Granada, España

This weekend we took a trip to Granada.  We got up Saturday morning and rode a bus for about 1 hour and arrived in Granada.  We first went to the Alhambra which is a moorish palace that was constructed during the mid 14th century.  It is truly one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been.  The gardens were amazing with all of the flowers and pools and all of the architecture was incredibly beautiful with intricate designs. Although my pictures do the place no justice at all here are some pictures:

After going to the Alhambra we went and checked into our hotel and had free time until 9:15PM, when we would meet back up with our group for a surprise event.  We got to go and get settled in our room and take a small nap, then Lauren and I headed out and explored Granada.  After exploring for a while we decided to get some helado (ice cream) and head back to the hotel to meet some friends to go out for dinner.  We met up with Hanna and Amber at the hotel and went out in search of some dinner.  After walking around for forever we finally decided on a pizza restaurant.  Granada is a really cool place to eat because every time you order a drink you get free tapas, even with water.  We all ordered water and got a free tapa which was sort of like pizza toppings on french baguette.  It was delicious.  Then we got our pizza which was really good.  Pizza here tastes a lot different than at home, but I love it. 

After dinner we went to some really cool shops to find some gifts and then headed back to the hotel to meet up for our surprise.  At 9:15 we met with our group and headed out for our surprise.  We ended up walking uphill on cobblestones for forever, it seemed like miles.  When we finally got to the top we got to look out over the lit up Alhambra.  It was awesome.  This wasn't the whole surprise though, there was more to come.

After taking pictures and admiring the view we started walking again towards the final destination of our surprise.  We finally arrived at a flamenco dancing show within a tiny building.  We got inside and all crammed into a tiny room with a stage at the front.  There were two different flamenco groups each with a guitar player, a singer, and dancers.  It was the most amazing thing that I have experienced since I have been in Spain.  While sitting there watching the show it made me realize how lucky I am to be in Spain and how awesome it is.  It was really surreal thinking about sitting and watching authentic flamenco dancers in Spain.   I'm so lucky.  

These last 2 weeks are going to go by too fast.  I am going to really miss it here.  I am beginning to love the culture, food, language, beach, and the relaxed life here.  I know that I will be glad to be home once I get there, but this experience will be with me for the rest of my life!

We got back to Malaga from Granada at around 5:30 and we have been relaxing and doing homework for the evening.  It was a long eventful weekend and I am very tired.

Time to go to bed and get some rest before school and the beach tomorrow.

Abrazos y Besos