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 13th 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…
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 11th century! Though restored in the 20th…) 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!
