaurant with 6 tables inside and wooden chairs outside I had the best fish I have ever had (other than my mothers salmon and Sam's halibut of course). It was swordfish marinated with oranges and red wine. It did not just melt in my mouth. It made my mouth melt. (I tried to write more about my evening after this but everything seemed so trivial after the swordfish)
The next day we went to Los Reales Alcázares . It was unbelievable. Every building and Cathedral we have seen has been absolutely beautiful in its own way but there is something about gardens….the flowers, the trees, the fountains, the fact that this specific garden was created for the enjoyment of the kings lady lover...they are more beautiful than any building could ever be.
After Los Reales Alcázares, we wet to the Cathedral and it was very beautiful however my favorite part was the “photo shoot” we had before entering the Cathedral and the view of the pink and yellow buildings from the top of the Cathedral. Here are some of the pictures!
{I have NO idea what this is or why it is hanging outside the Cathedral}
By the time we were done seeing the Cathedral we were all absolutely starving. Not only had it been five hours since we had eaten but it had been five hours spent on our feet. At this point all of my brain/mouth filters had completely left me (they were busying trying to access any reserve energy stored in my outer left ankle) and I was just beginning to complain loudly about how we should stop talking and start eating when they took us to a restaurant. It was actually a very nice restaurant complete with bottled water, “agua con gas” (bubbly water) and wine on the table when we arrived. They did not know that Helen and I were vegetarian (even though I had been called into one of the program directors offices and berated for my dietary needs two weeks before so that they could plan around my strange eating habits) but we were in Spain and “When in Spain!” So we smiled, ate some fish and then went straight to Yogurtlandia. Yep. The Yogurt Land of Spain! And the best part was I NAVIGATED US THERE ALL BY MYSELF!! (Keep in mind that the more navigationally inclined of the roommates is by far Helen and that I always seem to want to go in the exact opposite direction so this was a huge feat for me!) After Yogurtlandia, it was siesta and then the whole dinner production all over again. We again went to this hole-in-the-wall place that was amazing (Patatas Bravas [essentially a very upscale version of In-N-Out’s “animal style fries”] will be my demise).
Oh and I almost forgot! In Seville we saw a flamenco show. [DISCLAIMER: I have thought about how to write this in the most appropriate way as my parents are my two biggest blog followers—love you mom and dad— but I cannot give it the credit it deserves without including some PG-13 language. So if you are at all squeamish in this regard, please just hop on down to the next paragraph.] It was the first time I have ever been in a really “sensual” setting with more than one other person. Watching them dance was like nothing I have ever seen. There were times when I felt like I (sitting in the room) was interrupting something very private (everyone was sweating). And then there were other times that I felt like my presence added to their passion. I am sure that as you read this you are thinking “Kendra probably had a little too much Sangria that night” but no. Ask anyone else who was there (and has half a soul)… it was very emotional (in every good way) for everyone involved. Bottom line: when in Seville, go to a flamenco show. It will energize, inspire, and excite you (again, in every good way).
{Helen and Kendra pretending to Flamenco}
Granada:
The next morning it was off to Granada! The first thing we noticed upon our arrival was a gelateria right next door to our hotel. By “right next door” I mean they were sharing a wall. Gelato is almost as big of a weakness as Patatas Bravas. So of course we went to our rooms put our stuff down and went to taste-test the gelato. We approved. Then it was off to lunch!! The only noteworthy part of the lunch was when Olivia took apart the creatures in the Paella 6th grade dissection style.
{that used to be a creature...}
Then we went to the Alhambra! It was very beautiful, but my favorite part was Generalife. This is the garden part of the Alhambra… and I took 338 pictures of the gardens alone. I am going to try to make another Smilebox Slideshow so keep your eyes pealed.
And now I am getting impatient because I just want to tell you about all of the really fun/funny parts of my trip but (for some reason) I feel obligated to inform you about each day (the main points at least) a little so here is the highlight reel.
That Night: We decided that “No pasa nada” (our favorite phrase here, roughly translated meaning “there is nothing happening/no problem”) should be “Si pasa mucho” (we decided this would be “umm there IS a problem”) when we were dragged around on another tour at ONE IN THE MORNING. Okay I know the Spaniards have a different body schedule but they expected us to be up the next day at 7:30. We did not get back until at least 2. “Si pasa mucho” did not begin to cover the cranky that plagued my next morning.
The next morning we went to la Alcaiceria y Capilla Real. It was beautiful but I was so cranky and tired that sadly, I did not appreciate it as much as I would have liked.
Most Exciting Part: Isabel and Ferdinand are buried here!! There is a supine statue of Isabel on her tomb and her head is resting on a pillow. Her head is making more of a dent in the pillow than her spouses because, to quote our native Spanish-speaking tour guide, “she had a lot in her brain.”
Then our classmates left to go back to Madrid.
Here is the fun part:
Initially, Helen and I had planned on traveling to Valencia, Spain. However, as previously mentioned, Helen is wonderfully resourceful and she has enough wits about her to think ahead and realize that we would be wasting precious hours (and MUCHO dinero) en rout from Granada to Valencia. Oh and she checked the weather and it was supposed to rain.
So Granada it was! In the process of out-loud planning, we rounded up five other girls that would soon become “The Granada Girls” (Girls- throw up your G’s!).
After we were on our own, with ice cream in hand, we attempted to find our hostel. Somehow I was put in charge of this. AND AGAIN I GOT US THERE!! For the girl that turned onto a freeway off-ramp, this is an amazing accomplishment. As we were walking, we were admiring the beautiful main street and saying how lucky we were to be so close to center of the city when our map told us to go down this small urine-smelling street. This was when we started to become skeptical. This my first hostel experience. I had no idea what to expect. Then we arrived at Oasis. We walked into a beautiful, clean hostel and greeting us was a sign that said “Dinner Party @9 tonight- Paella!!” We were sold. After getting checked in, we found our way to La Rivera, a tapas bar recommended to us by Helen's “Lets Go Spain! On a budget” book. {VERY FUN FACT ABOUT GRANADA: When you buy a drink, the tapas are FREE!!} We made friends with our waiter and rapidly found ourselves with a nice afternoon “warmth” that only a good Sangria (y tapas gratis!!) can bring.
After La Rivera, we went back to Oasis to take a nap. We walked into our room (we had 7 of the 10 beds) and tried to judge the genders of the remaining roommates. On the bottom bunk diagonal from me we saw Time Travelers Wife. “Okay this one is a girl!!” I said excitedly.
Later, when a jovial English man walked in and sat down on the bed, we realized that my initial assumption was very wrong. This was Adam. Adam is a teacher of economics in England (but secretly aspires to be a writer). On the last day we realized that we had read almost all of the same books and we had a very nice (emotional on my part) chat about Time Travelers Wife.
After our nap we went to the Dinner Party and had Paella!!
SMALL WORLD ONE:
At dinner we made friends with this guy that had been “couch surfing” with his buddy for over a year. He was from San Diego.
Then we went out. We followed Molly to her friends favorite bar (she had a friend studying abroad in Granada) and had a blast dancing to music from Grease and laughing about the guy-prowlers that kept creeperishly telling us about their 5-Star hotel rooms… “tengo un NOVIO. NO-VI-O.” At the end of the night Helen and I decided that we preferred Perrier to another mixed drink, so we spent our last few minutes dancing delightfully sober.
SMALL WORLD TWO:
When we got back to our hostel, we met more friends. One of them turned out to be Keely (best friend from home)’s elementary school classmates. WOW.
The next morning we enjoyed our FREE BREAKFAST (courtesy of Oasis!) and then went out to enjoy the day. I realized that I had no more clean clothes (again, I packed less than the boys) so I walked to one of the little stores right next to our hostel, bought a skirt and was good to go!
By lunch time we were hungry again and went to a little Indian place that we found. We enjoyed lentil soup and naan and each others good company.
SMALL WORLD THREE:
We were just finishing our lunch tea when a girl walked into the restaurant. “Brooke?” Helen inquired. “Yes?” Brooke replied. Turns out Brooke and Helen went to senior prom in the same group.
That evening we hung out with our new friends and bar hopped around our hostel. I had 3 servings of Patatas Bravas (one at our first bar, one at the second and the leftovers that no one else wanted) and then got a baked potato. {I have not had any potato since}
SMALL WORLD FOUR:
That evening a group of girls walked into the hostel looking for "Brooke." (This is the same Brooke that is mentioned above) The man at the desk was very confused (it was 1 a.m.) so I went over to tell them that Brooke and left to go out about an hour before. They saw that I spoke English and here is how our conversation went:
Them: Wait, where are you from?!?!(here was when I busted out the cute pictures of me and Lindsay)
Me: San Diego! Well Pasadena, but I go to school in San Diego!
Specific Girl: Im from san diego!... But I go to school in Davis
Me: oh really!? Are you in a sorority?
Specific Girl: Yes...??
Me: Tri Delt?
Specific Girl: (creeped out now) yes...??????
Me: Do you know Lindsay Van Amringe?!
Specific Girl: YES OH MY GOSH SHE IS THE NICEST PERSON EVER DO YOU KNOW HER!??!
IF YOU GO TO GRANADA YOU MUST:
Go to Los Italianos (another recommendation curtsey of Lets Go!)
They have 1 euro gelato that is the best gelato I have ever had. Ever.
The rest of the weekend we passed blissfully in the sun, in the city of Granada enjoying the culture, the shops and again, most importantly, each others company. There is something about traveling that has the potential to “make or break” friendships. After this weekend, I know that as a member of the Granada Girls, I will always be able to “throw up my G’s” at a fellow GG and smile knowing that we shared something so very special. Thank you :)
No comments:
Post a Comment