Day 60-62: Whirlwind Weekend Part 2: Bye bye hair, hello Brussels again!

Here’s Part 2 of my trip to see Gillie in France via traveling through Belgium: A big change. 

         I’ve been wanting to cut my hair for a while now. Having as much hair as I do makes upkeep while traveling a real task, and plus, with the promise of a really hot summer coming up, I knew something had to change. The real question became not if I was going to cut my hair, but where. The spanish don’t exactly have my hair type, and so I was concerned about getting anything done to my voluptuous mane in Spain, plus what’s the fun of actually being able to communicate with your hair stylist? I decided that my trip to Lille was the perfect time for this major haircut. So with the appointment set, Gillie as my translator, and a few pictures in hand, we headed to Hexagon Coiffure on Saturday morning. 

         I was nervous, which was noted by the hairstylist. Much of the nerves were coming from the fact that I couldn’t understand what was being said and that I didn’t have my glasses on. A great comfort during all of this was knowing that Gillie was there as my translator. Of all the people in the world to have by my side during something like this, Gillie would have been my first choice, hands down (which is why I did it); she helped keep me calm and documented the whole event. After over an hour of cutting, shaping, blowdrying, and trimming I put on my glasses to see the final product. In the end she cut over 12-inches off, and do I love it!

        

We celebrated afterwards with a fresh pastry from the bakery across the street and made a stop at an open-air market to grab some rhum gofres. We sat in Lille’s Grand Place enjoying our treats and marveling at what a wonderful job the hairstylist did with my hair!

         That night was St. Patty’s day so we went to her friend Olie’s for dinner and a party where green, of course, was a requirement for entrance. Quite a few people came and I ended up chatting in both english and spanish. I really enjoyed that crowd of people, Olie and her boyfriend were amazing hosts. Afterwards we went over to another party, this one was being thrown by some Irish & English students, some of whom were painted green and wearing irish flags. We met some interesting people, I even ran into a girl from Portland, and I met Gillie’s mentor Fahim. Parties with international students are always interesting events. It’s like taking a trip around the world, you hear all kinds of languages, you meet people from a variety of backgrounds who are from a whole slew of different countries.  

         The next day we went to a crowded open air market to check out the sights, smells, sounds, and fares of that culturally rich area. After that, we attempted to go to a zoo but ended up finding an art museum instead where I got to see a Picasso piece, beautiful sculptures, and some gigantic paintings.

         Here’s where I’ll be a little honest with my French experience, I wasn’t too impressed by some of the people we met in public. It may be that I’m just used to the general open and welcoming nature of the spanish, but overall I found the people a little standoffish. Understand this, we met some great people, but we also found our share of brusque French people that actually did fall into the category of the typical “rude French” person. The overall experience was a good one, but keep in mind that if you go to France that you may have a similar experience, so just be prepared! 

         That night we stayed in and cooked one last delicious meal together, another fun activity that I have been missing since I don’t cook ever here in Spain. We watched another movie since we had to get up at 6:00 so that I could make it to my ride share back to Brussels. 

About to take off for my very long day of travel, goodbye Villeneuve d'Ascq!

         The next day was full of travel which it was exhausting and stressful, to say the least. I had to take a metro to catch my ride share that took me to Brussels. After some walking around the southern part of the city, I took a bus to the center. I had just enough time to duck into some chocolate shops, enjoy some freshly fried & delicious Belgian Frites, and snag some more photos of the Grand Place before I headed to Brussels Central. I bought my ticket for a train that would take me to another station in Charleroi, so that I could hop a bus to the airport. It was at this point, as I was waiting for the train, that I realized that I had underestimated how long it would take me to do all this. So, on top of juggling numerous modes of transport, I was now concerned that I may arrive just in time to watch my plane take off.

         Luckily, because the bus/train combo was faster than what the man at the counter had told me, I arrived at the airport in time to get my visa stamped, go through security, and find my gate with plenty of time to spare. After 2.5 hours of flying (aka sleeping), I was finally back in Sevilla. The only thing between me and a hot meal at my casa was another bus ride to Prado and a twenty minute walk. 

         It was during this walk that I realized how much at ease I’ve come to be here in Sevilla. I felt those same waves of comfort that I feel when I head back to Greensboro after being at away for a while. I walked up the stairs to the apartment. Gumersinda was there, Paco too, dinner was just about to be served and she greeted me with a big hug, dos besos, and a smile. I was only gone for six days, but it was enough time away for me to realize how much I truly enjoy living in this city. This isn’t my home, but I do feel at home here. 

         That walk was an interesting experience, one that allowed me to reflect on my feelings of comfort and to reflect on what that term home actually means. Being so far away helps you realize what you love the most about you’re real home. Distance makes you realize what you’re missing the most, and through those feelings you learn. I am changing here. Already I can tell I’m going to be a different person when I get back and that I’ve only been here for two months means I still have a lot more growing and learning to do. Something I am also painfully aware of is that I’m not the only one who’s changing, that while I’m in Spain, you all across the pond are having your own experiences. 

        They say that coming home is the hardest part of your experience abroad, reverse culture shock and adapting to all those changes; realizing that your ideal of home is just that: an ideal. You have to learn to adapt to that, you have to re-learn what home has become. Home is a term that, like many of the terms used to inspire an idea of stagnancy and permanence, in all actuality is constantly changing and redefining itself. Tradition, history, and culture are living terms that all rely on real and complex human beings in order to allow those terms to exist. This means that the terms are actually being impacted by the people responsible for continuing them; people mixed with the factor of time mean that they’re changing too. 

         I guess that what I’m trying to say, to conclude a much too long blog post, is that I have found comfort here in Spain, I love it here, and am enjoying myself. Traveling abroad has already, in just two months, made me realize that there’s nothing like coming back to the familiar. There’s nothing like returning to the people you love and know. Nothing like walking the streets, that were once so unfamiliar and strange, and realizing that they seem much less foreign and even offer a bit of comfort. Like knowing that while you were gone, people kept living their life. They kept living their lives, but they were also glad to greet you again, and to welcome you back after a long journey away. 

Home. Four letters, but loaded with meaning.  

Days 57-59: Whirlwind Weekend Part 1: Brussels and (Gi)Lill(i)e

       I’m splitting this post up to make it more reader-friendly, this is Part 1: Brussels and (Gi)Lill(i)e

        After a long week of playing catch-up with school work and other odds and ends that piled up from being out of town for 6 days, I’m finally getting the chance to sit down to tell you about my first trip out of Spain! Not only was I getting to visit two new countries, but my main reason for going was to FINALLY see one of my best friends, and my room mate from last semester, Gillie! We saw each other nearly everyday for a semester, and to go from that to not seeing each other for almost 4 months was odd. This trip marked some important firsts as far as my traveling experiences go: first RyanAir flight, getting from point A to B in a country where I can’t speak the language, using a French ride share system, and my first CouchSurfing experience. Of course there were many more firsts, but these were the major ones that had me feeling a little stressed before going. Oh yes, I guess there is another major event to tell you about: getting over a foot of my hair cut-off!

        Gillie is studying abroad at a university in Villneuve d’Ascq, a small town just outside of Lille, France. The cheapest way to get from Sevilla to that part of France was to book a RyanAir flight that goes to Charleroi Airport in Belgium. Since my flight was getting in so late (21:30), getting to Lille from Charleroi wasn’t an option on the day of my arrival (Wednesday), so I looked into finding a place to stay the night through the website www.couchsurfing.org. (If you’ve never heard of this project you should read up on it, it’s a fascinating idea that connects people all over the world who don’t mind hosting travelers http://www.couchsurfing.org/about.html) I lucked out in finding a really great person who lives in Brussels, Julie, who was willing to host me for that night. The next task would be getting from Charleroi to the Brussels Central station before the last bus of the night.

        So how was my first RyanAir experience? Well I was terrified of getting charged with erroneous fees that these budget airlines are so well know for, so I read up on the do’s and don’t’s of using these companies. Technically my travel backpack isn’t within their strict baggage requirements, but I decided to risk it anyway. I would rather know now, before I go off on my month long excursion around Europe, what exactly I’m going to be charged for. My baggage worries were quelled when I met two Spanish travelers waiting for the same flight to Charleroi, Maria and Rafa. They both were sporting backpacks like mine, except that they had even more things stuffed in them, so I asked them about their experiences on RyanAir and the luggage they were carrying. Rafa, who’s done extensive travel using budget airlines, assured me that they never (or rarely) check backpacks and that he’s never had any trouble while carrying one. Sure enough he was right, the lady at the counter didn’t even measure our packs and we three got on to the flight with no problem.

        I spent much of the flight chatting with my new friends who were also going to be going to Brussels Central that evening, they invited me to tag along so that we could find our way together. When we arrived in Belgium we caught the bus to Brussels Midi from the airport, and walked our way to Brussels Central (which turned out to be a bit longer than anticipated, I’ll use the tram next time!). We managed to unintentionally find our way to the famous Brussels Grand Place (conveniently located next to Brussels Central), which was almost deserted at that time of night. If you find yourself in Brussels I’d recommend that you go here at night, seeing all of the centuries-old Gothic and Flemish architecture lit-up without having to deal with the crowds is quite nice. It was a brief moment of peace and quiet after a long day of travel.

        I managed, again by some stroke of luck, to catch the last bus of the night that took me to Julie’s neighborhood. I arrived much later than I anticipated, it was 00:30 when I finally rang the doorbell at her apartment, but Julie was still waiting up for me and welcomed me at the door. We sat in her living room and got to know each other, she’s a teacher at a primary school who hails from the south of Beligum, she’s been involved with the CouchSurfing project for a little over a year and was an absolutely wonderful host. She offered me a yummy Belgian abbey beer (meaning was brewed by monks), called Grimbergen, let me try some Belgian Easter chocolate, and had my bed ready for me. 

View of the morning light on the buildings from one side of the apartment.

        The next morning I was up at 7:00 since Julie had to leave early to teach. I watched the sunrise from her top floor apartment as I ate a bowl of Golden Grahams. Since my ride-share didn’t leave til 11:30, I had the morning to walk around the Center and see some sights:

Easter chocolate.....yes that's chocolate. Despite it's cuteness, I wouldn't be able to restrain myself from devouring those cute little chocolate duckies.

Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall)  tower in Grand Place

Maison du Roi (House of the King) also in Grand Place

I think it looks like he's shooting that poor bird...

        My stop in Brussels was short, but a good one. The people were friendly, there was lots to see, and plenty of food and drink to try. I hope to come back some day to tour this little country a bit more. 

        Since this part of the world (aka Northern France/Beligium) is fairly expensive, I did some research on alternative (and safe) ways of transportation. Gillie recommended I give the French ride share website www.covoiturage.fr a try. I don’t speak French, the most I can say is “Hello, my name is Josie, I don’t speak French, goodbye”, but I managed to find a ride to and from Brussels & Lille for 7 euro each way. The drivers and passengers all spoke varying degrees of english, so it was interesting finding ways to communicate. On the way to Lille I spoke mostly in spanish with a French student named Nolween, who offered to show me the way to where Gillie would be meeting me. 

       I arrived in Lille and, with Nolween as my guide, walked toward the meeting point. Before I had even made it across the street I heard my name being called and looked up to see Gillie’s smiling face running through the crowd towards me. From that point on I couldn’t stop smiling. The semester before this one Gillie and I had talked about being able to see each other in Europe, and here we were actually doing it; we had found each other in the north of France, on a abnormally sunny day, after four months of being apart. We have been trying to keep in touch, despite our shoddy internet connections, but we still had a lot of catching up to do, so we headed to a restaurant with outdoor seating to enjoy some fresh French cuisine and to enjoy the sunny day together. 

(Gillie in case you have forgotten....that is mango)

This was my dish, yes that's goat cheese

       After lunch we made our way via metro to Villeneuve d’Ascq where Gillie lives, works, and goes to school. We went to the international café where she works and we made plans with some of her new friends to get bubble tea with them later that day. I enjoyed a delicious espresso prepared by my own personal barista, Gillie, and took a moment to read a bit while she worked. 

Rose bubble tea, refreshing & delicious, and the perfect excuse for an adorable photo opportunity

       We made our way back into Lille to get bubble tea, go grocery shopping, run some errands, and see the sights. I had been traveling for what seemed 24 hours straight so that night we stayed in and had a lovely quiet evening. We cooked dinner, drank Chi ‘ti beer (typical of the area), watched a movie, and enjoyed being room mates again. 

       The next morning we slept in and had a breakfast of (two) pain au chocolat (commonly (and incorrectly) referred to as chocolate croissants) and blood-orange juice; two of my favorite buys from our shopping trip the day before. We eventually got motivated enough to get dressed and head back into Lille to run some errands, the main one being to arrange a hair appointment for me.

       While in the center I bought a brown sugar crepe from a street vendor. The guy who made it for me made it look too easy as he spread the delicate mix on the hot plate, skillfully flipped it, topped it with brown sugar, rolled it up, and handed it to me on a paper plate. The sugar proceeded to caramelize from the heat of the crepe. Yes, it was delicious, almost too sweet, but realllly good. 

       We eventually found our way to the hair salon and I managed to snag the last open spot for the next day at 11am. Afterwards we stopped in the Eglise du Sacré-Coeur (Notre-Dame du Pentecote). It was chilly inside, so much so that I could see my breath. As we walked around the nearly empty church you could hear the pigeons cooing from the bell tower; this place was impressive. 

(More photos at the end of this post) 

View of the cathedral as we walked to it.

       That night we met up with some of her friends and went to Guapa Bar where they played really fun music, i.e. remixes of James Brown and Michael Jackson. After some dancing I found myself incredibly exhausted despite it being early (2am), so we ran to catch the night bus back to Villeneuve. 

Check back for Part 2, it'll be up soon!

Calling All International Connections!

Rebecca and I are to be reunited again soon!

ALRIGHT ATTENTION PLEASE!!! My best friend Rebecca Jones and I have our trip for this summer just nearly set up, aside from booking flights, trains, hostels, etc. 

We'll be in:
May 19th til May 23rd: (fly) Cookham/London, England
May 23rd- May 29th: (train) Edinburgh, Scotland
May 29th-June 1st/2nd: (fly) Prague, Czech Republic
June 2nd- June 6th: (train) Berlin, Germany
June 6th-June 11th: (fly) Barcelona, Spain
June 11th-June 13th: (fly) Sevilla, Spain
June 13th: (fly) Comin' Home!

Here's the dealio: do you have experience with the locations? Want to offer advice? Do you happen to know people that would show us around and/or want to offer us a couch to crash on? 
If so send me an email or write it in a comment, I'd love to hear all about it! This is a whirlwind trip for sure, I'm aware that all that travel is a little crazy....but I think it's totally do-able!


Also another request (I know, I'm needy!): Is there something that'd you'd like hear more about or that I have yet to write on? If so let me know in the comments, I've just reached 1700 views and I'd love to hear what my "public" wants to read!

Banjoing in Granada

My friend Erin took some video of me playing Angeline the Baker on top of the caves in Granada, check out the Alhambra in the background! It was an amazing day, so glad to have some footage of it too. Read the previous posts for more info on what all is going on here and why I'm in Granada.
[This goes out to the Scowlgirls, wish ya'll could be here]

Days 43-46: A 21st Birthday Celebration in Granada

        There is so much to write about when it comes to this last weekend; eating tapas and kebabs, hosteling for the first time, skiing in the Sierra Nevada's, staying in a cave, playing banjo in and on said cave, visiting the Alhambra, staying out too late, and the best of it being that I got to share all of these experiences with some really amazing ladies. Oh and did I mention that it was also my birthday? That’s right, Ms. Josie Hoggard is officially 21 years old! This past weekend was the best way anyone could ever hope to celebrate a birthday, and I’m so grateful to have had the chance to spend it in Granada with such exceptional people. 

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

        My birthday weekend started on Thursday. After class Sam and I met at the bus station and rode three hours to Granada, a picturesque city at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, with gypsy-style stores lining the maze of cobblestoned streets, and famous for it’s crown jewel: the Alhambra (more on that later). The bus ride itself is worth the ticket, but then to have this amazing city waiting for you seals the deal as one of the best weekend trips from Sevilla. Once you get out of the city of Sevilla everything is so open, there are fields of olive trees, and large tracts of green grass. The bus left just as the sun was setting; there was a rain storm racing along side of us towards the large mountains in the distance, and the resulting mixture of dark clouds and setting sun was gorgeous, I could tell right then that it was going to be a great weekend.

Walking back to the hostel

        When we got into town we checked into the Oasis hostel (I would definitely recommend this place, free breakfast, free drink upon check-in, great staff, free coffee and tea all day, free internet access, and overall just a well-kept place all for 15€ a night). We dropped our stuff off on our bunks and made our way to a really delicious tapas bar called Babel. Granada is known for following the tradition of giving you a free tapas with the purchase of a drink, I wish more places would do this. The food at Babel was delicious and different from your normal spanish tapas, it was a hip little place that offered a variety of ethnically influenced dishes. My favorite tapa was actually one that Sam ordered, it was pulpo frito (fried octopus) with two different cotton-candied colored sauces on the side, yum!

        After dinner we headed back to the hostel to meet up with the rest of our group who took the later bus, by about 23:30 we were all there and ready to go out. The chicas that would make up the cast of so-called cave princesses would be: Sabrina (University of Florida), Sam (University of Texas), Rose (Appalachian!), Erin (Appalachian!), and Joni (Appalachian!). These lovely ladies made my birthday weekend the best I could have ever hoped for, (I would like to take a minute to say thank you to everyone of you 5 for being who you are. You all are such wonderful people and I’m so glad that we’ve become friends. I can’t wait to see what the rest of our time here has to offer us, I’m so glad to be able to share this adventure with ya’ll.)

Friday, March 2nd, 2012 (Happy Birthday to me!)

        We went out to a bar but since Joni and I were getting up early to go skiing the next day, she and I headed back to the hostel to get some much needed sleep to prepare for a day of skiing. I got up at about 7:30 to grab breakfast, pack my stuff, and to check out. I got to have a conversation over breakfast with a very nice Argentinian family while enjoying a crêpe, cereal, and coffee. Joni and I left a little later than we had hoped (story of my life it seems). We had yet to buy our tickets to the ski mountain and weren’t sure how full the bus would be, so we were a little nervous as we made our way to the station. By some kind of birthday luck we managed to snag the last two tickets for the bus and hopped on the jam-packed coach. We sat up front and got to enjoy this amazing view:

       Once Joni and I got up there, rented our equipment, and bought our lift passes, we went to go find some hot mulled wine; something that Joni had had on her previous visit skiing here. We found a little stand with a younger Hungarian woman selling 2€ wine, and we sat to enjoy our delicious drink and to watch the snow that had just started falling up on the mountain. Joni struck up a conversation with the Hungarian woman, who turned out to be fluent in hungarian, spanish and english, and was a really nice person. She even gave me some yummy cocoa balls covered in caramel por gratis (for free) as a birthday present. 

        After wine we went and gathered up all of our equipment and rode the gondola to start our first run of the day. The snow was coming down pretty good which gave us some fresh powder, but as far as visibility goes there wasn’t much we could see since we were using dinged up rental goggles. The skiing was great but intense since there wasn’t much definition between the snow, the space in front of you, and the mountainside.  

Birthday Girl (me) ready for some skiing!

        By about half-way through the day things started to clear up and I got to experience the best skiing of my life; it wasn’t terribly crowded, the sky was clear, and I had warmed up enough to be comfortable on the slopes. The runs are much longer up there, much different from North Carolina skiing, and I definitely got a work out. It was so nice to be skiing on something other than the ice-packed hills in Boone, there was actually the much sought after fresh and fluffy powder! Joni was a wonderful skiing partner, I had a great time hanging out with her on the slopes all day and she was a wonderful tour guide.

My wonderful ski partner, Joni!

        I was totally exhausted when 16:30 (closing time) rolled around. After returning our gear we grabbed some hot chocolate before making our way to the bus. We, again, snagged the last two seats. Joni was so sweet to offer me the best seat on the bus, I got to sit directly next to the bus driver; a front-row seat to one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever witnessed. I had planned to nap the whole way down, but with a view like that there was no way I could fall asleep. The gray-purple snow storm clouds had cleared away enough to let the sun shine over the city of Granada, there was a pinkish-golden light cast over the white walled towns as we whizzed by them on our way down the mountain. 

        We met everyone at the hostel so that they could show us the way to where we would be staying the rest of the weekend: in a cave. Now don’t think we’re some crazy hippies going up on a mountain and staying in some hole in a wall, no this was no rinky-dink caveman cave. This was a Granada cave. But first we had to muster the strength and will to climb up to said Granada cave, no easy feat after skiing all day, one that would have been much worse if I had had to tote my banjo and clothes too (another example of how wonderful these ladies are, Rose had carried all my stuff up for me earlier that day).

        We trudged up the mountain for quite a bit, we eventually made it to the top and, oh man, was it worth the hike! The Alhambra was in view the entire way up, we turned the corner to find a white-walled compound of the caves called Las Cuevas Abánicos; our home for the rest of the weekend. The cave offered a patio with roof access, kitchen, full bathroom, two bedroom coves, and a sitting area. Here, I even took some video:

        After setting my stuff down and taking a look around I was told that there was one more birthday surprise for me and my chicas gave me an envelope addressed to “Josie Pants”. Inside was the 50€ I had paid to stay in the cave along some sweet drawings and a note stating:

        “Josie’s Cave Ticket! First of all happy 21st birthday. This is a ticket for a free stay in a real, authentic Granada cave. You can bring friends, invite people, play your banjo, call dibs on a bedroom, get to shower first (or last- whatever you want!). Redeemable March 2nd-3rd, 2012” . 

        Signed by Sam, Rose, Sabrina, Erin, and Joni. 

        That’s right, on top of already getting to spend my birthday with them, they paid for my portion of the cave. Have I mentioned how grateful I am for them yet?

        We hung out in the cave and I played banjo, as expected, the acoustics were quite lovely. After a bit of chatting we decided a nap-time would serve us well since we were going to DJ party that night that wasn’t supposed to get going til about 3am. We woke up from our naps at 22:00 to the smells of spaghetti that Erin and Sabrina had made for us.

        Once we ate dinner we turned on some music and got ready to go out to hear DJ Hype. That night (well morning really) was an interesting experience, one that was definitely appropriate of a 21st birthday celebration, and one that, for the interest of time’s sake, I will spare you the details. Know this, we had a lot of fun and my girls are the best, and in true spanish style we stayed out til about 6:30, and we’re in bed by 7:30am. 

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

        Everyone slept in the next morning. We rolled out of bed by noon and fixed eggs-in-a-basket topped with gouda, and brewed some much-needed coffee. Sabrina, Erin, and I were headed to tour La Alhambra that day and would need all the help we could get to make it up there and actually enjoy the experience. Sam, Rose, and Joni had all been to Granada before, so they decided to spend the day sun-bathing on the roof of the cave. With the steep incline to the top of La Alhambra waiting for me I can’t say that I wasn’t envious of them, I hadn’t had much sleep and skiing the day before had my legs feeling like noodles. Somehow we managed to get ourselves to the top and make it to our tour on time, it was crowded but that didn’t take away from the view or from marveling at the lavish palaces.

Check out the etchings!!

Me doin' some marvelin'

Water features, this was on the side of a staircase, one of hundreds

Sabrina, myself, and Erin, posing on the bridge/terrace in the pa

        When it comes to the Alhambra I could spend hours describing the intricate etchings on the walls, the way the sun hits off of the thousands of water features, the carefully groomed gardens, and the panoramic view of the seemingly endless earth visible from atop the 2nd century fort, but despite all that I would never fully be able to capture the magnificence that comes with actually being at the Alhambra. It lives up to it’s hype 100% and it is a total must see. I will not bore you with feeble words, instead I’ll leave you my photos and tell you that if you’re ever in the area you have to make your way up that hill, it’s worth it.

One example of the exquisite mosaics found all over the Alhambra

Erin & Sabrina walking through the palace

Archways leading to a courtyard

There were many cats to be found on the grounds, they make use of the spring fed water features


View from the Torre de la Vela

Looking the other way on the Torre, the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Well groomed jardines (gardens)

        We toured the grounds for about 4 hours, skipping lunch so that we could take in as much as we could with the time we were given. By the end of all of our walking wwe were hungry and ready for a nap; we just had to hike back up to the cave first. 

View as we walked back to the cave! Check out the Alhambra & that sunset!

        When we got back we devoured the rest of the food in the cave and took a brief siesta, we decided that the best plans for us would be to go out for tapas and have a quiet last night in the cave. And that’s what we did. Sam showed us to a really good tapas bar on the other side of town and we passed by the very impressive cathedral on the way. After eating quite a few tapas we walked back to the cave, listened to music, and went to bed. 

Sunday, March 4th, 2012

View from our roof.

        Rose and I had intended to get up and watch the sunrise from our cave roof but somehow I managed to turn off my alarm without waking up. We woke up, instead, at 10:00. So as to not waste the morning inside waiting for everyone to get up, we made some tea and sat on the roof. I played banjo while looking out over the gorgeous view which may sound quite cliché or kitschy, but it was incredibly epic to actually do.

The usual: playing banjo on top of a cave.

At the Mirador

        Once everyone was up we headed into town to get some breakfast and coffee at a restaurant at the foot of the Alhambra. After shopping around town we rushed back up to the cave to pack up and move out, we were sad to leave our lovely princess cave! Joni walked Sabrina to the bus stop since she was scheduled for the earlier one, and so With all of our stuff in tow we set off to go find one of the better Miradors (Lookouts) to take in the Alhambra, Sierra Nevada’s, and surrounding valley. We did our best to make our way through the maze of hilly, cobblestoned streets, eventually we found ourselves in the right place, so we paused to take in the view. I took the opportunity to play the banjo some more and to take a breather, my calves were on fire!

Mmmmm, kebab

        Eventually we met Joni near the cathedral to have one last kebab before catching the bus home. The kebabs in Granada are well priced and absolutely delicious, I’m afraid to guess how many I could devour if I were hungry enough. After lunch we headed to the bus station and arrived just in time to snag the whole last row on the bus to Sevilla. We spent the next three hours chatting, enjoying the scenery, and taking much-needed naps. 

Truly a happy birthday

        When I got to my casa I still had a few birthday surprises waiting for me; I had a table full of birthday cards from family and friends to open, tons of Facebook birthday wishes and messages, and Gumer had bought me an ice-cream birthday cake to share with my new French roommates after our dinner. Overall this past week has been the best celebration of my 21st birthday I could have ever hoped for. Coming home to extra surprises was the cherry on top of a really sweet weekend. I am so grateful for everyone in my life, from the bottom of my heart thank you for being such wonderful and supportive people, words will never be able to express how much each of you mean to me. I could feel the love coming from all over the world, thank you!

What's up next with me? Visiting one of my best friends, Gillie! Headed to Brussels, Belgium and then to Lille, France on Wednesday, March 13th. Check back for that post, it's gonna be an adventure for sure!