Chapter One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Six: Hola de Espana: Parte Dos

Adventure is truly out there! Whether we make the best of it is up to us - but I think it's way more fun finding excitement and adventure out of it all.

Nearly every weekend this month my class will be traveling around Southern Spain, and last weekend was our first "excursion" of the trip. We woke up before the sunrise on Saturday morning and dragged our feet and luggage to the bus at the train station (about a mile away). Three hours later we were in Granada, Spain. We first visited the Alhambra, which is one of the city's main prized possessions. This was built during the Islam Empire rule of Spain - it was a palace and city altogether lined by red walls (which is where the name "Alhambra" comes from). It was quite a sight to behold!

We had to walk so much simply because the Alhambra covers about 1,530,000 square feet; unfortunately, we didn't get to see it all because of various construction projects and the speed of the tour itself. The tour took about two hours, but it felt like a blink of an eye simply because there was something new to see around every corner.

Despite feeling like a fast tour, my feet felt like I had walked for two hours, and I'm still feeling the pain now. Study Abroad Tip: bring comfortable walking shoes - on ALL trips, even excursions!   

After our early morning tour, we had the rest of the day to explore the city of Granada. This is my favorite part about the excursions! Sure, I love the guided tours, but sometimes just simply exploring is how you really get to know a city.

This was the case for the Cathedral of Granada. I meant to go on a guided tour with my class, but I was late, so I ended up just wandering around the beautiful Cathedral alone. It was wonderful. This was really my first European Cathedral. And wow. It was massive, and amazing, and beautiful! It's like you can feel the love for God these people felt hundreds of years ago gazing upon the golden monstrances and incredibly detailed arches. I loved every minute of it - I could have gotten lost if I wanted to.

While wandering, I met up with my class! We all decided to walk around the markets, which is full of spices and Morrocan-themed items.

The streets were full of scents I didn't even know existed, with signs that used words I didn't understand. Thankfully, smell isn't distinct to a language, so we could all enjoy the flavors that lingered in the air. Now the haggling - that's a different story!

Later that evening we all hiked up the hills of Granada to San Nicolas Mirador, which gave us the perfect view of the Alhambra. While the hike was hard, and my feet hate me, the view was absolutely stunning! Especially during Twilight, when the Alhambra glowed and the full moon shone over the distant mountains.

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The next morning we hopped on a bus again and headed Northwest to Córdoba, Spain. The first thing we did was walk across the 2,000-year-old Roman bridge that crosses the Guadalquivir river, which actually passes through Seville, too. It was very cool and fulfilling to have walked where Romans walked many years ago.

We didn't stay for long in Cordoba, but the main objective was to view the impressive Mosque-Cathedral. The Muslims made this impressive structure when Spain was under Islamic rule. They constructed over 900 columns, and that doesn't even begin to cover the intricate wall pieces or ordained wooden doors.

When the Christians conquered Spain, they decided to leave the structure as it was and convert it to a Cathedral. This was very cool to see - at every turn there was an altar or an old painting. In the center of the structure was the Cathedral - tall, ordained, and beautiful.

It was kind of cool to see the blend of Muslim and Christian influences all under one roof. To think about who walked on these floors and what these walls have heard - incredible!! Visiting these sights that are hundreds of years old are very humbling and astonishing; the Mosque-Cathedral was truly a great experience (despite getting lost at the end!).

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We headed back to Seville for another week of classes and home life with our host mom. Overall, everything is great. Everyone is still trying to adjust to the schedule of Spain, especially when it comes to finding time to explore. Most of our activities as a group have occurred after the sun sets - which is fine and fun, but we're definitely learning the hard way that waking up early may be the way to go when it comes to exploring our city.

My Spanish is improving ever-so-slightly every day. Having lunch and dinner with our host mom María makes for interesting conversations. Through broken Spanish, we're all understanding each other a little bit more every meal. María admitted to us on Wednesday that we were her favorite chicas, and we blushed and told her we were going to miss her very much.

We had a delicious bowl of Carbonara on Wednesday night (and told María we would miss her food, too) and then headed to the bus again on Thursday morning. "But Sarah, don't you have class on Thursday?" You ask. I laugh.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA

Yes, I skipped class on Thursday to travel!! No, I'm not starting a nasty habit. The only thing I can say is: When in Europe!! Actually, my entire class of fifteen people also decided to skip class. We all headed to Lagos, Portugal - excited for a new adventure in another country (which was only 5 hours away).

Okay, well 5 hours sounds short, but my bladder wasn't happy about it... Yeah, so Study Abroad Tip: Pee before you go on a bus and don't drink a lot of water on a bus either - just sleep. Because for 3.5 hours, I was holding it. It was horrible. I mean, now I can laugh about it because it's comical to think that I tried to run out of the bus at the wrong stop and plead to the bus driver to wait for me in broken Spanish. The bus driver said (in Portuguese) "We have to leave, you have to wait" and me, in tears, legs crossed, said, "no puedo, no puedo" ("I can't"). This ended with me being dragged back into the bus by a classmate, embarrassed and on the verge of bladder failure.

Well, if you're dying to know, I did make it. Sorry if this is TMI, but just learn from my mistakes, okay? Learn some Portuguese if you're going to Portugal and pee before you get on a 5 hour non-stop bus ride.

We walked to our Hostel, which is basically tight, cheap, dorm-style living spaces. This was all of our first experiences in a hostel (with the exception for a few) so we really didn't know what to expect! We were greeted by an Australian who started working there a week ago, who moved to Lagos, Portugal a month ago. I'll admit, it was refreshing to talk to someone in English. We were introduced to our rooms: squeaky bunk beds, no AC, and one outlet for four girls to share. Needless to say, we knew why our rooms only cost 30 Euros. But hey! At least we had wifi!

We went straight to the beach, which really doesn't need much of an introduction:

One word: gorgeous! It was so pretty and not like my usual Texas beach destination. There really wasn't a bad camera angle possible here; clear skies, blue water, massive rocks... Needless to say, we spent a very long time on the beach. 

The next morning, ten of us headed back to the beach for a unique kayaking experience. We doubled up and paddled out into the beautiful waters, led by a guide with broken English but plenty of fun. Of course, Mary and I doubled up, and we were a pretty good team. We were a little slow and zig-zagged at first, but we quickly picked up our roles and kept up easily. 

Led by our guide, we kayaked near the massive rocks, so close we could touch them if we wanted. It was cool to watch the waves splash against the cliff sides, spraying salt water around us like rain. We passed by a lot of beaches, including a nude beach. One of our classmates (who didn't kayak with us) admitted that he had been to that beach. "Did you go nude?" we asked, to which he responded, "I mean...when in Europe!" While I admire his adventurous attitude, I don't think I'll be visiting any nude beaches this month. 

Anyway, we also explored some caves underneath the huge rocks. I love caves to begin with, but underwater caves?? I was very excited, and it was definitely worth the hype. The water inside was cool and had a deep blue hue. 

After about an hour and a half of kayaking, we stopped at a beach. We were given snorkeling gear and 20 minutes to do whatever our hearts desired. A lot of us explored the beach: snorkeling in the cold, blue water, exploring the hidden caverns, or even just re-applying sunscreen (Yeah, that was me). 

After working so hard kayaking, our tour guide hooked us onto a boat and we were towed all the way back to where we came. Our tired arms were relieved, as well as the rest of our bodies because it was pretty relaxing just breezing through the ocean. 

Unfortunately, we can't skip class forever, so we headed back to Sevilla later that day. Some might say that it was irresponsible to skip class, but honestly, I have no regrets. This was a fun experience spent with all fifteen people in our group - we grew closer as friends and made memories to last a lifetime. Sometimes, I think, it's okay to take a break from life to actually breathe it in and live. That's what we decided to do this weekend. Maybe it's because we're young and we feel like we can conquer it all, but at least we can go home with memories from the blue waters of Lagos, Portugal. 

As always, thanks for reading! Check back soon for more updates of Spain. Hasta luego!