A busy weekend to preface a busy week!

The international program at UPO took us to Cádiz on Friday March 23rd for the 200^th Anniversary of La Pepa (the nickname for the Spanish Constitution) We had a short walking tour with some historical facts and anecdotes about various places all over the city, and then had a few hours of free time. We had hoped that it would be a good beach day, but that day there was what the Cadizians call the Levanta Winds, which basically just means that it’s ridiculously windy and it feels like it’s blowing from all directions all the time. We did make it to the beach just to feel the sand between our toes, but we spent most of the day wandering around the beautiful old part of the city and enjoying the sun (and ice cream!)

A statue built for La Pepa

A fish, meats and fresh produce market. Markets like these are standard in every city in Spain. I wish that was the case in the US!

The Cathedral

Where we spent most of the afternoon

 Saturday morning, Trevor and I went with a travel program for international students in Sevillia called We Love Spain to Granada. I won the trip in a raffle, so we couldn’t pass it up! And I am so glad we went. Granada is such a cool little town. Very relaxed, very hippie-y. And of course the AlHambra was beautiful. It was nice to somewhere with hills, also. Sevilla is so flat and I need a good vista now and then. Granada definitely provided the vistas. From the top of the AlHambra, there were views of all of Granada and beyond. There is also a place called the Mirador San Nicolas, which is a lookout point that is opposite the AlHambra and provides just as nice of views of the city. It was especially nice at night, because the AlHambra is lit up beautifully. The plaza near the Mirador is filled with local artists selling everything from paintings to jewelry. Granada definitely has a lot of talented people in it. Trevor and I went on the trip by ourselves, but the trip had a total of about 20 people on it. We met some really nice fellow students in Sevilla, 2 that are even going on another trip that Trevor and Jody and I are going on in a few weeks to Portugal. Ashley, if you’re reading this, I totally understand why you loved studying in Granada so much! The whole time I was there, I felt like I could really see you being at home in Granada. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to go there and experience it.

A small, but very popular street in Granada called Calle Nava. In Granada, every restaurant follows the tradition of providing a free tapas whenever a drink is ordered. A wonderful tradition if you ask me!

One of the beautiful gardens of the AlHambra

In the Generalife gardens of the AlHambra

People offering to write your name in Arabic a euro can be found about every 10 feet

In the Albacin neighborhood

View from the top of the AlHambra, looking down at the Albacin neighborhood

So I know that I'm very behind in updating these, and we just got back from an 8 day adventure all over the north of Spain. I'm working on organizing pictures and everything for that, so stay tuned for all the fun stories (and there's a lot!) from that trip. 

Love from Spain!