Southern Spain!!!

Day 26. Hola Granada! Why you gotta rain on my parade? I was just starting to actually sleep on the overnight train when we arrived in Granada early this morning. I didn’t have time to book a hostel or to really figure out anything about Granada other than my handy dandy European Bible (thanks again Jayna!), so when I arrived I was definitely gonna have to wing it. Usually I figure out maps and how to get to my hostel or at least have a hostel to go to, but I left Barcelona in such a hurry I didn’t have time. And ugh, the Spanish barrier is awful. I really hate not being able to communicate in the slightest to anyone and it seems that no one in southern Spain speaks English. Cool story bro. The weather is also pretty gross, overcast skies and windy rain; my first real rainy day on my trip. But I wasn’t going to let that slow me down. I got directions to the city centre and started walking (it’s about 20 minutes from the train station). I kept my eyes peeled for a McDonalds (Mackers, haha) or a Starbucks as they have free wifi and have been my saving grace on more than one occasion here in Europe. No luck, drat. To top things off, the tourist office wasn’t open yet, double drat. Well again, I wasn’t going to let that slow me down. I saw a sign a few blocks back that led to the Alhambra and what looked like an archway monument. So with all my bags and a newly acquired umbrella that I forgot was in my bag from Barcelona (thanks Emma!), I started my hike. Ooph, legs burning. I didn’t realize how uphill it was going to be or how muddy and wet, but I was determined to prevail so I kept urging myself along and eventually I was rewarded! The monument was neat, just a little bridge archway of sorts that looked very old, but at the top of this massive muddy and rainy trek I got to see an impressive view of the city. The Alhambra was gated off and rather expensive to go in, so I just checked it out from the outside walls, very cool. As I walked back down the hill towards the city centre I took another path down some steps and came across an orange tree! I couldn’t resist myself, they looked so juicy and fresh and I was sure no one would mind one orange missing… so I snagged one. It was so tart, but so delicious! And it reminded me just how hungry I was. I found a small bakery down towards the city centre and tried to get some quiche, however, I instead got some stuff pastry with a quite good crème filling and chocolate milk. *Shrug,*go figure. I then made my way to the tourist office where they pointed out some of the important sites to see and where I could find a computer. I realized Granada was quite the small city and decided that to make good use of my Eurail pass I would just spend the day here and make my way to Seville later this evening. So I booked a hostel in Seville and kept trucking along with all my stuff to see some of Granada’s older buildings. Just outside the cathedral I fell into my first tourist trap! A woman approached me speaking very fast and tried handing me a small green branch. So I turned to see what was wrong (Spanish always sounds like something is wrong to me). I didn’t have the slightest idea what she was saying until she switched to very spotty English. Yay English! Well she placed the branch in my hand and then grabbed my other hand and started reading my palm. I have always had a strange fascination with palm reading so I didn’t stop her as she was speaking fast in Spanish again and I was not really thinking anything of it. She kept switching between English and Spanish but from what I gathered I apparently have a strong heart, am a very good student, have gone through many hardships, will live a long life, have a good relationship with my family, especially my mother, and will have 2 kids… but only if I take the branch into the cathedral in my right hand. Not the left, never the left. It was then I realized she wanted me to buy the branch, duh. She had already read my palm so I gave her a couple coins in my pocket and said that was all I had, she snatched them away and ushered me towards the cathedral and did the cross thing with her thumbs on my forehead before departing. I had to pay to enter the cathedral, lame, but I did want to go inside, so with branch in hand (the right one) I entered the cathedral. It was beautiful inside and very spacious with high ceilings and everything was in white and trimmed gold with yellow lighting. I took some photos (which was challenging with the branch in my camera had) and sat down to relax for a bit. They had me leave my big bag by the entrance so it was a relief to finally have it off my back and to take a breather from the strain. I almost dozed off when I was awoken by a security guard as the cathedral was closing. I scooped up my bag and headed for another cathedral a little ways off. Again you had to pay to enter (How can you charge someone to enter a house of God?), so I decided I didn’t want to go inside and just enjoyed the architecture of the building and its other surrounding buildings. My shoes now fully soaked through to the socks, I made my way back to the train station to get my ticket for Seville and take my bags off my back (I stopped feeling the weight and pain on my back at this point, but I am not sure if that’s a good or bad thing). On the train ride to Seville I got to see some of Spain’s country side. It is full of rolling hills all covered in what I assume is vineyards, although they are very different than France’s vineyards and there are smaller towns tucked away in the hills. It is very beautiful and I finally rode outside the rain clouds. Hello 20 degrees Celsius, oh how I have missed you and the sun. The city is quite the maze but I was able to find my hostel without getting turned around too bad. After showering and working on my blog (finally, sorry!) I am calling it a night. But excited for Flamenco and all that Seville brings tomorrow!

Day 27. First day in Seville! I woke up late and was legitimately sore (shocker from walking around with all my bags in the rain all day right?) but I wasn’t going to let that slow me down and I really wanted to go on a walking tour of the city today. Free walking tours are amazing by the way; you get to see lots of sights, get your bearings of the city, and you tip them what you thought the tour was worth to you. Win. Plus you get so much history and information you would not have known! Seville is full of stories and history and I loved both of the walking tours I went on (yup, I went on two in one day…my last name is walker…it’s just what I do). Seville is a very nice city at this time of year, there are horse drawn carriages everywhere, the sun I shining, its home to the biggest gothic cathedral in the world, and there are over 3600 orange tress all over the city. In the walking tour group I made some great friends, Adrianna from Peru, Sarah from France, and Roman from Belarus! We enjoyed the tour (I even played Hercules in one of the myths) and then a big group from the tour all went out to lunch together for some delicious tapas. After lunch we went to go see the Real Alcazar. It was amazing!! The architecture of the building is a mix between Muslim and Christian with beautiful tile work and columns, but the real treasure of the alcazar is the gardens. They are immense and I can’t even begin to describe the smells!! Just walking outside into the gardens you are immediately hit with the scent of jasmine right in the face. And from there it is quite the nostrily treat; every flower you want to press into your face or somehow capture the smell to keep forever. We even found one flower that was magnificent to put in your mouth and kind of inhale the smell. It was awesome and very silly, but definitely worth it. There was also a super legit maze in the gardens, like you could get lost and would have to stand on your tiptoes to see your friends’ heads bobbing around. There were fruit trees in the garden as well; mandarins, lemons, and something that tasted a lot like a grapefruit (yeah, we tried some and it was very delicious). We walked around the Alcazar for 2 hours but I could have spent the entire day there. After the Alcazar we went on the second walking tour and wandered through the Jewish quarter of town, yet another maze with streets that literally have 5 different names, and then a name the locals call it! This maze was for protection from the Christians and we got to hear lots of history and stories about the deaths that took place right where we were standing. Creepy! During the tour we made some more friends, Nicolas from Quebec, and Janne from Finland. We all were very hungry and wanted to see a Flamenco show so we made our through the maze of the Jewish quarter and found a local tapas bar with a show going on that evening. More tapas and sangria all around! The Flamenco show was excellent but I was expecting more twirling of the skirt and dancing. Her eyes though, oh my goodness, they were so incredibly intense. It seemed as if they peered into your very soul. Flamenco is a guitar player, a singer and a dancer, but it’s the beat and the rhythm of the songs that are so intriguing. It’s clapping and tapping and even clicking of the mouth all in different patterns flowing together with the guitar and song. I hadn’t seen anything like it before.  After 4 liters of sangria, a Picasso work in the making, and a fantastic show, Nicolas, Janne, and Roman all had to catch various flights so we all hugged goodbye. Again, just as quickly as you meet wonderful people they are in and out of your life in a blink. I don’t think I will ever be good at accepting this fact. After Flamenco we walked Sarah home and Adrianna and I decided we wanted to go out. We tried to meet up with the hostel pub crawl but were unsuccessful and so just enjoyed each other’s company and danced for a bit and then chatted the night away. I got home pretty late and then skyped until even later, but it was an excellent first day in Seville!!