Breakfast was absolutely delicious. I had one of my favorite cheese, Manchego, which I forgot was Spanish (and hope to eat a lot more of), Spanish ham, potatoes, my first churros of the trip and some fruit. A nice big breakfast! You know what I haven't seen yet at breakfast? Nutella!! I thought it was everywhere in Europe; I mean it was last time I was here. I guess maybe it's not a as popular in Spain. I was counting on taking a a few on the road with me for when I get a little craving. After breakfast and a check on the news on my iPad, it was on the road to Granada to see the Alhambra, which apparently is the largest tourist attraction in all of Spain. Who knew? I had never heard of it before but decided to read up on it in my travel book on the way there.
The ride from Valencia to Granada is a long one and we made one pit stop and a lunch stop as well along the way. I napped three more times. Who am I? At the lunch stop, I was finally able to get some fruit (delicious cherries) and a salad (although it had iceberg lettuce and a few other measly veggies). I feel like I've been eating so much starch here and am craving greens and want to eat them when I can. I also though, finally bought my first Kinder bar. I had at least one of these almost every day the last time I was in Europe and don't want to make a habit of it again, but they are so good. I know I can get them in the US, but I would never buy one there, plus they just taste better here!! On the bus we also learned some information about the places we were passing (olive, almond, and orange tree groves. Homes built into the caves. The Sierra Nevada. The resort town of Beniform with its awesome high rise buildings and nightlife. And a lot more.) I also learned some other fun Spain Facts:
- Spain has 17 states (and two autonomous cities in Morocco).
- the "-th" lisp sound in Spain that we often here is a pronunciation rule. Any word with a "c" and is followed by an "e" or an "i" it is pronounced -TH. If it's followed by an "o", "u" or "a" it's pronounced as a "K." Now we know. I like to pretend it's a lisp though. Sue me. Or should I say, Thu me.
When we finally arrived in Granada, we went straight to the Alhambra for the tour. This massive royal palace and fortress was cool; unfortunately my tour guide sucked. He was super slow and super boring and I felt it took a little away from the experience. But there is nothing I can do about it. I just kept separating myself from him and looking around. Every time the guide would talk about the moors, I would do one of two things: 1) wished I paid more attention in history class because I didn't know much about what he was talking about and 2) kept replaying the bubble boy episode of Seinfeld in my head where they plaid trivial pursuit and the answer was moors, but there was a typo on the card that said the moops. Hilarious. I kept giggling to myself over and over again. "Oh, Noooo, I'm so sorry. It's the MOOPS. The correct answer is, The MOOPS." It's never not funny!!
The architecture inside the Alhambra was so detailed and magnificent. The tiles and the carvings were so intricate. It's always hard for me to believe that Royals lived in these huge places with all the rooms and accommodations that were so luxurious back then...and now too. It's so cool to think about. After seeing the palace, we walked to the Generalife gardens, the summer palace, which is beautiful. There is so much greenery and flowers. It's so well kept too and the maintenance must be so hard. The little girl in our group who is with her family (the ones I sat with at dinner at the Maritime) was following me around the whole time. She is super adorable and very smart and wherever I'd go, there's she be. It was too funny having a little shadow with me today. Her family and I were both getting a kick out of it. I have always been good with kids and they seem to often take a liking to me so it's always flattering.
By 6:00 it was time to leave and finally head to the hotel. I had time to myself until dinner at 7:30. I got my stuff settled and then of course hit the town to do some exploring. Luckily our hotel was not only super nice again but also centrally located directly in the center of town. I went searching for the cathedral and thought that I found it, but wasn't quite sure. I knew I had a chance after dinner to really look for it. I then just did a little window shopping but decided to go in a Mango and a fitness store. Still no purchases.
Dinner was at the hotel and I was so hungry I ate three rolls right off the bat. Yay carbs! The main dish was lamb and potatoes which was just okay and there was some kind of chocolate tart for dessert which was way too rich for me after one bite. And after that one bite, I decided to just leave and head out to explore some more. I hit the streets of Granada again. It is such a cute little city and seemingly easy to navigate. I didn't even use a map and just hoped for the best. I set my heart on searching for the Cathedral cause I really didn't think what I saw was the real one. I wandered a bit and then upon finding two two other building that I could have guessed to be the Cathedral I accidentally stumbled upon the real deal and I knew the second I saw it. I'm so glad I kept walking around. And to make things even more awesome, there was a band with a girl going flamenco over there. It was awesome to see and such a great cultural experience to be a part of. I had such a smile on my face the entire time thinking how lucky I am to be doing what I'm doing right now. I've had it all trip but at this moment I had such a sense of gratefulness I get to experience these things and it really is such a fantastic opportunity. I am also so proud of myself for having the independence and confidence to do it and be so excited about it every single day. Go me! But seriously, it makes me so happy.
As I watched the brilliant sunset in Granada with pink and purple skies, I literally couldn't stop smiling. It was 10:00 and I was wide awake and just loving life. It doesn't get much better than this. And there is still so much more to come. I can't wait!!
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