Here's my first post about our trip to Andalucia! At the end of these posts, (when I'm done, so the most recent part of the blog) I will do a quick summary of where we went and how everything was! Enjoy!
Andalucia trip, Day 1
Today was the first day of our first school trip! Breakfast becan at 6:45 and the plan was to board the buses and leave by 7:45. As it goes in Spain, we were a little late getting started, but no pasa nada. The total driving time was to be six hours and within the first half hour the bus fell silent as we all drifted to sleep and the sun peaked over the montañas. We arrived in GRANADA (which means pomegranate in Spanish), our first stop, at 3:00 PM and had only an hour to check into our rooms and find something to eat. At four we met up for a first walking tour led my Ana and Christian. Ana is our Folklore teacher at ESDES and she is basically in charge of the trip. She's amazing, considering she made arrangements for 90 students for 8 days. Christian is our conversation teacher. He's only a tad older than some of us and he's always pushing us to speak more Spanish than we do.
The first stop was the Cathedral of Granada. The interior was extremely elaborate and Baroque with frills and gold on EVERYTHING. They have us a good amount of time to wander through the pillars and naves. It was huge and truly incredible.
The next stop was Capilla Real. This is where the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella is. We had to move past quickly and were forbidden to take pictures here, which was sad because it was also huge and ornate. While we waited for everyone to gather (moving in a group of 90 isn't exactly speed racing) Rachel and I found something exciting! A euro-pincher! In the states penny-pinchers (smashed pennies) are my favorite souvenir since they are small, inexpensive, and unique. Here you can smash 5 cent euros!
Finally everyone was ready and we walked through a market area full of fun-looking shops (which we ventured into the next night). Everything in Granada is very Moroccan-looking and arab, following after the Alhambra. Ana gave us free time for dinner so my group found a Kebab shop and ordered before it was time for night activities. Kebabs are so delicious. Basically it's pita bread, falafel, lettuce, tomato (or sin tomate as I ordered), and kebab sauce which is also excellent on fries. I'm surprised at the new food I'm trying and enjoying!
At 7:30 we met up with ESDES again to board the buses for a flamenco dance show! We drove up a huge hill where we got to see the Alhambra by night, which was very awesome. The location of the flamenco dance place was a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant (literally carved INTO the mountain). It was SO Spanish feeling and the show was extremely impressive. The women (and man) who danced where very talented and put on a great performance for us while we enjoyed cold drinks with ice! After it was over we walked back to the buses through the winding neighborhood streets overlooking the Alhabmra. I've been fascinated by this structure ever since I took West and the World. I can't wait to see it tomorrow!
Andalucia trip, Day 1
Today was the first day of our first school trip! Breakfast becan at 6:45 and the plan was to board the buses and leave by 7:45. As it goes in Spain, we were a little late getting started, but no pasa nada. The total driving time was to be six hours and within the first half hour the bus fell silent as we all drifted to sleep and the sun peaked over the montañas. We arrived in GRANADA (which means pomegranate in Spanish), our first stop, at 3:00 PM and had only an hour to check into our rooms and find something to eat. At four we met up for a first walking tour led my Ana and Christian. Ana is our Folklore teacher at ESDES and she is basically in charge of the trip. She's amazing, considering she made arrangements for 90 students for 8 days. Christian is our conversation teacher. He's only a tad older than some of us and he's always pushing us to speak more Spanish than we do.
The first stop was the Cathedral of Granada. The interior was extremely elaborate and Baroque with frills and gold on EVERYTHING. They have us a good amount of time to wander through the pillars and naves. It was huge and truly incredible.
The next stop was Capilla Real. This is where the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella is. We had to move past quickly and were forbidden to take pictures here, which was sad because it was also huge and ornate. While we waited for everyone to gather (moving in a group of 90 isn't exactly speed racing) Rachel and I found something exciting! A euro-pincher! In the states penny-pinchers (smashed pennies) are my favorite souvenir since they are small, inexpensive, and unique. Here you can smash 5 cent euros!
Finally everyone was ready and we walked through a market area full of fun-looking shops (which we ventured into the next night). Everything in Granada is very Moroccan-looking and arab, following after the Alhambra. Ana gave us free time for dinner so my group found a Kebab shop and ordered before it was time for night activities. Kebabs are so delicious. Basically it's pita bread, falafel, lettuce, tomato (or sin tomate as I ordered), and kebab sauce which is also excellent on fries. I'm surprised at the new food I'm trying and enjoying!
At 7:30 we met up with ESDES again to board the buses for a flamenco dance show! We drove up a huge hill where we got to see the Alhambra by night, which was very awesome. The location of the flamenco dance place was a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant (literally carved INTO the mountain). It was SO Spanish feeling and the show was extremely impressive. The women (and man) who danced where very talented and put on a great performance for us while we enjoyed cold drinks with ice! After it was over we walked back to the buses through the winding neighborhood streets overlooking the Alhabmra. I've been fascinated by this structure ever since I took West and the World. I can't wait to see it tomorrow!
