Cordoba y Granada
Cordoba – Friday, 3.11.2011
We went to Cordoba with ISA for about 5 hours to take tours and what not. It’s about a 2 hour drive from Sevilla, so not that far from Sevilla at all. The city of Cordoba is way different than Sevilla… everything just looked older. We took tours at the Cathedral- Mosque, Synagogue, and Jewish Quarter. The cool thing about Cordoba is how the city is much smaller, and there is a lot of history everywhere you go. Not a crazy tourism place either, so you get more of that Traditional ‘Spaniard’ vibe. We left for Granada mid-day.
Over 1900 arches in the masque/ church!Granada- Friday 3.11 2011
We got into Granada around 6 pm… and the city is just beautiful. Granada has everything an outdoorsy person needs. There are caves, mountains, great climate, and a bunch of parks everywhere. At this time of the year, you can go hiking and/ or skiing in the mountains. I wish I had more time here to do either of the two. Another plus about Granada is that it’s pretty clean and new-looking.
It just seemed a lot more modern and up to speed then Sevilla (not hating on Sevilla though). I love Sevilla and all, but I know if I had a pick between Granada and Sevilla, I would pick Granada.
Before I start talking about what I did, here’s a little history about the beautiful city of Granada… When Spain was ruled by the Arabs for the 5 centuries or so, Granada was the last city to be ruled by the Arabs. So in this city, there is still a huge Muslim/ Arabian influence in this city. You’ll find a lot of writing in Arabic throughout the city, there are crap ton of Kebab restaurants, and the people there seem a little darker than your typical Andalucian person. And of course, una Granada, the pomegranate, is very commonly sold throughout the city.
But moving on… we arrive at like 6pm into a nice 4 star hotel… Thank you ISA J We relax a little, enjoy some nice warm showers (which is in high demand here), and then we chow down. Comida en Granada es el mejor de Espana. No es mi preferencia, pero simplemente, es un facto del mundo… meaning food in Granada = J J J. Of course, we went to Kebab stands first thing, and the Kebabs here put Istanbul’s kebab to shame. We went to a place called Kebab King, and they give you a pita with Kebab and vegetables, rice, and a drink for only 5 euros… and you are full!!! One thing about food in Spain is that you usually have to spend 14+ euros on a meal to actually feel full… but not in Istanbul. They also have all the tapas bars to, where if you order any type of drink (maybe even bottled water), you get tapas free. Some of the tapas are huge too, so you essentially get free food for ordering a drink… freaking awesome!!!!
After food we went to a Flamenco bar… and it was the best flamenco I have seen is Spain yet.. Flamenco in Granada is better than Sevilla too, weird how that works, bc flamenco actually originated in Sevilla. But anyhow, this is where I found my future wife… haha. But in all seriousness, the performers were just soooo good here. There was also beautiful women who danced flamenco, which I don’t think I could of asked something better for. And at the very end, my favorite flamenco dancer pointed at me from the whole crowd and told me to dance with her. Talk about the icing on the cake J I sprung off my seat instantly… had no idea what to do, but I just followed her and hoped for the best. Best 20 seconds of the trip. Haha
The lady below is the one I danced with :)
Later on that night we went to a club that was a distance up ] the mountains called Cambodia. Cambodia is sick because it has a view of the whole city of Granada off a peak of the mountains and there are glass windows along the club, so you can see the whole city while dancing. Very nicely done. Only drawback is that there was 90% American music, which is a bit on my less- preferable side. After that, we had a 35 minute hike in the pouring rain back to our hotel… no umbrella, just cold and wet.
Saturday 3.12.2011
After only 1 hour & 23 minutes of sleeping… Saturday started.
Saturday, we went to Alhambra, the castle of Granada. This castle was constructed by the Arabs with so much artistic detail is was incredible. We did a 3 hour tour here and it a simply a must see. Pictures can’t describe anything. It was literally one of those places that every corner you turned and every new room you went into, there was more art, more detail, and more beauty than the prevailing one. Actualllly, when they constructed it, the architects’ goal was to make every inch of the castle with art & design…. And it definitely showed.
Later on that day, I had some Kebab, and just chilled on the bench with some friends and people- watched (which is really fun in Europe), and just chilled out for about 2 hours. I can honestly say I have never just chilled like that. Everyone that knows me knows I’m usually always doing something, but not this time. I literally watched time past by without feeling the need to take control of it … Nice feeling.
Later on that evening everyone left back for Sevilla, except a couple of us that wanted to stay. In our group, we had five people… myself, Carlos, Bryan, Robby, and Charlene. We went to the hostel called El Granado, and it was literally the best hostel I’ve ever been to. It was nice, and really felt like a hotel. I took a quick 15 minute siesta and was back on my feet to check out the city.
After that, we just walked around all over Granada and just got to get a little taste of the city.
Sunday 3.13.2011
Everything went pretty smooth while trying to get back home… well at least for most of us. Decent breakfast, coffee, and made it to the walked to the train station with perfect timing to buy our ticket. With 20 minutes to board though, Robby notices he left his nice sweater and dress shirts. He then sprints all the way back to the hostel, gets his crap, and sprints back and gets lost a bit (haha). He made it, dripping of sweat, and utterly out of breath with ONLY ONE MINUTE TO SPAIR! I really didn’t think he was going to make it…. But alas, a sunny ride to Sevilla… nothing compares to the feeling of coming home though.
The fun didn't stop though… at 9 pm that night I went to the Barcelona vs. Sevilla game in Sevilla. Great weekend!
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario