Again, let's ignore the fact that I haven't posted in like 10 days. Life happens. Actually, most of the reason I didn't post was because I couldn't! I didn't have my laptop on my last vacation and have been finishing final projects since I got back. Kelly and I left for Granada on Friday (December 4th) and landed with just enough time to get into the city, meet up with Olga (who took a 12 hour bus ride, God bless her soul), check into our hostel and make it to the Alhambra in time for our entry. Unlike the rest of Spain, the Alhambra is the only place you have to be super punctual because if not, you'll miss your entry and there goes your money. The weather was FANTASTIC. So fantastic that we were all walking around in our t-shirts while everyone else was wearing winter coats, hats. gloves and scarves. On our way into the Alhambra we even got stopped by a security guard asking us where we were from that we weren't cold. She looked like she was about to go sledding in -20 degree weather while we were in our t-shirts. It was pretty funny. Anything I can say about the Alhambra would not be enough to describe how beautifully captivating, detailed, romantic, and gorgeous this place is. If only I was rich enough to have a palace like the Alhambra. Well, we can dream can't we! Check out the pictures! Besides the Alhambra, there's not much else to do in Granada except explore neighborhoods and visit little sight seeing things. We ended up doing a ton of shopping and exploring the next couple days before we went to Sevilla! Our 3 hour bus ride to Sevilla was actually not that bad, seeing as I slept for 2 hours out of the 3! We arrived and were automatically amazed with the scenery and theme park like walk to our hostel. Thanks to my expert navigating skills we managed to get to our hostel within 10-15 mins. We stayed at La Banda Hostel and it was more like a hotel than anything! It was really great! Sevilla was a lot more touristy than Granada but I have a lot more history on it since we went on a tour with our hostel. Me-dee was our tour guide and he was absolutely awesome. He had so much energy and made learning about the history of Sevilla much more entertaining than just pointing this out an talking. Instead of boring you with the day to day activities (mostly because I can't remember what happened on what day) I'll share some interesting facts along with photos from Sevilla! As promised, here's the little facts! -A metro can't be built in the center of Sevilla because everywhere they dig they find Roman ruins! -The highest temperature in Europe was recorded in Sevilla at 53.9 degrees celsius. That's more than 129 degrees fahrenheit! -Bull rings weren't always circles, they were actually squares and the bull ring in Sevilla was the first one to change! -Bull fights are fixed. The bull is kept in complete darkness at least 24 hours before the fight, drugged, beaten, and sprayed with chemicals (to make them scratch their legs). When it comes out onto the ring it is speared and slashed with "banderas" that have little knives on them. This is where most of the controversy from bull fights comes from. Poor bulls :( -Flamenco is NOT Spanish, it's actually Gypsy. Las Sevillanas is the traditional Spanish dance. -There are 36,000 orange trees in Sevilla, mostly for decoration though as their fruit is pretty sour. -Charles II is what happens when you interbreed for 9 generations. He was really ugly. If you don't believe me here's a picture. And remember, painters altered their paintings to make them look better! -The University of Granada actually used to be a tobacco factory. -Plaza de España was part of 20th century exhibition created by Spanish government officials to attract more tourists and generate more money for poor Spain. It's a half circle because they ran out of money. -A lot of movies were filmed in Plaza de España including Star Wars Episode 2, the Dictator, Night and Day, etc. Well, I'm entering my last week in Spain and I'm sad to be leaving the place I've called home for the past 4 months but I'm very excited to see my family and friends back home! I'll be back in the U.S. on Sunday, which makes this week finals week. Because I'm awesome I was able to power through most of my final projects and finish them early so I can enjoy my last week here!
Until next time!
1 Comment
Liodania
12/17/2015 04:25:36 pm
Omg !! Beautiful pictures!!! I love them all!!!! Im so happy that you are having fun over there. Y que estas conociendo España!! Yeiiiii... Saludos!! Lio
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