Erin Goes to Spain: The perfect storm

Thursday the 29^th of January became known as the perfect storm for some very good reasons. First, it was the last day of intensivo classes, which meant that we had a break before content classes started. Second, two of my best friends from GU, Dani and Kaitlin, were getting into Granada that day to spend the weekend with Anne and me. Third, it was my 21^st birthday. I’ll let you do the math.

Reuniting

After an awesome reunion at the bus stop, Dani, Kaitlin, Anne and I went to find the hostel that Dani and Kailtin were staying in and then went for a “quick” (2 hours) drink and tapas. Needless to say, we had a lot to talk about after 5 months of not seeing each other! To start off the birthday celebration in style, Dani and Kaitlin brought me chocolate in the form of Bueno! bars, which have been appropriately re-dubbed nutella babies, and a very pretty scarf.

Eating Nutella babies

Hanging out with my amigas

Later that night, we went out to get tapas and drinks and a few of my friends from school joined us. Afterwards we made our way around to a few more bars and stopped in at a dancing bar. We definitely brought the party! There was plenty of singing along (Rihanna’s Umbrella, anyone?) and dancing and overall merriness. Eventually we went up to a club in the Sacromonte called Camobrio, which usually has a great view of the Alhambra at night, but unfortunately it was not lit up that night. Again, more dancing, singing and drinking.

Why drink one glass of sangria when you can drink two?

After a long but really awesome night we made it back home around 6 (latest yet!). It’s really strange to think that when I get back into the US I will be able to drink legally.

Needless to say, the next morning was not quite as fun as the night had been. I had to get up to take a practice test at school, and 4 hours of sleep usually isn’t the best way to go into a test (although it turns out that I did really well!). Anne and I met Dani and Kaitlin at a café and it turned out to be one of the most beautiful days we have had in Granada thus far. After our test, Anne and I took D and K up to the Mirador de San Nicolas and it was absolutely beautiful. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the Sierra’s were perfectly covered in snow, and there was a guy playing the guitar. We brought up some brie, bread, and apples and had a perfect picnic.

Mirador de San Nicolas

Later that night was equally as fun. D and K’s hostel was hosting a paella night, so for 5 euro we each got a drink and all you can eat paella. It was super awesome to watch the woman cook the paella—she had a pan that was probably 4 feet in diameter. Needless to say, it was really tasty (this paella was much different from the kind our host mom cooks. It had veggies and seafood in it = yum!).

Paella

We weren’t quite as lucky with the weather on Saturday. The rain, however, didn’t stop us from taking a walking tour of the Albayzin. Although this was something that Anne and I had done, it was nice to get a new perspective (in English!) from a much younger, funnier tour guide. When he was describing the Sultans that lived in the Alhambra, he very eloquently put it: Anything can happen when the Sultan’s crunk. So true. In order to emphasize how Catholic Isabel and Ferdinand were he told us that if you took all the past popes and wrapped them into a little pope bundle, they still wouldn’t be as Catholic as Isabel and Ferdinand. I think that should give us all an idea of how much Catholicism is ingrained in the Spanish tradition.

That night we went back up to our favorite cave bar and were planning on just getting a pitcher of sangria, but our plans changed when a guitar playing, flamenco singing gypsy walked in and fell in love with Dani.

Gypsy men-the one on left is the one that fell in love with Dani

Now, you may think I am kidding but this is not an exaggeration! This 60-year-old man came in and immediately professed his love for our friend, and when he realized that she didn’t speak Spanish he decided to serenade her. We thought it was some sort of routine (pick a girl, sing to her, get on with the show), but four hours later when he was still singing only to Dani we could not stop laughing. After every song he would try to say something to her, seemingly having forgotten that in the past 5 minutes she probably hadn’t learned to speak Spanish. To make things even more difficult, he spoke “gypsy,” so Anne and I could barely understand what he was saying half the time. One thing we did catch: he said Dani was como un tren (like a train), which in Spain is actually saying that someone is beautiful (lost in translation?). Really hilarious night.

Sunday was our last day in Granada for a while. Anne and I had a group trip planned to the Alhambra and D and K bought tickets for the same day. As amazing as it is to see the Alhambra from the outside, it is a whole other experience to see it from the inside. First of all, the gardens outside the palace are really beautiful (I can’t wait to see them in the spring when the flowers are actually in bloom!). There are fountains and pools all over, which reflect the importance of water, and orange trees all throughout the gardens which are there simply to bring color to winter gardens.

The inside walls of the palace are carved with intricate details, have inscriptions from the Qur’an and beautifully painted tiles. Luckily, the Catholics didn’t change too much when they took over the city (but they did make sure to put a cross on top of the tower). The Alhambra is really a beautiful place, if a bit much to absorb in one visit.