La Alhambra, Sevilla y Córdoba

        A few Sundays ago, we finally went to La Alhmabra, the famous Islamic palace that was converted into a Christian palace when Los Reyes Catolicos, Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the city.  Interesting fact, the name of the palace comes from the Arabic "red" because the building was built with red stone. It was a beautiful day to visit, and set against the blue sky, the buildings were gorgeous. We saw the Palace of Carlos V, which he built to show his power and influence as the king. We learned about his Palace in my art history class, so I knew that the palace has never actually been used as a residence, (nor a bull ring, which many people think because the center is a circle). Actually, the construction of a circle within a square is supposed to represent the universe (circle) and the four corners of the square represent the four cardinal directions of the earth, demonstrating Carlos V's immense reign.
           We got to see the old baths, but only the top parts that were above ground because the inside is too unstable. But if you look at the pictures, it looks like the pods from the movie Cocoon! My favorite parts were definitely the architecture, the mosaics and the gardens. I love seeing the ornate and detailed wall carvings, all with different elements of nature and Qur'an quotes. The mosaics...oh, they are breathtaking. After this trip, I've decided I want to have a patio in my backyard with mosaics like the ones I've seen in Spain because they are absolutely beautiful.  I hope I'm able to go back to the La Alhambra before we leave because I'm sure the gardens will be even more beautiful in the Spring when everything starts blooming.
             A few weekends after La Alhambra, our program took us to Sevilla and Córdoba, two cities in Andalusia which are very close to Granada. We first went to Sevilla, which wasn't too long of a bus ride. We stopped at Plaza España, a famous plaza that has beautiful mosaics for every city in Spain. After a few pictures, we went to our hotel and dropped off our things. Then, we walked to the Cathedral, which was across this beautiful bridge. Oh, how could I forget? Before we actually got to the Cathedral, we went to Starbucks. Still isn't good, even in Spain, but it got the caffeine job done! The Cathedral is very impressive in size, but the inside is much to dark for me. It is a Gothic design, so all the art work is very dark and scary, and there didn't seem like there were enough windows. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the famous altarpiece because it was under construction. But, we did get to see Christopher Columbus's tomb (well, of his body, his head is somewhere in Latin America). That was pretty cool.
           My favorite part was climbing up el torre Giralda, a tower that was originally a minaret of the Mosque that the Cathedral was built upon. One really cool thing about the tower was that it's matching twin is the one at the Mausoleum of King Muhammad V in Rabat, which we saw during our trip to Morocco! There are a series of 34 ramps to the top, and the view is incredible! It was such a hot day and from the top, we could see rooftop pools and all of us were like "LET'S GO!"
           After seeing the view, we came back down and then it was time for lunch. We sat in the patio of the Cathedral and soaked up some sun while eating. After lunch, we went to get ice cream and I had turron and dark chocolate, which was delicious! We then met up with the rest of the group and went to the Palacio Real,  which is no longer sued by the royal family, but more of a park now. There are beautiful gardens and decorative Arabic influenced patios. We walked through and took a lot of photos because the whole place was really picturesque. We also got to see some great art work, even one painting that we later talked about in my art history class!
            We had free time after, so Claudine, Caitlin, Sam and I went to 5pm mass in the Cathedral. After mass, we went back to the hotel for a nap. (Siesta is crucial!) We got ready, then went out for dinner with our friends Jackie and Ellen at this cute restaurant. There was great sangria, and I had some pasta as an appetizer, which was alright, nothing compared to my mom's though! Then I had a paella mixta as the main meal which is paella with both seafood and meat. We also had a dessert, which was basically whipped cream in a cup with cocoa powder on top, so it was very light. After dinner, it was back to the hotel for our early morning wake-up.
          The next morning we stopped in Itálica, an ancient roman town, for breakfast to see some Roman ruins. Breakfast was a shot of espresso and a tostada with tomate, olive oil, and some jamón. The ruins were cool to see, but after a while, we were ready to leave. It was a short bus ride to Córdoba, and there, we saw the Mezquita, the famous Islamic mosque that was converted into a Catholic Church. It has the beautiful red and white striped arches and it was amazing to see the fusion of an Arabesque arch with the iconography of Catholicism. In Córdoba, we ate lunch at a cafe outside in the sun, and I had some awesome gazpacho that was perfect for the hot day. I also had a "panini" with ham and cheese, but it was really an open tostada that was grilled on top. The restaurant had a large variety of gelatos, so I tried the banana one, it was good, but not the best I've ever had. After our fun and busy weekend, we were all ready to go back to Granada, which thankfully was only a few hours away!

Londres 3

       Day three of our trip was another whirlwind of a day! We first went to Dr. Johnson's house, an important literary figure (so Claudine dragged me there). No, it was interesting because he wrote an extremely important dictionary, but it is somewhere I will not be returning. I took some photos though if you want to see what his house looked like. My favorite part was when Claudine dressed up in the clothes from that time period in one of the rooms.
         After this, we went to the British Museum which is sort of like the Met in NY because it has important works from all time periods like Greek & Roman sculpture and the Egyptian architecture. The coolest thing was seeing the Rosetta Stone! It was surreal to be so close to something so influential. We also saw the matching pair of Assyrian guard statues that are in the Met. We visited a few wings of the museum after the Egyptian exhibit like the Greek & Roman architecture (including panels from the Acropolis), and  England in the 18th century. It was a huge museum, so we didn't get to look at everything, but thankfully, we got to all our favorite rooms!
          After the British Museum, we walked to Kensington Garden and Hyde Park and sort of just walked around. It was a cloudy and chilly day (for the first time since we had arrived!) so it wasn't the nicest day to be outside. We were admiring the back of Kensington Palace (which unfortunately was under construction to prepare for KATE AND WILLIAM'S ARRIVAL)  when we saw the Orangery, the famous restaurant on the lawns of the Palace. We went in and had the traditional Sunday tea, which was served with finger sandwiches, a scone, and a few chocolate pastries. It was all delicious, especially paired with the Afternoon at the Palace tea.
           We left the Orangery and walked towards the Albert and Victoria Museum. On on way, we saw the Albert memorial,  which was enormous! I didn't expect it to be that large and ornate, but it was a big monument that Queen Victoria built for Albert after his death. Then, we got to the museum and walked through quickly because it was closing soon. It was filled with more beautiful pieces, and my favorite was a sculpture by Bernini.
         We decided to have dinner at another pub and found Nicholson's Firehouse- the White Hart. We both ordered a beef and vintage ale pie  which came with mash (mashed potatoes) and fresh vegetables. It was made with Fuller's vintage ale, and it was great--the crust was really flaky and light, almost like a popover. We also ordered a drink after dinner--Irish coffee for Claudine and a Disaronno with Cracker blackberry & blueberry juice with a lime for me. It was so sweet and just the perfect after dinner drink. I really want to get some more of the Cracker brand because it has some great flavors, but it is only sold in the UK! So sad.
           After dinner, we went back to the hotel and packed. We had to wake up at 3am because our flight was at 6:30am so it was definitely an early night for us.
            And thus ends our adventures in London and as they say there, cheers!

Londres 2

               Sunday was another early morning that began with our delicious breakfast in the hotel's restaurant. Again, we made Nutella sandwiches and then, we were off! We took the Tube to the Tower of London and were absolutely blown away by it. It is one of the most historic sites I've ever seen because it was built by William the Conqueror in 1066 and since then has served as a  palace, a prison, a execution site, and fortress among other things. We began our tour with one of the famous London "Beefeaters" who serves as a guide and officially, is a guard of the tower because it remains one of the Queen's Royal residences. He was hilarious, and told us the long and sometimes harrowing history of the Tower of London with a lot of enthusiam...plus he was wearing a great uniform, so I was very happy with the tour. Some of the highlights of the tour (which apparently you can watch on YouTube) were first, the tower were Lady Jane Grey, Anne Boleyn, and Elizabeth I (when her half-sister Mary was in power) were kept while being investigated (and in the cases of Jane and Anne, convicted) of treason. It was really interesting to learn about the different uses of the Tower throughout the years and the scandals that took place there (like the murder of the two princes by their uncle, King Richard III [allegedly]). We also saw the lawn, called Tower Green, on which Lady Jane Grey and Anne Boleyn were beheaded. It was bizarre to be standing right there where two famous women were killed, especially such historic figures.
       After the tour, we were able to walk about the grounds and see the different exhibits that were on display. Here comes my favorite part: we saw the CROWN JEWELS. I'm talking about the actual crowns and scepters that the Royal family wears, and even the Coronation crown! It weighs almost 5 lbs and it absolutely gorgeous, as were the other pieces. There were also solid gold tableware, but not just dinner plates, but an ENORMOUS wine mixer and other large items.  The jewels were so shiny and then we came to the biggest one of all--the First Star of Africa which is a whopping 530.2 carats. It was sensational. We couldn't take photos inside though, so I'd recommend looking at the gallery of photos: The Crown Jewels Gallery.
         After our sparkly adventure, we went into the armory of the Kings and saw the armor of the Kings since William the Conqueror. It was very cool to see the advancements in all the weaponry over the years and the torture devices. We saw the room where the two princes were allegedly murdered by their uncle in order to maintain his reign. After the Torture Tower, we sat on a bench overlooking the Tower Green and ate our lunches. Then, we left and walked to the Tower Bridge, which was very impressive! We took a ton of photos there and then left to go to the Dickens Exhibit at The Museum of London. It was interesting but as an English major, Claudine definitely enjoyed it more than I did.
         After the museum, we ran to St. Paul's for an organ recital. Oh, that's right, we entered into the Cathedral that Princess Di got married in and heard a concert from a world famous organist under one of the best acoustic ceilings. I know, it was incredible. The church is MASSIVE! Its decorations are beautiful and ornate with mosaics and gilding.  Then, when we came out of the church, we met our friend Ryan who is studying abroad in London! It wasn't a coincidence, we planned to meet but it was so awesome to see a familiar face! We walked to Picadilly Circus (the Times Square of London), but NY's Time's Square is still more impressive.  (sorry, London!) We then took the tube to the Oxford Station and then got on the bus to Angel Street Station ,which is near Ryan's dorm. We went to this really authentic pub that she loves called the Winchester and had a 2 for 1 Sunday Roast! There were 4 varieties, so we each chose the one we wanted and split the 4th one, although it was more of a tasting of the 4th one since the portions were huge. I had the lamb with was sliced with a dark gravy, and the roast came with beets, mang tout, Yorkshire pudding (aka popovers!) and vegetables like carrots, broccoli, snap peas and potatoes covered in a savory gravy. It was awesome and we also had hard cider with our meal--I had pear this time though, and I think I liked Claudine's apple one better.
        Then, came dessert. It was OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD. We all decided to split one banoffee pie because were all so full from dinner, and it was the right choice! It had a crispy, buttery crust and the most delicious creamy banana flavored filling. I can't wait to try to make it at home!
          After such a long day and a great dinner with a wonderful friend, we headed back to our hotel for the night and to prepare for the 3rd day of sightseeing!
         

Londres 1

Ah, so late, but here goes!
       Claudine and I spent our first long weekend (Feb 24th-27th) in London! We had literally decided a week and a half beforehand, but after booking our bus to Madrid, flight, and hotel, we were on our way! I have to give a special thank you to Megan for putting together a wonderful PowerPoint for us with things see, places to eat, and insider London tips--it was so helpful! We took a 7am bus to Madrid (which took 5 hours), then navigated the Metro to the airport, and took a flight to London. We arrived at our hotel late Friday night and ordered in Indian food (I had naan with a spicy beef and onion side) and then went to bed since we had spent all day traveling.
      On Saturday, we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, which was delicious! We had the traditional English breakfast which included beans, ham, sausage, eggs, a hash brown, and tomatoes (I didn't eat the eggs or beans, but the rest was great). We also had toast, which we used to make Nutella sandwiches for lunch--yes, Nutella in Europe is like butter and jam in American, an integral part of breakfast (even though we had great jam too). With our lunches packed, it was into the center of town for some sightseeing!
       We took the Tube (how cute is London?) to the Westminister Abbey station, and literally as we walked up the stairs, THERE was Big Ben! It was surreal to finally be seeing such a worldwide landmark in person. In fact, the motto of this trip would soon become, "is this real life?" because Claudine and I both could not believe that we were really IN London after so many years of wanting to visit. Big Ben was really impressive to see, and attached to it is the Houses of Parliament, which is also huge! They are both situated on the River Thames, so  we were able to see three major landmarks in a matter of minutes. Of course, then we turned around and saw the London Eye too, so it was actually overwhelming for us to realize, "wow, we are in London." After taking a ton of photos of the area and all the buildings, we made our way towards Westminster Abbey. AKA the site of Kate and Williams' wedding, so obviously I was giddy to get there. It was on the other side of the Houses of Parliament so we were there in a few minutes, and starting taking photos. We decided to come back for the Evensong service later that afternoon in order to get the full effect of the inside and the wait was well worth it. But more on that later!
          So after taking the photos from the outside, we walked to Buckingham Palace.  To be honest, I thought the building itself was a bit underwhelming compared to some of the more ornate buildings I've seen. However, its sheer size made it very impressive and moreover, the Queen Victoria Memorial was absolutely gorgeous because it was entirely gilded. We took the mandatory pics of the guards in front of the palace, but it was nothing like the movies--we didn't even get to stand next to them! But it was still cool to see, my favorite part was seeing the balcony where the famous two kisses happened last April (obviously). We made out way out of the area after snapping a few more photos in front of the palace and headed towards St. James' Park.
         St. James' Park is a large green space near the palace, and Claudine and I decided to stop there to have our picnic lunch. The weather on Saturday was perfect--it was about 75 and sunny with a slight breeze to keep us cool. I loved sitting on the grass, soaking up the sun and eating our Nutella sandwiches. We also had Cadbury eggs as dessert, so it was one sugary lunch--it was good because we had plenty of energy after that! After lunch, we went back to Westminster Abbey to attend Evensong. It was incredible to actually be in the place where the royal wedding took place and to recognize the interior from the broadcast. We were also really lucky because the boy's choir was singing at this service, so we got to hear wonderful music. We got to hear the Anglican versions of prayers, which differ slightly from the Catholic prayers. The final bonus is that the reader had a British accent, which also makes everything better. Westminster is also the site of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and where her parents were married, so it was really mind-blowing to be sitting in such a historic church. I really liked the architecture and art inside as well, which you can sort of see in the photos I took.
        After the service, we ran to the National Gallery because it was closing in an hour, but we still got to see some incredible pieces of art. Another thing I love about London is that all the museums were free and there were no annoying bag checks so we could carry our waters in with us. I saw about five rooms and in that limited time, I saw paintings by Monet, Cezanne, Manet, Van Gogh, Degas, Renior, Constable, among others, so the museum was jam packed with famous works.
          We left the National Gallery and took some pictures in Trafalgar Square, which is where the museum is located.  It was cool to see the countdown billboard to the Olympics (which I am SUPER excited about). We decided to walk to find a pub to have dinner at, and we ended up at this really authentic looking place, which ended being a Taylor Walker Pub, a chain that our friend Megan recommended to us. We both ordered a hard cider since we had heard nothing but good things about it.  I ordered a steak and ale pie-which was basically a beef pot pie, but absolutely INCREDIBLE. I was not expecting it to be that good since the UK is not known for it's food. But I was pleasantly surprised when my plate arrived--it was tender beef in a flavorful dark ale gravy all in a flaky crust. It also came with chips (fries) and broccoli. Claudine ordered fish and chips and she really liked it, but I was in the mood for something more home style. After dinner, we ordered Irish coffees, but I wasn't a huge fan of them. I'd take espresso over that any day of the week, but it was a cool experience because we were in a pub. After our satisfying meal, we headed back to our hotel to sleep because we had another busy day planned for Sunday!
       
     

La Oliva

Prepare for what might be my best post of all time!
       On Friday, we went to La Oliva, a store in Granada that specializes in selling specialty olive oils, wines, cheeses, etc. They also hold taste testings...so guess what we did? As soon as we walked in, the store smelled heavenly so I knew this was a special tertulia (a meeting with an intellectual theme). Our teacher for the day was Francisco Leo, the store owner who had grown up in Cordoba on a olive tree farm. His family had been making olive oils for years, so he took his passion to Granada and opened up this store. He started the visit by explained how olive oil is made--he said "the only factory of olive oil is nature. We just separate the natural oil from the olive." He was obviously very passionate about olives--I knew we were going to get along juuuuust fine.
       Our first introduction to the olive oil was a tasting 3 different types- one from Granada, one from Cordoba, and one from Huelva. It's about to be sound like Goldilocks in this post: The Granada one was very mild and left something to be desired because the flavor was a bit weak.. The Cordoba one was SO strong! It had almost a bitter aftertaste, so I didn't really care for it. The Huelva one was perfect. It had a distinct olive taste without being too overpowering. We tried all these oils with delicious whole wheat rolls that had a soft middle and a crunchy exterior.
       Our next tasting was of gazpacho. Francisco told of the story (or legend) of how gazpacho was created. A woman in a small town in southern Spain was about to prepare lunch for her husband. He had been working in the field all morning, and she knew that under the summer sun, the heat was unbearable. Thus, she wanted to make something filling but also refreshing for her husband. What resulted was what we know as gazpacho. It has garlic, salt, bell peppers (red in this case, but green are more common), tomatoes, vinegar, and the Huelva oil (by popular vote). He blended all these incredibly fresh ingredients and  then put them through a sieve to have a smooth texture. It is served chilled or room temperature. It was a light orangey-red color and we each got a small glass of it. It was amazing--it just tasted so fresh and really had a light salty and olive oil flavor. It would have probably been delicious on a salad because it had such a light flavor, but we drank it and dipped our bread into it.
        Francisco then gave us tostadas (crustini) and sliced cherry tomatoes so that we could rub the open side of the tomato on the tostada. This is a very common tapa/ breakfast food (tostada con tomate) and he also drizzled a bit of olive oil infused with albahaca (basil) on top of the tostada. It was, of course, incredible. I was so excited to taste the infused olive oils because they have such cool flavor accents. Next came a tosada with an avocado and lemon spread. It was incredibly fresh tasting and reminded me of summer because it was so light. After that, we had a wedge of romaine lettuce with a sweet balsamic vinegar and...are you ready for this?...fried garlic infused olive oil. It was, as you can imagine, to die for.  I definitely want to try something like that when I get home with roasted garlic. It had a strong garlicky flavor, but wasn't too overpowering.
       If you thought we were done, you were wrong. Our next course was a tomato slice with a goat cheese wedge, drizzled with basil infused olive oil. Where do I begin? The tomato was great but the goat cheese. Oh my goodness. It was salty and rich and also not too strong. I usually don't like goat cheese at all, but this one was awesome. Next we had a lettuce leaf topped with a cured (in olive oil) slice of pork. SO GOOD. It had the distinct taste of olive oil but also maintained the flavor of the meat.
     And finally, came dessert. For dessert we had La Perla brand dark chocolate gelato...with a drizzle of orange infused olive oil and a dash of coarse salt on top. Now, I usually don't like chocolate ice cream (shocker, I know), but this...this was a deep, dark, rich chocolate that was accented perfectly with the orange olive oil. The salt gave it an extra kick of flavor because it brought out the sweetness of the gelato. It was heaven on earth. Franciso also brought out traditional Semana Santa (Holy Week) pastries that were fried dough pastries. They were good, but we were all so full from everything else that we only tasted them.
       Afterwards, we asked Francisco if we would be able to come back for another tasting, etc. He told us to email him and we could set up a  mini cooking lesson with him and basically spend the day tasting different things and learning recipes. I plan to take him up on that offer, when I do, I'll be sure to let you know! I need to start writing down recipes so that when I go back home, I can replicate dishes!

Clases

Here's what's been going on with me!
         On February 7th classes started. I am taking 5 classes in total- Civilization and Culture of Spain, POE (a grammar class), the Art of Flamenco in Society and Culture, and Art History: Renaissance and Baroque. All the classes are taught in Spanish and so far, it has been okay. There are some vocab words that I don't know, but overall, I can understand my professor perfectly. It is actually strange because I forget that they are speaking in Spanish and then halfway through the class, I will suddenly realize that my entire class is in Spanish. It is kind of surreal but is really cool to think that my Spanish is good enough that I can understand my studies. (Thank goodness for that too!!)


        I absolutely love my Civ and Culture class because we are going to cover all the topics that interest me, like the Spanish diet, toros, flamenco, the different cultural groups, etc. We are also learning about the political system and terrain/climate of the peninsula, but this part is going by really fast so we can get to the more interesting topics! The POE class is boring because it is the equivalent of Spanish 1502 at Spanish which I took freshman year at Fordham, but I have made some great friends in the class, so I don't mind it too much. Oh, where do I begin about my Art of Flamenco class? My professor is hilarious, and he says some phrases in English that make me crack up. He is also extremely enthusiastic about the history of flamenco and it's role in Spanish society, so every class is exciting.  I don't even mind it being at 5pm (which would usually be the time for a nap after la comida!) I am learning so much though about the art of flamenco--the singers, the guitar players, the origin of it, etc, and I have realized that everything that I thought flamenco was, was actually the stereotypes about it. For example, the first day played a word association game with the word flamenco--we came up with woman, red dress, castanets, red flower, passion (among other things). Our professor told us all of that is "tourist flamenco" and in reality, there is a rich history behind the true meaning of flamenco. I can't wait to learn more about it because I find it fascinating that I could be so wrong about what flamenco is!


        My art history class is awesome (as I expected since I am in love with Renaissance and Baroque art). It is also at 8:30 in the morning--that my friends, is love! It is my only class of the day, but since I like my professor so much and the class, I don't regret taking such an early class. Plus, it is an excuse to take a nap in the afternoon! (I've only done this once so far though!)


      Some of the highlights of the meals we have enjoyed: The lentil soup with pinchitos (seriously, delicious). Also, our señora makes her paella with sweet sausage, a black sausage, mushrooms, asparagus, and chicken at least once a week, so we have been enjoying that as well. Also, since coming to Spain, I apparently fell in love with peppers (I know Marissa, who am I?!) I have eaten pimimiento relleno (stuffed pepper), and sweet peppers. I have also been branching out and eating spinach (For our señora's birthday, she made two special dishes with spinach that are typical of her saint's day.) Another thing that we had the other night that was definitely new to me was anguilla y gambas...aka eel and shrimp. The eels were small and thin and looked almost like noodles. It was delicious, but it was strange to realize after the fact that it was eels.  Since the weather has been getting warmer, Claudine and I have gone on some walks and stopped for gelato--I've tried fresa (strawberry) and tirimisu, but I haven't been crazy about either--I hope that I can have some coffee gelato soon (you'd think it would be a more popular flavor here!) 


          We have also been getting to know our host family better over these few weeks. Claudine and I play with the grandkids almost every afternoon- It is really fun but also exhausting!  They have so much energy-one afternoon I played make believe with dolls and with blocks with Cristina, hide and seek and cards with the rest of the kids. It was like 5 hours of non-stop playing, but it is also really good practice for us because we can talk in Spanish the whole time, and it is not as intimidating when the kids correct us as it is in a classroom setting. 


      The other thing that I have been doing a lot is going on cultural trips. The first one we went on was with the whole Fordham group and it was to La Catedral and La Capilla Real. Fernando and Isabel are enterred there because Granada was the center of power for Los Reyes Catolicos. Isabella was the patron of the cathedral and the chapel and it has the coolest mix of the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Islamic styles. There are Gothic vaults, the reja or grille that separates the nave from the altar is from the Renaissance period (we learned all about the plateresque elements in class), the altarpieces are Baroque and there is a banner-like stone piece that encirlces the entire interior of the Capilla that is borrowed from the Islamic style.  It is huge inside and filled with the art that Isabel bought including a Perugino and a work that is attributed to Botticelli. There are also the Catholic Royals' crowns and scepters that they donated to the chapel in their wills. It is an impressive building and I have been going to mass every Sunday there at 1pm. I like this mass because the Archbishop of Granada presides and there is music (which is not usually at every mass). I also went back to the Capilla Real on Friday March 2nd with my art history class so our professor could explain more in depth about the architectures of the buildings. I love going because every time, I see a new aspect of the art and architecture. For example, the crest of the Reyes Catolicos is very prominent inside, but they also used the symbols of flechas (arrows) to represent Fernando and yukos (yokes) to represent Isabel (Y stands for Ysabel, an old way of spelling in [I think] Greek). 


        I also went to the Basilica de San Juan de Dios which is a Baroque church. It was incredible inside--Baroque is of course decoration on steroids, so literally every single  surface was wither gilded, painted or had a statue on it. I loved it. We also got to go to the room that is situated above the altar and see a ton of relics. It was sort of creepy because there were skulls and bones, and even one mummified Roman soldier, but it was also really cool to see. Check out my pictures if you want to see more of the Basilica (and the soldier!)


         My most recent trip was to Carmen de los Martires, a former prison for religious prisoners, hospital, and residential home but is now a tourist sight. Here is the link to the website to read more about it, but it is near the Alhambra so once we got to the top, it has beautiful views of the city. It also has extensive gardens that I'm sure in the spring and summer are probably gorgeous! I can't wait to go back with my friends and bring a picnic lunch because it is a popular lunch spot. 
         

Morocco Day 4

We woke up early at 6:30am, and went on a hike to the top of a mountain to see the sunrise over Chefcheoun. There was also a mosque at the top of the mountain that was really beautiful. The hike was very early and it was VERY cold, but totally worth it! The view was breathtaking and to see the pink and orange sky over the sleepy town was incredible. We also took one of my favorite photos--the one with all of us sitting lined up on the ledge and facing the town.
         We made the climb back down the mountain for a traditional Moroccan breakfast. We had this cornbread-like round with honey, apricot jam, and the most delicious and mild goat cheese I've ever tasted. We also had the  "Moroccan crepe" and fresh butter. Of course there was also mint tea and coffee (so I was happy).  After breakfast, it was back to the hostel to pack because we still had a 2 1/2 hour drive to the port.
        At the port, we said our goodbyes to Simo and Juan, and thanked them for an amazing experience. The ride back home was much smoother than the one there, so before we knew it, we were back in Spain. It was then another few hours to Granada, so by the time we got home everyone was ready for a hot shower and a nice sleep.
         I had a wonderful time in Morocco, and I know that I won't forget the people I met and the places I saw because it was truly a once in a lifetime experience.  I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to visit such a beautiful country and make some new friends!