Spain for a Week!

Arrived in Granada which is a wicked small airport - didn't even need to go through passport control which I found strange. Realized that my Spanish skills needed some tweaking after just being in the airport, but I was surprised at the amount I remembered. The sliding doors opened and my tiredness suddenly turned into a burst of energy when I saw Julie and Jill jumping up and down like crazy women. What a great feeling - we were all so excited. I didn't even know that Jill was coming to the airport to get me with Julie. We caught up on each other's adventures on the bus to their apartments.

It was probably 10pm by then, but apparently Spanish people are nocturnal seeing that they eat dinner at 8:30 or later and then go out until all hours of the morning (no wonder they need a siesta!). We went to Julie's apartment and she is livin' the Spanish dream - although she is at a homestay, the madre doesn't live there yet she brings them two meals a day, does all of the dishes and cleaning, and does their laundry (kind of like a meals on wheels and then some). This woman does the same for another apartment of students as well. Met Julie's roommates who are all from the US and really nice.
I had forgotten that I had been to Granada for a day or two prior to this trip when we went to Spain in high school, but this was definitely a different experience being on our own. Granada is so pretty - all marble sidewalks, palm trees everywhere, lots of open plazas with fountains, and surprisingly clean. I was pleased to learn that you could drink the tap water! The weather wasn't as warm as I had hoped, but I guess it's usually warmer (figures) - oh well, still warmer than London!
That night we went out to a bar called La Bella y La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) with some of Jill and Julie's friends. I was in a state of shock when a huge plate of food came out with our first round of drinks. Not only were the drinks cheap, but in Granada they bring out little dishes to munch on called tapas (some places you can choose what you want off the menu) with every round of drinks that you order. My bank account was loving Spain already. When we walked back to Julie's apartment that night we got caught in a ridiculous hail storm! I must've brought the weather with me because Granada is known for its major droughts - I couldn't believe it.

My second night we went out to eat with a bunch of girls and I ordered the Menu del Dia which is the pre-fixed menu. Was skeptical about my choice of chicken with blueberry sauce, but it was incredible! From there we went to a tapas bar and the owners were British :) After that we went to a salsa bar called Mi Habana. I was a little nervous seeing that I have no idea how to salsa, but Julie's friend Erick from RIC tried to teach me as well as some of the older pros. We had a great time and it was fun to do something different.
One day we met up with our friend Kelsey that we went to high school with and her parents because they were in Granada for the weekend. Kelsey is studying in Alicante for the semester which isn't far so they drove to Granada for a few days. We hung out with them and climbed up to La Alhambra. La Alhambra is Granada's major attraction - it was a palace and fortress of the Moorish rulers in the 14th century. There is so much history and the surrounding gardens are gorgeous - great view of the Sierra Nevada as well! I definitely appreciated it more this time than I did on the high school trip. The sun stayed out for us, too!
That night we went out to a great Indian restaurant and then went to a couple of bars to celebrate my birthday. Julie's roommate made me a crown! Pretty anticlimatic when I was already legally drinking in Spain before 12am rolled around - still a fun time though.
When Kelsey and her parents drove back to Alicante we caught a ride with them because Kelsey said we could shack up with them for a few days. The timing worked out perfectly because now Julie was officially on vacation. Alicante was beautiful - right on the water which made me miss Narragansett beach even more! One day while we were there we decided to climb up the castle which is basically the only tourist attraction in Alicante. It was a tough climb, but definitely worth it - got a great view from way up there and there was lots of cool graffitti on the climb up, too.
Our last two days in Alicante Julie and I spent on the beach basking in whatever sun we could find. Our patience paid off and the sun did come out for a while - got ourselves a little color and even swam in the chilly Mediterranean. Both days we picked up a picnic for ourselves at this awesome local food market. It was incredible - we got tons of fruit and a big baguette to split filled with brie and prosciutto for around 5 euro! I wish I couldv'e taken a basket of Spanish oranges back to London with me. Everything was so cheap and extremely delicious.
When Kelsey's parents left to go back to the States we took the 5 hour bus back to Granada. It really wasn't bad because the views were gorgeous and we slept for most of it anyways. When we got back to Granada, Julie's madre (Natividad) had made us dinner at the apartment. After that we went out with Julie's roommate to a tapas bar, but then came back afterwards because we were exhausted. They considered this not going out and said that we were back "early" even though it was probably 1am - early for Spain I guess!
I spent my last day with Julie walking around Granada and trying to soak in every last drop of sun. We enjoyed falafel kebabs with sangria and then met some of her friends at a hookah bar to hang out and have some tea. We had our last drink and round of tapas outside before I had to hop on the bus to the airport. I was sad to say goodbye, but Julie will be coming to visit me in London at the end of the month. Overall an unforgettable trip.