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!