¡Hola a todos! Sevilla and Granada

If you ever come to Spain, skip Madrid and come straight to Sevilla. Maybe I´m just a smaller town girl (who is moving to NYC...), but Sevilla had all the spice and color of Spanish culture. From the minute I started getting lost in its streets, Sevilla had me hooked! Walking around felt so comfortable and calm, I just wanted to absorb it all in. The architecture is a true mix of all sorts of cultures, from the days when the Jews, the Muslims, and the Christians all lived together in peace. And palm trees everywhere. (Yes, pictures coming later...hostel computers don´t like you to hook up cameras to them, so I have to wait for internet cafes.) Headed straight for the Alcazár, the palace, which has been my favorite thing I have seen on the trip thus far. It´s absolutely beautiful. My pictures certainly don´t do the detailing justice (the light was pretty bad), but such meticulous work went into tiling and carving every surface and ceiling. And the gardens are just breath-taking. I felt like a mix between Jasmine in her palace and Alice in Wonderland. Lemon, lime, and orange trees abound. I journeyed through mazes, rose gardens, flocks of peacocks, fountains...it was all just so beautiful. There are no words. I felt again like I should have been in a big dress, strolling the grounds with friends. Go to Sevilla to the Alcazár. Took in more of the night life by sitting at a cafe and watching the world go by...in the only day of rain that Sevilla sees per year. Sigh. Can´t always be perfect.

The next day, however, was perfect for seeing more gardens and parks. Started at the Casa de los Pilatos, a beautiful mansion with similar detailing as the Alcazár, and then worked my way through the maze of streets to the series of parks and structures just north of the Alcazár. Just a word of warning...if a lady approaches you trying to give you a sprig of greenery, run away. At the Plaza de España, one of these ladies approached me, and as usual, I said no gracias and tried to walk away, but she grabbed me by the arm and told me to take it...so I did. I tried to get away, but she started reading both my palms, saying all of this generic positive stuff. When she finished, she demanded 5€ per hand. I said I didn´t have any money, but she started pawing at my bag, so I took out the first two coins and ran away. Unfortunately, I think she made off with 1,50€, but I learned my lesson. After that ordeal, I visited the Cathedral, which is just amazing. The walk up to the top of the turret is a series of 36 ramps...and all you actors can´t complain, because these rakes were way steeper than anything I´ve ever built, and it´s code... Anyway, at the top there were beautiful views of the city and a short bell concert. Another highlight of the Cathedral is the tomb of Christopher Columbus. He´s in a marble coffin held by twice life sized marble pallbearers. It´s stunning. Walked around a bit more, and then it was adios a Sevilla!

Arrived at the Funky Backpacker´s Hostel in Granada and wasn´t sure what to expect. Decided the day would be best spent seeing everything other than the Alhambra, so I set out to see the Cathedral and the Royal Chapel (both ok), and walked around steep and narrow paths of the Moorish Albacin, or the Moorish quarter to get great views of the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada. My first views of snow topped mountains! A woman at the hostel said she was trekking up there and the snow was knee deep. But the real fun started when I got back to the hostel and met the greatest group of people at our roof-top lounge. (Cast of characters, some of whom will show up later: Sierra (a student at Brandeis studying at Sienna for a year), Jake (from California, a roommate and a linguistics grad student), Dagan (a windsurfer who spent the last 6 months in Tarifa enjoying sea and wind), Jackson (an artist and student studying in France), Jon (a seasoned traveller from the Peace Corps), and Laurel and Rachel (from Vancouver)). Dagan led the way to a great tapas place where we stuffed ourselves full of jamón, manchego cheese, chicken croquettes, and other wonderful food items for very, very cheap. Bonded with Sierra over the fact that we are both theater nerds. I suggested meeting up early for the queuing at the Alhambra in the morning for tickets (they sell out MONTHS in advance, but release 2,000 tickets every morning, so just go early). Met another Jake (Virginia Jake) at the computers and recruited him for the morning meeting as well.

Woke up at the crack of dawn, ate nutella on bread (the Europeans really know how to do breakfast), and ushered our group out of the hostel and up a steep hill (I don´t know if I´ll forgive you guys for that one!) to our line. Got into the Nazrid Palaces right away (which is the main living quarters of the Nazrid kings) and revealed in the beauty that is the Alhambra. The pools, the fountains, the detailing...amazing. No wonder this place is up for the new 7 wonders of the world. (Check out this website...www.new7wonders.com. There´s voting for a new 7 wonders of the world. Not sure which 7 I´ll vote for. It´s comparing apples and oranges it seems...) Wandered around more gardens, the fortresses, the palace of Charles V, the generalife gardens, and much more. It just keeps going! Definitely worth the trip to Granada! And stunning 360 views of the countryside. (There was an Australian photographer at our hostel that was setting up for hours for the perfect shot of the Sierra Nevadas. Apparently he spent two full days at Stonehenge waiting for tourists to clear or go behind stones before he could get his shot...I feel like such an amateur.)

Went with the group to tapas again. It´s a great system...order a drink, get free food with it...even if you only order a Coca-Cola Lite! And who walks in...but Sinhead from Madrid! I had been trying to reach her, but she didn´t have credit on her phone. Found out that she was on the same coach as me on my overnight train to Barcelona. Was going to upload pics at an internet cafe, but the Jakes convinced me to come back to the hostel until my train. It was nice to just sit and talk for hours, eating paella and enjoying our gorgeous views. Siesta is definitely a genius idea. I was sad to leave the group, but Laurel, two other guys, and Sinhead were all on the train, and VA Jake was soon to follow us. I think I like this hostelling thing. Meeting random people is really a great way to travel!

PS-Overnight trains in seats are not comfortable. I probably won´t learn, and I´ll do it again, but perhaps I should pay for the bed...

Sevilla

Granada (not finished, can't find a good connection yet)