A Spanish Thanksgiving

It was no surprise that when I showed up for school, yes SCHOOL, Thursday morning of the alleged Thanksgiving Day (I say alleged here because it was hard to be thoroughly convinced of that fact when all the Spaniards around me were going about like it was a normal day), half of the class was missing. A holiday is a holiday no matter where you are in the world so while we are more than willing to embrace the holidays which give us an extended December break and a few 5-day weekends, we couldn’t help but wish that Spain would embrace our holidays too.

I must admit, they did attempt…though it’s no comparison. Our program planned for us a dinner in lieu of our normal Thanksgiving dinner--held in a jazzy restaurant. It was a fun time for all of us to get together, talk,  and just laugh at the peculiar dishes we were being served. I even got to sit at the head of the table...a new Thanksgiving experience to say the least!

My view from the head of the table.

First up: a warm liquid/soup? that was salty and had a kind of smoky flavor…it’s pretty much impossible to explain.

Next: a meat and cheese platter…decent. There were also nuts, and they were delicious!

Thirdly: croquettes and tempura zucchini…I think?

Fourth: another cheese with a few greens sprinkled on top…the cheese was good!

Fifth: a Spanish attempt at turkey. I am told later that it was Turkey relleno which means stuffed, but the stuffed part was so weird, kind of squishy…and it was covered in barbecue sauce. Broccoli was easily identifiable and what we think was mashed potatoes accompanied it.

Dessert: a fruity bread pudding type thing.

To drink we had wine and sangria…not your typical Thanksgiving beverages but we weren’t complaining!

Well, at least they tried…Still looking forward to having Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas though this year! But more than the food, the spirit of the holiday still came through. How could we not be thankful for such an amazing opportunity to travel and study abroad for 3 months and to enjoy it with friends? Or how about for good health and loving, supportive families and friends? Yes, despite the barbecue sauce-covered turkey and the absence of pumpkin pie we still had a lot to be thankful for!

A few of the Morocco Girls + Eugenio (one of our directors)

Afterwards we had a picture slideshow and a video from Morocco so that was cool to see all the pictures and videos of our trip so far! After that we called it a night…the end to a very unique and surely unforgettable Thanksgiving!

My Granada Bucket List

With school during the week and so many trips during the weekend I was starting to feel like I wasn’t enjoying Granada to it’s full capacity, so to make sure as to not miss out on everything Granada has to offer...I made this bucket list. Granted, one great aspect of Granada is it’s location—by bus, just an hour and a half from the beach (hence our trips to Nerja and Malaga) and an hour and half from the mountains (Alpujarras) as well as it’s proximity to the African coast (which allowed for our trip to Morocco), but I wanted to take advantage of every opportunity here so I have come up with a list and have continued to add things as they come to me. In no particular order:

1)   La Alhambra: I have been in Granada for 2 months and can you believe I hadn’t been to the Alhambra yet? Nikki and I were in England when our program did a tour so we figured the opportunity would present itself again. But it never seemed to and we obviously couldn’t see Granada without seeing this historical landmark. The Alhambra was the last Moorish stronghold in Europe and later became the residence of royalty and the Nasrid kingdom. While the architecture of the palace was incredible, my favorite parts were just wandering through the beautiful gardens imagining what it would’ve been like to have been part of the royal family back in the 13^th century. We also met a friendly cat, a girl from Canada, a guy from Australia, and two guys from Redding! It’s such a small world sometimes…

Palacio de Carlos V

Alcazaba-The fortress 

Puerta del Vino

This could be a postcard picture...in fact, I'm pretty sure it is

Just one of many gardens...

Thanks to the Australian guy for our photoshoot...

2)   Los Baños Arabes: The arab baths, historically were a very important social is was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had! For a student price of 21 euros we got an hour and a half of luxury—the rooms were decorated in Moroccan style (dating from the 11^th century! Though restored in the 20^th…) while soft music played in the background. There were warm, hot, and cold pools in which to relax and then cool off and at our leisure we could enjoy Moroccan mint tea (which I had already come to love in Morocco!) My favorite pool was the warm pool because I could just immerse myself and calm all my thoughts. To top it all off we got a 15-minute massage, which was the epitome of relaxation—in my opinion, this is a must for anyone who comes to visit!

3)   Albayzín/Mirador de San Nicolas: The first week in Granada our program took us to this great lookout point that has a view of the Alhambra and the rest of the city, but since then I hadn’t been back. This is partly due to the fact that I am kind of afraid of the Albayzín neighborhood, which is a crazy maze of little side streets and a well-known area for pickpockets. However when one of my best friends from home Lisa and a few of her friends came to visit, I figured it was a good time to make it back up there. After getting lost (though only a little bit!) we made it safely up to the lookout…the plaza was packed with people enjoying the view, while others played the guitar and danced. It was great to see the Alhambra at night and really appreciate how close we are to this incredible monument and how awesome it is to live in Granada!

View of La Alhambra at night!

4)   Parque de las Ciencias: Although it’s named ‘Parque’ it’s definitely more of a museum, and I love a good science museum so I figured I had to get this in. One lazy afternoon, my roommate Becki and I decided to check it out! We saw everything from robots, to birds, to puzzles, to butterflies, to sundials, to physics experiments…I can’t even describe what a hodge-podge of things were there, but they were all interesting and fun to look at…the type of place where you could be amused for hours on end! We also climbed to the top of a lookout tower and got an incredible view of the city on a gorgeous day!

Albert Einstein and I

This is what happens to pawns that get in my way...

Big

Small

Giant ant invasion!

View from the top!

Gotta love taxidermy.

5)   Mercadillo: Every Sunday morning Granada has this huge open-air market over near the bus station where they sell everything from fresh fruit and churros to clothes and purses to pirated DVDs and CDs to pillows with Justin Bieber’s face on them that you can get personalized with your name on it! Furniture, socks, baby clothes, jewelry, shoes, you name it…they got it. The first time we went we arrived later on and were soon overwhelmed by the number of people surging through the crowds searching for the best deals on any number of things…but this time around we went early and were able to enjoy the atmosphere (aka everyone shouting out their offers and prices), the excitement of haggling, and the thrill of getting a great deal!  

6)   Watch a partido de fútbol like a Spaniard!: Monday night was El Clásico: Barcelona vs Real Madrid. My roommates Becki, Liz, and I decided that this was a cultural experience we had to take part in…Spanish style! So we headed off that evening in search of an authentic bar from which to watch the game. Well, everywhere had the game on: from upscale restaurants, to pastry shops, so it wasn’t hard to find a place. We finally settled on a bar called Krisis, which like every other place by this time of course was packed! It was standing room only, but we didn’t care, just enjoying the energy of the fans in the room as they passionately shouting for their team, joking with their friends and enjoying a few beers. Unfortunately it was a bit of a blowout…the end result Barça 5: Madrid 0, but overall a lot of fun!

La Alpujarra

I am sad to say that I wasn’t really looking forward to our program trip to Alpujarras up until the morning we left. I feared bad weather and was beginning to feel like I just wanted to stay in Granada and relax. Yet, Saturday morning I found myself heading out the door with Becki to catch the bus that would take us up into the mountains for our hiking/getaway trip. After an hour and a half on the bus we had arrived at this quaint little mountain town. We quickly checked into the hotel room to find out that we were in a four person room (aka 4 beds squished together): me, Becki, Kelsey, and Annabel, which was fine by us because it meant sleepover! Then we were back outside to meet up with our tour guides. There were two hikes: difícil and fácil so of course we opted for the more difficult one.

Luckily it was a PERFECT day for hiking…the layers we had brought were quickly shed and we were on our way. We started out at a quick pace climbing and climbing up into the wilderness we became enveloped by the tranquil and picturesque natural surroundings. Despite the difficult nature of the hike at times it was relaxing and refreshing to be out of the city and in the open air. La Alpujarra is a rich agricultural area situated in the valleys along the Sierra Nevada, which was covered in snow! The fall colors though were unlike anything I’d ever seen, with these interesting stick straight trees and a river running straight through the center of it all.

                                           

  

See what I mean about the stick-straight trees?

Roommate!

Kelsey, Tomas, and Lindsay

We stopped for a long lunch and then picked up again winding our way through the gorgeous landscape, stopping occasionally to learn a little about the history of the area.

Becki, Cati, Kelsey

The last leg of the hike was the worst—almost straight uphill after 5 hours of hiking already, but the feeling of accomplishment at the end and the knowledge that a warm shower and bed awaited us kept us going. Then it was time to relax! The four of us showered, rested, and then got ready for a delicious buffet dinner provided by the hotel and free! We were so hungry and everything tasted delicious! We even got ice cream which was so tasty after a long day!

The point of this trip we felt was really to just get away from it all and relax, so like any good slumber party we chatted, ate chocolate, watched a movie, (500) Days of Summer, and went to bed.

Just taking a little nap...

The next morning we slept in, ate breakfast, and had a few hours to explore the town, although we really only needed an hour or so to see it all. We did go to a chocolate shop where they had some delicious samples and had an incredible lunch of pollo de almendras and patatas pobres. In the end, I was really glad I decided to go and just experience and take in the beauty that surrounds us. Then we headed back to Granada, well rested and ready for a new week!    

The women come here to do their laundry

 

FALLin in love with Paris!

I love this city! After I wasn’t able to join my friend, Lisa in Paris for my birthday weekend, I thought my shot at getting to go was over, but when I found a good deal on flights and out of the small Granada airport (which is truly a treat!), I was able to get my roommate Becki to get on board with me. After the stress of purchasing tickets and booking a hostel, it was official—we were going to Paris! The day came quickly. After getting back from Morocco on Monday night it was incredible that just three days later we were on our way to Paris!

It didn’t really hit me until we looked out our window and could see the Eiffel Tower from the plane…there it was…even bigger and more brilliant than I had imagined!

Bless Becki’s heart, since I was so occupied with my midterms and she was done with hers, she took it upon herself to read up on Rick Steves’ Paris, research all our transportation options and plan a detailed, action-packed itinerary so we could fit everything into our two full days.

Our first task was getting from the airport to our hostel. Miraculously we were just in time to buy our tickets for the train that would take us to the metro, but we got a little sketched out when we were the ONLY ones on the train and kept stepping in and out checking to make sure there were no other options. Luckily we decided to try our luck and made it to the metro station without any other problems. Three metro lines later and just a few minute walk and we had arrived at our albergue. After all the scary reviews we’d read while looking to book our hostel, we were expecting the worst. Yet were pleasantly surprised—it was clean, the people were friendly, and we got a petit dejeuner in the morning so for what we were paying, we were definitely pleased. As soon as our heads hit the pillow we were asleep, knowing two full days awaited us tomorrow!

The next morning, we got up early and headed off to the Arc de Triomf, however as luck would have it when we tried to get off the metro at that stop the police wouldn’t let us exit and we didn’t know why. We figured it had something to do with the protest so we got back on the metro and rode a few stops down to Champs Elysses. From there we actually walked down to the Arc to see what was going on and found out that it wasn’t a protest, but a giant motobrigade/parade for the Chinese president who was in town (which explained all the Chinese flags alongside the French ones). As we walked, we stopped to admire all the brilliant window displays and decided to come back to the Arc later, once it was reopened again.

With Arc plans thwarted, we decided to go to the Musee d’Orsay which in itself was a really cool building that had originally been a train station. We saw a few works by VanGogh (althought most of it had been shipped out to an exhibition in SF...go figure), Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Degas, and many others. 

   

Motobrigade + really happy man in foreground

Musee d' Orsay

Oops!

After the museum I couldn’t wait for crepes! But first we went to a ritzy little restaurant called Angelina’s that Becki had heard about where they have incredible hot chocolate (though you pay the price!), then finally I got my chocolate and banana crepe…delicious! After gobbling that down we meandered through the Tuileries Garden admiring the fall colors and all the cute French children running around and playing with the leaves. We even stopped to play with the leaves ourselves! After a quick view of the Louvre from the outside we decided to make our way back to the Arc de Triomf to get a view of the Eiffel Tower and the rest of the city at dusk. Although with the Arc right in the middle of the street we weren’t sure how to get there until we saw the sign telling us to go down the stairs under the street that would lead us there, but then we couldn’t find the stairs! So we wandered aimlessly back and forth for a few minutes until finally stumbling upon the stairs that would take us there. We climbed up the stairs to a magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysses, and the rest of the city—a view even better than from the Eiffel Tower itself in my opinion!

Yay for crepes!

Creepin' on some French kiddos 

Makin' a dash for it! Fearing for my life...

Crystal staircase? Where am I...

Then we rushed across town to grab some wine, bread and cheese for dinner and boat ride along the Seine River. This was the perfect opportunity to relax and learn a little about the history of the beautiful city we’d been exploring all day. Our boat returned just in time to catch the magical, shimmering display of lights from the Eiffel Tower. Then we jumped in line to make our way to the top only to find out that we could only go up to the second level. The line was long because only one tower and it was a cold night…by the time we got up there it was so cold and windy that it was hard to even move. We snapped a few pictures and then waited for the elevator to head back down and head home.

They love their merry-go-rounds!

A well balanced French dinner

Boat tour on the Seine

We woke up the next morning for the Louvre and after loads of Italian Renaissance art we finally came to the Mona Lisa. This tiny painting behind a huge glass in this huge room filled with huge paintings. It was hard to believe that that was it! We also saw Venus de Milo, some African and Pacific Islander art and then we headed out, across the river to Notre Dame cathedral. It is fitting at this point that it started to rain adding to the ambience and mystery of the cathedral itself. Due to unforeseen circumstances the tower was closed, but we did get to walk through while a service was taking place, which was pretty incredible.

I call it "Cati Wuest Smile"

Go David go!

Which one of these is not like the other?

Notre Dame...Quasimoto we're comin' for ya!

By then it was lunchtime so what better lunch than a crepe (this time lemon-flavored) and Berthillon ice cream (the best in town)? When in Paris, right? Then we popped over to the Latin Quarter, but with the rain it was kind of dismal so we jumped on a metro and headed over to the Montmartre District and Sacre Coeur. This was probably one of my favorite parts of the day…all the cute little shops lining the streets and the grand church at the top of the hill just waiting for us to approach. After exploring the area a little bit we went over to the Pompidou Centre and got our modern art on. We decided to turn in early and went back to shower and rest before going out for an Italian dinner. (gosh I miss Italian food sometimes!)

Rick Steve's Paris and ice cream!

Creepy Metropolitan signs

Sacre Coeur

 

The next day we ate our petit dejeuner and while we were eating we met this couple from Australia! The girl was telling us about how she had bought an Around the World ticket...had started in San Francisco in June and had been to Central America, South America, and was finishing up her trip in Europe. It was incredible to hear some of her stories and her carefree attitude about travelling and just living life. Before we headed to the airport we stopped at the Père Lachaise cemetery…a final farewell to Paris. I didn’t know what to expect, but Becki had heard about it and really wanted to go so we went. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it…the grand tombstones and monuments erected by families, each telling the story of the person whom it commemorated. We even saw Jim Morrison’s grave, who admittedly I didn’t really know who he was except I was pretty sure he was a singer. He had tons of flowers and letters on his grave and a tree nearby was engraved with the initials and messages of people from all over paying homage to this young rock star. 

The Adam's Family

R.I.P. Jim Morrison

A metro ride across town took us to the bus, which would take us out to the Paris Beauvais airport a ways out from the city center. Though I kept managing to fall asleep, I did get a few glimpses of the beautiful French countryside, a welcome change from the bustle of the city. We flew into Madrid and then took a bus back to Granada. On the bus I got to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks in Spanish, which got me in the Christmas spirit! Then a taxi and we were home sweet home! Paris was everything I expected it to be…glamorous and magical, rich with history and artistic brilliance, but it was also not what I expected it to be…the people were nicer for one, and I found that I enjoyed the things I didn’t expect to enjoy as much, most of all. I hope to return someday and continue exploring all that Paris has to offer.