tapear

Just got home from an amazing trip to Granada, another city in Andalucía. Situated at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the weather wasn't exactly warm but it was the first time I have really had to experience the cold this winter so I can't complain!

Granada was the last place occupied by the Muslims in Spain. It was their capital from the thirteenth century (after Sevilla was conquered by the catholics) until 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella took over Spain for the Catholics. The Alhambra, aka a giant muslim palace, is in the mountains in Granada and one of the most visited places in Europe. The hotel we stayed in was literally 5 steps away from this incredible palace, and about ten minutes away from the center of the city. The americanized buffet we had for breakfast and dinner was a nice taste of home. I had cereal for breakfast for the first time since the morning I left for the airport and man was it good! We spent Saturday touring the Alhambra with my professor Ángel and then on Sunday we toured a famous muslim barrio or "neighborhood" and also visited the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella. They were buried in Granada because the conquest was considered their biggest success.

View of Granada from the gardens of the Alhambra 

Me in the gardens. You can see the palace behind me. 

Here is that famous muslim detail again!

With a catholic church in the background. Typical Spain. 

The Muslims really liked their gardens.

They took up the majority of the tour and were beautiful 

Plaster and tiles. Typical Muslim. 

I love the Muslim palaces/castles because they are so intricate! 

This is part of the palace of King Carlos V. 

He built it specifically for his honeymoon

His new queen was scared of the muslim buildings so he just built his own

This is from our tour of the old muslim neighborhood.

All the houses were white with decorations 

View of the Alhambra from the muslim neighborhood 

This is a picture of a convent in the barrio. 

The nuns bake delicious muffins to sell, but they aren't allowed to talk to you

There is a spinning door where they send out "Magdelenas" aka yummy muffins

Me, mountains and a palace!

After a long day at the Alhambra, we were ready to eat some yummy tapas in the center of Granada. In spanish, they have verbs to say that they are eating each meal. Desayunar is to eat breakfast or "desayuno." Almorzar is to eat lunch or "almuerzo" but my señora says she never uses this verb. Cenar is to eat dinner or "cena." And most importantly, TAPEAR is to eat TAPAS! The word "tapas" sums up spanish cuisine pretty well! A bunch of little appetizers like ham, seafood and cheese. The city of Granada has perfected the art of tapear-ing. When you go to a bar in Granada and buy a drink, you get a free tapa! So that is what my dinner was last night, sangría and tapas. ¡Qué perfecto! It was especially fun because you don't get to choose your tapa, they just bring you one. I usually don't know what is best to order anyways so it was a great way to try new things. 

Exploring Granada for the weekend was a great way to spend my last days of "break." Tomorrow I officially start classes here in Sevilla, with my first class at 9am. But it is called "Culture and Cuisine in Spain" so I don't think I will have any trouble waking up for that!