Vamos a la playa... and la alhambra

Finally here´s my update on my weekend to the south last weekend. last thursday night after our art class i hopped on a bus with 3 friends (Tim, Abbey, and Becky for those of you who know Carls) for 5 hours to Granada. Of course, we couldn´t just drive all the way there so we stopped in a weird town in the middle of nowhere to use the bathroom and have a snack and there i saw my first WANTED ad for ETA members. We really wanted to steal it off the wall but figured it wouldn´t be such a good idea although it would go marvelously with my growing collection of wall decorations, including the phone number of my pal Paco. We arrived in Granada around 12:30am and took a taxi to the apartment of the woman that a friend studying in granada (rikka) lived with for a month because she graciously offered 4 beds to us and her apartment to use because she lives alone in a huge apartment and is 29years old and and architect. well that´s not the reason, but yeah.

Friday we slept really late and went up the mountain (literally) to the alhambra for our designated entrance time. IT IS AMAZING. for anyone who is ever in spain, you absolutely must go. it was the former palace of the moors when they were in power and constructed as a "paradise" on earth, so it´s pretty beautiful. many amazing pictures but i´m way slow at getting those up, so it may not happen until i get back to maine.

spent some time with Rikka in a tea place and exploring the very north-african-like traditions of the south of spain. including FREE TAPAS (which are also the size of a meal) which is the tradition in andalucía.

Took the bus to Almería on the southern coast on saturday afternoon and another bus to the small beach-town of San Jose... beautiful. our hostel was 12€ and had everything we needed (beds and beautiful terraces outside). had a dinner on the beach in the dark of bread, cream cheese, and nectarines and went to the beach, Playa de Genoveses, on Sunday. 2km walk through the town and desert to get there where there was a herd of sheep and their shepherd and many nudies (hey, it´s europe!). spent 6 hours there swimming, reading, and walking and it was wonderfully relaxing. an amazing beach with not so many people and in a national or natural park. a great way to spend the weekend. the 8 hour busride back to madrid was a bit of a chore, but it was overall a great weekend and a nice escape from the city lifestyle.

p.s. everyone should try the lebanese (i think?) food called chawarma. it´s in a pita and has chicken and veggies and a sauce and is amazing.