Last weekend was (sad face) our last CIEE-organized trip. We headed southwest to the city of Granada, best known for cheap food and Moorish influence. After another hefty five-hour bus trip, we arrived and were cut loose to get some food before a little touring. We found a cute restaurant a block or so from the restaurant. The best part about eating and drinking in Granada is that when you pay for a drink, you also get food for the price of the drink. Since we were only there for about 30 hours we couldn't completely take advantage of this system, but it was definitely cool to try out. After we ate a little, we started our tour. The tour included Granada's cathedral, the royal chapel, and the "corral de carbón". The most interesting part was definitely the capilla real (royal chapel), which is where Isabel and Ferdinand are buried (along with their daughter, Juana la Loca and her husband, Felipe el Hermoso).
Afterwards, we had a little bit of downtime before the flamenco show. This flamenco show was very different than the one I saw with Skylar and Rachel in Sevilla. Granada flamenco shows are pretty concentrated to one part of the city, and they take place in what are basically caves. It was a very narrow venue but also very intimate.
The next day was the tour of La Alhambra. To be perfectly honest, our tour guide was a bore and our microphone systems were kind of ineffective, so I got very little out of the tour other than the obvious beauty and intricacy of the structure. After some free time for food (in our case, Burger King) we headed home. I was very excited to get to sleep knowing that JACK and JOANN would be making an appearance in Alicante the next day!...
I met Mom and Dad at the train station when their train arrived at 2:45ish. We worked out the rental car situation and headed to the hotel. At this point, I am very comfortable navigating through Alicante by foot. This was my first time in a car here. Needless to say we made a few U-turns and drove down the same roads 2-3 times after realizing all the damn one-ways were ruining our lives. Anyway, we finally got to their hotel and checked in. I took them on a little walking tour of the city and then to Lizarran, a chain tapas restaurant, for dinner.
Monday was another walking day. I took them to the Castillo de Santa Barbara and then out around the marina. We hit a paella restaurant right along the Explanada for lunch. Dinner was a delicious Italian place called Tagliatella where we had pizza and the most interesting, delicious salad I have ever tasted – it rivaled Panera's fuji apple chicken salad!
After my morning classes on Tuesday we went to Elche, a small town about 40 minutes from Alicante. I was a little snippy at first because our drive was during prime siesta time, but after arriving and having yet another delicious pizza, I was good to go. Elche is a cute little town, but as a classmate described it, "A lot like Alicante, but without a beach and with a lot more palm trees." Elche is known for the palm trees. We took a stroll through the park, had some helado, walked to the top of the cathedral for a nice view, and then came back to Alicante. I took them to my favorite establishment in Alicante: Las Manolitas, a cupcake boutique run by three American sisters. We did a little shopping on Maisonnave and then headed back to the hotel. Dinner was at 100 Montaditos for cheap, tasty sandwiches and 1 euro jars of beer.
We said our goodbyes today after lunch at Subway (in typical Joann fashion), a little walking around and some shopping. Saying goodbye certainly bummed me out, but now it's back to the "grind"...lots of essay writing and beach time awaits!
One last thing to add to this post: this evening, Ileana asked if I wanted to join her for the grand opening of a jamón (ham) vendor that just opened downstairs. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it seemed like a cultural experience I shouldn't miss out on. Additionally, I don't have the aversion to jamón that several people have, so it seemed easy enough. The "vendor" is just that: a vendor. This was not a restaurant, although there are a few tables if you want to pick at some hams and cheeses and have a glass of wine or beer. Basically, it comes down to this: Spaniards LOVE their jamón. Since this was the grand opening, there were tons of samples and free beer (!!!!) and wine. I killed two beers, taste-tested some ham, and then we came back upstairs. Overall success.
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