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