Between all the end of the year work I've had going on, I haven't had a chance to post anything about Granada. I had a great time there last weekend with my friends Arielle, Amanda and Erin. It was a super long weekend because of national holidays, so most of my American friends were gone for all 6 days we had off. Beacuse of how busy things have been and how important it is for me to spend time in Madrid, we just went to Granada Monday through Wednesday. I've been seeing so much recently how making that effort to spend time instead of travelling here has paid off. A few months ago, I had anticipated being pretty lonely Friday-Sunday of last weekend because my American friends would be travelling. The complete opposite happened and I actually had a weekend of feeling very integrated in Spanish life and constantly surrounded by people I enjoy spending time with. Friday I had work and then that evening went out with a girl I work with and some of her friends. Then Saturday my host cousin took me to a house party just outside the city. It was great to speak so much Spanish and get closer to some of the people here. I was exhausted after that weekend though, particularly after getting home from that house party at 9:30 AM (mind you, this was after making my host cousin drop me off at the metro before he continued partying on until MONDAY night... insanity).

Monday bright and early we took a bus to Granada. We spent the days walking around the city, seeing the various churches and monuments. But of course, the main attraction in Granada is La Alhambra and I was soo happy to finally see it. 4 years ago when I was there, I was the sickest I've ever been in my life and I was really disappointed to miss seeing the entire city. La Alhambra was certainly worth the wait. Here are my photos from the trip:

Me and Arielle on Granada's Morrocan street, filled with little Morrocan shops and tea houses

 The view of the Alhambra from el Mirador San Nicolas lookout point. The palace sits atop a hill overlooking the city below, which you can see to the right. 

 Inside the massive cathedral of Granada. If you look closely you can see a small human in the bottom right corner, for a scale comparison.

Ruins of an old market place inside the Alhambra.

 Me and Erin in the Alhambra gardens.

 We got so lucky with the beautiful weather! It had been raining the whole week before but the day we went to the Alhambra, the skies over Granada were beautiful. 

 A military building inside the Alhambra.

 The palace's Moorish stone carvings up close. 

 Part of the royal palace

 The most impressive part of the Alhambra is the sheer amount of detailed stonework.

 The gardens of the Alhambra.

 A view of the palace from the gardens

 Another one of the buildings of the royal city

 Me, Arielle and Erin in the gardens

Since we got back, I've been working a ton on all the papers and presentations and finals I have. Today I finally did my sociology presentation at the university, which went fine. This weekend I'll have some more time to get work done and then Sunday-Wednesday I'll be in Barcelona for my last trip of the semester. I'm looking forward to relaxing a bit with my friends there, especially now that the weather in Spain is starting to get much better. Just two and a half more weeks here... better make the most of it!

Besos,
Anjuli