My (temporary) Home!

Have I not shown you where I've been living?! Ooops... guess I'm a slacker!

My room!

Desk.. everyone loved my computer cover haha

Other view from my room.. not too spacious but definitely homey

LOOK HOW ORGANIZED I AM MOM!

The cute little kitchen..

My senora would kill me if she knew I put this up because it looks messy but our family room

My bathroom!

Long weekend in Granada.. what else is new!

This weekend Cegri decided to give us a 5 day weekend.  There's a celebration going on in Spain on Monday, so they gave us Tuesday off as well so we could have an even number of classes and not miss one more over the other.  My original plans were to go to Portugal with a big group of people but they decided to drive, cars weren't organized very well and the weather wasn't going to be nice aka I  thought it was a huge waste of money and I'd rather go shopping, I know, my mother's daughter.  I actually was looking into going to Morocco for the weekend with 2 other girls through a tour group. Our plans fell through and thank God they did - Marakesh, a major tourist city in Morocco, was bombed. So glad we decided not to go.

Thursday class ended and one of my friends from U of I, Mike (we call him Figs) was in town for the night on his way to Barcelona.  We met up with him and took him out for tapas, typical.  We tried a new place called 360 where you can choose your own tapa.  We got him in a cab for the train station and Madeline, Karrah, Kelly, Audrey and I continued to tapear since we didn't eat dinner at home. We went to a teteria (hookah and tea bar) to hang out since we didn't plan on going out at first... but of course we changed our mind since we realized we don't have much more time left.  Esteban's (a guy in our program) girlfriend Natalie was in for the weekend so we took her to Camborio.  I think I've told you about Camborio before, it overlooks the Alhambra and is beautiful at night!  It ended up being a lot of fun :)


Friday I woke up early to watch the royal wedding like probably every other girl in the world.  My senora thought I was crazy because I was literally glued to the TV from the moment people started arriving at Westminster until they did they're traditional kiss at Buckingham Palace.  I think the  coolest part of watching it was realizing I was there just a few months ago and I could visualize how everything was set up.  When I visited before I had ZERO clue how they were going to set it up, but it made much more sense seeing it on TV.  The altar they got married at is absolutely gorgeous in real life; TV didn't do it justice.  It was raining literally all day but Madeline and I decided to meet up for a little bit after lunch time.  Other than that I bummed around home, my senora made her own style of tapas for me for dinner and then I relaxed.


Saturday Kelly and I woke up early to meet Meagan at the Mercadillo, a big clothes/food/jewelery market. It was pretty rainy weather so not all the vendors set up and we couldn't find anything we really liked.  We did a little more shopping and then I came home for lunch.  After lunch we went back out to finish our souvenir shopping but of course I couldn't make decisions on anything that I wanted to buy, so frustrating.  At night we got tapas at our favorite place, La Bella y la Bestia.  It has the biggest and best tapas that we've found so far!  The girls' friend Catherine was also in town so I got to meet her there as well!  So many people visiting this weekend it seems like...


Sunday my senora took me to breakfast at our favorite place on the corner by our house.  We both  ordered toasted bread with tomato, oil and salt.  I'll have to make it for breakfast when i get home it's so good!  The sun finally came out so we took a long way home and walked along the river, much farther down than I had ever been.. I need to explore more in this last week I'm here!  Pollen is in high season here and I definitely think I'm allergic.  I couldn't stop sneezing the entire time.. hopefully I don't have the same problem when I get back to the states.  Encarnita also bought a new computer recently so I helped her set it up a little bit, much harder to do in Spanish AND explain to someone who has never touched a computer before.. I told her her best bet would be to read the manual haha.


Monday was more rain, surprise surprise.  Tuesday was a holiday in Granada, Dia de las Cruces, a day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus (I thought that was Easter.. still don't understand Spaniards!) so everyone in Spain decided to take Monday off of work too.  Kelly and I attempted to go shopping and stuff but clearly that was an epic fail because everything was shut down!  I did buy some of my needed souvenirs though.  In the afternoon we went to our favorite spot once again, Cafe Futbol and got coffee with a bunch of girls and their friend Catherine again.  It didn't just rain that night, it absolutely POURED therefore I stayed in once again.  What a horrible way to finish off my last week in Granada huh?


Tuesday morning Kelly, Meagan and I headed to the famous Catedral.  You'd think after 4 months I would have visited it already.  It's absolutely breath taking inside.. much different than any of the other churches I've seen.  I'll post pictures when I upload them to my computer!  It was also Dia de las Cruces, so we walked around to a bunch of different plazas to see all the displays.  After siesta and my normal nap (I'll miss those being normal..) we decided to go to a new discoteca called Mae West.  WHY haven't we gone there sooner?!  It was an actual Spanish club, they played almost all Spanish music.. SO much fun instead of hearing typical American music everywhere.  We're lucky we got in though, usually they don't let in too many Americasn at one time and we were in a HUGE group.  Guess they were feeling generous.

As for the rest of my week.. I have class Wednesday and Thursday then the weekend and home bright and early on MOnday morning.  It's SO strange to think about going home, but I can' wait to see everyone :) More to come.. :)

Since our experience is coming to an end, the people in my program have been talking about all the memories we've had in Granada and traveling and the things in America we can't wait to get back to (like Mexican food!)  I decided to make my own little list of my top 10 things I'll miss and definitely won't miss upon returning to the states, which may I add is only 10 days away.

The top 10 things I'll miss about Granada and Spain in general:
1. Fresh food.  Between the meat markets, fruit stands, and fresh fish I don't know how I'm going to be able to eat our processed food again.  Everything here just tastes healthier, and it probably actually is.

2. My senora.  Aka my third grandmother for the past 4 months.  I don't think I could have gotten a better host assignment, we just get each other.  And it helped a lot that she reminded me of my Nonny when I was growing up.  Plus her food is legit.

3. Kinder Buenos.  Only the best chocolate candy bar ever.  I gave them up for lent, it was a long 40 days.  I'm trying to bring an entire suitcase of them home so I'll let you try one if I don't eat them all myself first.

4. The "no pasa nada" lifestyle.  Everything is more relaxed here.. "no pasa nada" translates to our "don't worry about it" but its heard much more often here.  Although sometimes this can be frustrating with deadlines and things its a much better way to live than the always-on-the-go American lifestyle.

5. The view.  I'd never seen mountains before I got here, let alone climb one.  Granada has one of the best landscapes with the Sierra Nevadas, Mediterranean Sea and of course the Alhambra looming over everything.  I'll miss waking up and seeing all of this on my way to school, cornfields just aren't the same.

6. Using Spanish everyday.  It's pretty sweet that I can say I'm bilingual and my Spanish has for sure improved since I've been here.  I've caught myself a few times speaking "Spanglish" or forgetting words for certain things in English.. should be an adjustment!

7.  Tapas. Who doesn't love free food?  The idea of tapas is the best thing in the world.  Buy a  drink and we'll give you food.  Plus it's in such a relaxed setting and everywhere you go is good!

8.  Small bakeries.  I know we have these in America too but they're not as prevalent.  Here you can walk down the street and grab a little snack from whichever bakery and no matter what you get it will be delicious.  They're always fresh too!

9. New friends.  We've just become such a family, even with the staff and teachers at Cegri that it will be weird to not be around them everyday.  I'm lucky to have them back in Champaign when I go back to school but it just won't be the same :(

10. New experiences.  There's not one day here that I haven't tried something new or exciting, no matter how big or small.


Although this list was hard to make since I'm going to miss MANY more things than just those, there are some things I will not have trouble leaving behind whatsoever...

1. MY HOST NEPHEW.  I haven't even told you guys half the stories of the things he's done.  Let's just say he hasn't gotten any better since I've been here.  If I'm feeling bored one day maybe I'll enlighten you with all the great things he does each day.. lets keep in mind here that he is 30 yrs old.

2. My Spanish cell phone.  Yes I'm a brat, I want my 3G network and iPhone back.  It will be glued to my hand for probably the next month.

3. Slow moving people.  If you're gonna move like you're walking backwards stay to one side of the street, it's not that hard.

4. Being misunderstood.  Although I can communicate just fine, theres still that small percentage of the time when people have no idea what I'm trying to say or I can't find the right word to describe something important.

5. Being so dependent on my senora.  I'm not complaining whatsoever about her cooking, cleaning and doing my laundry, but there are sometimes when I wish I could do these things for myself.  Ok, well maybe not cleaning.. but if I want something washed, I have to wait until she does laundry I can't just throw in a load.  Or if I want to eat at 1:00 instead of 2:30, I can't because she's the one cooking.

6. Mixture of food.  I will never take for granted all the different types of food that you can get in the US and have it be good.  Let's just say pizza and pasta here aren't the greatest..

7. Taking the bus/walking.  I miss my car and driving from point A to B instead of leaving an extra 30 minutes to walk there.

8. Pigeons. End of story.

9. Not having a Target or super store.  Here in Granada (and in most of Europe) there's no one-stop shop.  If you want meat you go to the carniceria.  If you want a pastry you go to the pasteleria.  There's stores for lights, for electronics, for toiletries, for paper.. never just in one store!

10. The Euro.  WHY is it so strong?!  Things have gotten pretty expensive lately.. when we got here the exchange rate was 1.29, now it's close to 1.5!  I want my US dollars back!

Kari Visits!!

Remember my friend from Norway that I went to visit 2 summers ago?  Well of course we've kept in touch so she decided to come and visit me in Granada for a few days!  She has been studying in Vietnam this past semester (crazy right?) so she decided to stop by Spain on her way home.  It was so nice to see her and catch up but unfortunately I had finals all this week and end of the year stuff to do so I wasn't able to spend as much time with her as we would have hoped :( but she toured a little on her own and was able to enjoy the city.  our other friend Timmy (who is studying in Barcelona that I met up with in Prague) was also visiting for the weekend with his friend Ian so Kari was able to spend time with them as well.


The week was really low key like I said.  I had school and stuff most days and the weather wasn't nice enough for us to do a lot of stuff outside.  Regardless, we hadn't seen each other in almost 2 years so most of the time we enjoyed just sitting in a cafe and talking about everything we needed to catch up on.  She arrived all by herself (without a cell phone!) on Saturday morning bright and early!   People must have thought we were slightly insane when we saw each other, but we made our way back to my house ... my senora offered to let her stay in our spare room which was really nice.  After she unpacked and got settled I took her around the city for a little bit.  We went back home for lunch and my senora made us lentejas (lentil soup) which is a classic dish in Spain so Kari could try it. After lunch we got ready and decided to head to the processions (for semana santa) but since it rained they were canceled.  Instead we went and got tapas and talked a bit.  Later that night we met up with more people in my program and went to Hannigans, typical.


Sunday we both needed a day of studying.  Kari is studying psychology and has final exams when she gets back to Norway in 10 days.  We pretty much spent all morning at a cafe close to my house called Noche y Dia.. the staff there are starting to recognize me I'm pretty sure.  For lunch I took her to Bib Rambla (the famous plaza) and we got a menu del dia so she could try paella.  Of course we went through the moorish markets and did souvenir shopping.  Since it was rainy out we went back to my house and just watched a movie.  Kari bought English movies while she was in Vietnam.  That's the first movie I had seen in 4 months, crazy right.  Timmy arrived that night so we decided to meet him at his hostel. His phone had died, so he gave us the address and we mapped it out.  The walk to his hostel was  supposed to take about 10 minutes from my house, perfect righy?  Wrong.  Kari and I got SO turned  around for some reason since I didn't know the area we were going into very well.  We kept asking people on the streets if they knew of the hostel but since it was so small they had barely heard of it.  Just about to give up hope, a nice couple asked if we needed help and when we told them the hostel name they actually knew where it was!! Thank goodness.  We got Timmy FINALLY and went to Calle Navas to get some tapas.


Monday I had school all morning so Kari and Timmy made plans to do touristy things all day like the Alhambra and Catedral.  I went to class and did my final day of volunteering (wahoo!) with Kelly at the school.  I met back up with them when I got back from the school and we hung out at home until dinner.  My senora made us tortilla espanola so Kari could try it also and surprised us with beers since she knew we were going out.  A bunch of people studying in Vienna, Austria from U of I were in town for the night so we met up with the group (Timmy and Ian came too!) at la chupeteria, the shot bar.  We decided to take them to another bar so we followed Ben, a guy on our program.  There was a guy on the street promoting his bar so Ben decided it would be a good idea to check it out. We got dirty looks as we walked in, everyone in the bar was wearing black and the music sounded like someone was dying a horrible death and screaming.  We turned around immediately and left haha.  The night was overall really fun and I'm glad I got to know the people from Vienna better! :)


Tuesday I again had school.  I left Kari at cafe futbol right by my school and went back to get her after I got done with class.  In that short time she made so many friends at the cafe - they loved her and she doesn't even know how to speak Spanish!  We decided to stay there and get a coffee and were treated like gold haha.  Leave it to Kari!  My senora made us fajitas for lunch (Kari's request) and we went out to shop for a little bit.  We met up with Timmy and Ian for some tapas again and  they hung out while I went to school for my night class.  I had 2 tests on Wednesday, so Kari stayed out with them while I went home and studied (yuck).  I'm definitely glad they were here this weekend because I would have felt so bad having her cooped up in the house with me while I studied!

Wednesday we said our goodbyes.. I had to go to class early and her flight wasn't until the afternoon so she hung out with my senora for a little bit and my senora saw her off to the bus stop to head to Italy to see Kelsey!  I'm glad I got to catch up with Kari, its crazy how much happens in 2 years when you haven't seen someone.  I think she enjoyed my city and Spain in general :)

As far as my plans, I was going to go to Portugal this weekend to head to the beach but the weather isn't supposed to be very nice so I didn't think it was worth spending the money.  A small group of us are gonna hang out in Granada and do everything on our bucket lists before we have to leave.  We're at the 11 day countdown - INSANE.  Dad if you're reading this, we're heading to Portillo's the first thing when I step off that plane...

Semana Santa

Easter in Spain is a TAD different than Easter in the states.  Exhibit A:

Penitentes

Let me explain.  Easter or "Holy Week" lasts a week and is full of parades (processiones) that begin at various churches around the city and make their way through the streets of Granada.  Everyone and their mother line up on the streets and watch the processions go by.. they're actually very pretty!  The people you see dressed up above (I know what you're thinking...) are called Penitentes.  They are asking for penance for their sins, hence why their faces are covered - to give them privacy.  I thought these people would only be older but I definitely saw some kids dressed up like this also.

Above is the "float" .. clearly not called a float but I don't know exactly what to call them.  Each parade has a different statue and they're beautiful.  This one you see is of Mary and usually she is followed by a statue of Jesus.  The interesting thing is these "floats" are NOT motorized.  They're built on platforms and CARRIED by people.  Do you know how much those things weigh?  There has to be close to 20-30 guys below these floats walking with them.  They usually walk short distances and then take a break so everyone can look at the floats, then start up again.  These processions can last up to 7 hours each so they switch out a lot of the time also.

Unfortunately we were only able to go to 1 procession because when it rains they cancel them (since they don't want to damage the statues).  It rained LITERALLY everyday when we got home :( and it still isn't the greatest weather...  The week ended on Sunday with actual Easter Sunday when nothing happens - it's like a normal day for everyone, how ironic.

Florence and Milan -- April 17 - 20

Florence, from the top of the Duomo!

We arrived in Florence early afternoon and headed to our Hotel (should be called a Hostel) which was right around the corner from the train station once again.  My friend Jackie is studying in Cortona, Italy (about an hour and half train ride) and she was coming to stay with us for the night as well! Unfortunately she missed her train in the morning and was running a little late, so Audrey and I set out by ourselves to explore.  We headed first to the Uffizi Gallery but thanks to culture week the line was 3 hours long.  We happened to run into McKenna, Kelsey and Abby so we all decided to head to the Academia Galleria to check out the David.  The line was only 30 minutes long and by that time Jackie was able to meet up with us! :)  It was SO good to be reunited with her.  She is a photography major and had been to the gallery before so she was able to teach us a few things about it.  After the gallery we made our way to the famous leather market in the center of the city... it was dangerous! I wanted literally everything I saw.  I did pick up a cute leather bag while I was there :)  We went back to the hostel to freshen up.  Hilarious story - our shower didn't have a curtain.. WHAT!  So after we were done showering our bathroom was literally like a monsoon hit it.  We headed back to the city center and got dinner at a place we stumbled upon.  We literally sat there for over 2 hours chatting and catching up - it was nice to take a break from being a tourist!  We got gelato and called it a night so we would be prepared for the morning.

Jackie and I at the top of the Duomo

The Duomo

The next day we woke up early and met up with Abby, McKenna and Kelsey to check out the Duomo.  We ended up climbing all 469 steps to get to the top and it was SO worth it.. the view of Florence was gorgeous from all the way up there, although a little windy haha.  When we caught our breath we climbed back down and Jackie and I split up from the group to do a little more shopping.. the other girls decided to go on a wine tour for the day.  Jackie and I hit H&M, hard.  H&M is the best store in Europe by far - wish the ones in the states were that sweet.  Yes, we spent over 2 hours in there and found some clothes to add to our European wardrobe haha.  By that time it was mid afternoon and we had plans to meet up with my other best friend, Kelsey, on the steps of the Duomo.  She studies in Florence but had class in the morning.  Again, it was SO good to see Kelsey :)!  We headed back to the hostel to get Jackie's things and got her on her train to head back home, she had class in the afternoon.  Kelsey and I then spent the day doing a little more shopping and I got to see her sweet apartment that she's been living in.  We met up with some of her friends from her program (she goes to Indiana University) and headed up to Piazza Michaelangelo to watch the sunset and drink some wine. It's one of their traditions and their program was ending soon so it was bitter sweet for everyone. The other girls were done with their wine tour by then so we all met back up and went out to dinner for McKenna's birthday!  We were recommended a place over the river and we had to wait until 10 pm to even get a table.  It was WELL worth it.. Kelsey and I split some sort of pasta (no idea what it was exactly) and pizza.  We were stuffed forever, one of the best meals I've had in Europe!  We said our goodbyes and then our group headed to Kelly's friend's boyfriend's apartment to spend the night - great way to save money!

Sunset from Plaza Michaelangelo

Me and Kelsey!

Tuesday morning we had planned on going to Milan super early but the Uffizi was closed on MOnday and it's something we all wanted to see.  We woke up at dawn and were in line for the Uffizi at 7:30 AM! Definitely worth it since we were literally second in line.  We were supposed to meet Kelly and Breanne outside so they could give us keys to the apartment to get our things.. only problem was Kelly was out of minutes on her phone and we couldn't contact her or Breanne.  PROBLEM.  We searched the museum for forever and finally (thank God) ran into them outside!  We headed back to Kevin's apartment and got our luggage and headed to Milan :)  We got to Milan late afternoon and checked into our cute hostel. It was run by a family and we had the cutest little room there.  We dropped our stuff and headed to the city center to grab food.  Milan is definitely more metropolitan than other cities in Italy I've visited so it was a change.  We knew of 2 famous places to eat at in Milan; one being a pizza place where they put pizza toppings inside a donut (2 of my favorite foods) and another gelato place where the cone of the ice cream was filled with hot fudge and the ice cream on top.  Both were epic and I"m glad we got the chance to try them!  We saw the main tourist spots like a gorgeous famous shopping center (outside) and the Duomo (which I wasn't allowed into because I was wearing shorts, ugh!) We headed back to the hostel since there wasn't a ton to do and took advantage of the free WiFi haha.

View from inside the mall looking out into the city center

Wednesday morning we headed back to Granada and FINALLY had a flight that flew straight into our city. No 2 or 5 hour bus rides.  Overall my Italy experience was all I could ask for.  Italy is definitely a country I can't get enough of - I can see myself returning many times :)  We got home in the middle of semana santa or Holy Week here - can't wait to see how Spain celebrates Easter!

Roma - April 14 - 17

So at first I really didn't want to go back to Rome since I had been there a few summers ago and I didn't know if it would be worth spending the money on something I had already seen before.. but in the end I decided to visit again and am I glad I did.  I had a totally different experience and I wasn't bored for a second seeing everything a second time.  It helped a little bit too that I knew a little bit about the city and I actually remembered a lot more than I thought.  The travel plans were a little complicated since everyone had their own itinerary in mind.  I traveled with Audrey and our plans were exactly the same (Rome, Florence and Milan).  Abby, Kelsey, and McKenna were a day ahead of us and Kelly, Breanne and Madeline were a day behind us so we were able to spend time in each city with all of them (except after Florence everyone split off a little bit).  The adventure began for Audrey and I on Thursday (we had to miss school) because that was the cheapest flight we could get into Roma...

Making a wish into the Trevi Fountain!

Another early morning and bus to Malaga.. thankfully our last one!  We got to the airport pretty early so had to wait around BUT I guess our Vueling flight was underbooked so we had to combine with an Iberia flight.. aka big seats and a legit airline!  Audrey and I are 95% positive there was a famous soccer player on our flight too.. he looked so familiar and had that appearance of being someone famous. I spotted it first, I'll keep you updated if I can figure out his name.  Anyways!  We arrived in Rome, and hopped on a train to Termini Station, a few blocks away from our hostel.  Yellow Hostel (weird name I know) was actually really nice.. we stayed in a mix dorm with weird boys and a girl from Australia.  We got on the Metro to head to Piazza de Spagna (or the Spanish steps) to meet up with McKenna, Abby and Kelsey to join them on a small walking tour of the city.  When we got off the Metro Audrey immediately realized her wallet was no longer in her purse.. we're not sure if she was in a  rush and dropped it OR if she was pick-pocketed on the Metro :( it was a nerve-wracking time but we decided there was really nothing we could do about it at that point so we met up with the girls still. We visited the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and Piazza Navona.  At the end of our tour we met up with some friends studying in Rome and other people from U of I traveling that weekend!  The girls studying in Rome took us to this delicious pizza place close to their apartments.  I walk into the restaurant and ran into my friend Dustin from high school.. what a small world!  After dinner we walked around for a little bit but the weather was rainy so we called it an early night.

Pantheon

Day 2 (Friday) Breanne, Madeline and Kelly arrived!  We ate breakfast and met them at the Spanish steps once again.  From there we did a little shopping on Via del Corso and got me a jacket - who would have thought Rome would be so cold in the middle of April, definitely didn't pack for the weather this time :(. Of course we got gelato (strawberry is my favorite) and then headed to Vatican City because we had a reservation for the Vatican Museum at 2:00.  We walked through quickly (there's just too much to see) until we ended up at the Sistine Chapel.  We previously downloaded Rick Steeve's podcasts about some sites around Rome, so we listened to those and it was our own free tour.  The Final Judgement (the famous painting on the main wall of the chapel) is much more interesting when you know what you're actually looking at haha.  We made our way into St. Peter's Basilica, my favorite landmark still to this day, even after so much traveling, and then looked around the square for a little bit.  We wandered across the river for what seemed like ages until we stumbled upon a random restaurant down a random alley - sometimes the best kind.  The food was DELICIOUS.  I got gnocchi with a cheesey tomato sauce. Since the weather wasn't the best, and everyone was exhausted from traveling, we headed back to our hostel to relax.  We stopped at a little cafe right down the street and the girls got canoli's (not sure if I spelled that right) and coffee with Bailey's - why have I never tried that before?!

Kelly and I on the Spanish Steps

Trying to be artsy in St. Peter's Basilica

Saturday the weather finally decided to take a turn for the better - we could actually wear shorts! We woke up early and headed to the Colosseum and Palatine Hill/Roman Forum.  The good news was it was culture week in Italy so all the museums were free to get into.  The bad news was the lines were incredible.  We got lucky though and arrived early enough to beat most of the crowds.  We took an obnoxious number of pictures that day (well worth it!) and ended up getting lost in the ROman Forum.. you'd think they would mark the exits better among piles of ruins.  We went to lunch at another random restaurant and got some pizza then made our way to the Pantheon once again to try a famous gelato place called Giolitti.  The line was obnoxious but SO worth it.  I got Mango, Strawberry and Lemon.. definitely the best gelato I've ever had.  We went back to the hostel, Audrey and I packed up our things, and we got ready for dinner.  We stayed local and went to a small restaurant (that was packed!) right by Termini station.  Again, I can't say it enough, the food we got was delicious.  I got penne ala bolognese and I wish I could have eaten 10 pounds of it.  The owner loved us - he even gave us his business cards - and gave us shots of homemade alcohol before we left.  It was so strong I'm pretty sure my sinuses will be cleared for the rest of my life.

Colosseum

The group - Me, Audrey, Kelly, Madeline, Breanne

Roman Forum

Best gelato place!

We said bye to Roma (sadly) and went to bed early since we had to catch an EXTREMELY early train to Florence.  That's what happens when you're a student with a budget trying to travel ;)

Me at the Capital!

Alpujarras

Again, sorry for the non-updated blog in a while!  Trying to live up the last stretch of time I have left here - it's a weird feeling.  Here's a little bit about what I've been up to :)

The group.. yupp poor Jake and Matt were the only guys!

The weekend of April 8 and 9 (right after my parents left) we had a group trip to the Alpujarras mountains to hike for 2 days, 1 night.  For those of you that know me well I 1) hate the outdoors 2) hate anything that involves physical activity and 3) am not very coordinated.  Aka everyone was making fun of me even before we left for the trip...

Thank God we moved at the same pace! Me and Kelly

The group met early on Friday morning and we took a small bus a little over an hour away to the famous mountains.  The bus ride was very winding so I popped some Dramamine and was out for the entire trip since I get motion sickness.  We arrived in Pampeniera, Spain, a small "pueblo" (town).  There we  literally threw our things into a meeting room and headed out for our first day of hiking.  We met our guide for day 1 who turned out to be the spawn of satan.. I'm not kidding.  She took her job a LITTLE seriously... sorry I'm not going to jump over cliffs to move along the mountain faster.  Needless to say she hated me from the beginning since I was always last HAHA sometimes I think I did it on purpose, with Kelly right next to me of course.  After 3 hours of trekking up and downhill (which by the way, contrary to popular belief going downhill is difficult too) we took a break for lunch.  Our guide and her assistants layed out a spread of meats, cheeses, bread, and a bunch of vegetables.  They even let us lay in the sun and rest for about an hour, thanks to Miguel Angel telling her we needed at least a little break.  After lunch we hiked about another hour and a half until we got back to Pampeniera.  We checked into our hostel (I roomed with Karrah, Kelly and Audrey), showered, and passed out until we met for dinner at 8:30 downstairs.  Dinner was typical Alpujarras food - we had choices of rabbit, lamb, beef, multiple types of fish, etc.  I stayed safe and picked steak but my friend Breanne ordered rabbit.. and it came with the HEAD STILL ATTACHED.  I did try it though, tasted just like chicken surprisingly.

Pretty views.. see those white dots? That's the pueblo we hiked from!

Day 2 we began our hike early again and had the nicest guide, this time a guy, who actually made the experience semi fun, and for me that's saying a lot haha.  The morning began REALLY rough because we climbed all uphill for a good hour or so.  After a few hours we reached our ultimate destination - the top of a MOUNTAIN.  Yes, I climbed a MOUNTAIN.  The view was absolutely gorgeous and made the grueling trip there totally worth it.  We had the Sierra Nevada Mountains to our right and we were so high up we could see the Mediterranean Sea to the left, all the way back in Granada.  Our guide even gave us chocolate at the top for energy - see I told you he was cool.  We hiked down some more and he took us to 2 other small pueblos - one of them being his own!  We learned how houses in this area are constructed and their very simple way of living.  We stopped again for some lunch and began walking to our last pueblo.  I asked one of the guides if there was any more uphill and he said no. He must have realized my athletic ability because he LIED to me... let's just say we were LITERALLY scaling the mountain to get to the other side, slightly scary.  Kelly and I were struggling to get to the top (the guide then proceeded to tell me there would be ice-cream at the top) and we finally made it... there wasn't ice cream waiting though, but a BUS to drive us back to our original meeting place.  It was better than Christmas.  We all piled in, headed back to Pampeniera, and loaded up the buses for our trip back to Granada.

I DID IT!

When we got back to Granada we headed straight to a bull fight.  Bull fights come rarely to Granada, even though we have our own "Plaza" or stadium for them so we decided to seize the opportunity and go. Long story short, we were there for less than 10 minutes, found it absolutely terrible and disgusting, and left.  There's some things about the Spanish culture I will never understand and this was one of them.  The poor bull was so helpless and had no idea what was coming for him.  It was too much for some of us to handle so we thought it would be better to just leave.  Bull fighting is becoming illegal in many parts of Spain (like Barcelona and other areas) and the people of Granada are on board with making it illegal here also.  My senora doesn't support it either so she was glad that I came home early.  The ONLY good thing about that fight was that the ticket price went to charity for kids with down syndrome.. it made me feel like I wasn't supporting animal abuse.

Bull fight :(

The rest of the week was low key.  Our culture of Islam class did spend some time in the Albaycin (the old moorish ghetto) to tour where the old town used to be.  Granada still has such a strong Islamic impression so it was interesting to visualize how the city was actually constructed in the past. The remainder was spent figuring out plans for our next 10 day break, called semana santa or Holy Week which leads up to Easter.  I've never planned so last minute before but I crossed my fingers everything would work out and the horrible train strikes in Italy would hold off until we got home!

The Swedish Girls Arrive! Ahh

My senora decided to host 2 other exchange students from Sweden.. she wasn't going to at first, but the other school practically begged her so she accepted.  The girls, Amanda and Lena, arrived VERY late on Monday night / Tuesday morning - not until 4 am!  I was asleep by then but finally met them on Tuesday morning during lunch.  They're 18 and 19 and JUST how you would picture them - long bleach blonde hair and blue eyes.  Lunch was a little complicated since..

1. My senora speaks Spanish and French
2. I speak Spanish and English but unfortunately no Swedish
3. The girls spoke Swedish, English and VERY little Spanish

aka I was Miss Translator once again.  I tried to speak to them in Spanish so they would actually learn (why else would they come to Spain) but they literally had NO clue what my senora and I were saying so I translated between English and Spanish as best as I could.   They had to meet up with their group again after lunch all the way across the city and looked like they were about to have a panic attack when they whipped out their map and saw how far it was, so I decided to walk them.  On the way we spoke English so I learned a lot more about them.  They're in their last year of our equivalent to high school it sounds like and plan on taking a year off to travel the world once they graduate in June - how sweet right?  They think Americans are crazy for going to college right after high school.  The girls even asked me "aren't you sick of school?" and my response was pretty much "why do you think I'm here?" haha.

My only other encounter with them was this morning getting ready for school.  I explained to them IN ENGLISH that the 3 of us SHARE a bathroom which means we ALL have to get ready in the morning.  What does one of them do?  Gets in the shower at 7:40 when breakfast is ready at 8 and we all needed to be out the door by 8:30.  Believe me I don't mind sharing a bathroom but clearly they have some issues.. looks like I'm setting my alarm a little earlier tomorrow. haha

Last funny tidbit.. one of them claims to be allergic to gluten.  When my senora found this out she pretty much freaked out since we a) live on bread products and b) gluten-free products are very expensive here.  She was nice enough to go buy the girl gluten-free juice and bread so she at least had something to eat for breakfast.  Today my senora tells me, she vents to me all the time, that the girl ate chocolate (with gluten) and drank the normal juice (with gluten).  In Spanish she goes "I don't get it.. I think she's lying".  Not sure if someone would lie about a gluten allergy but I'm just glad I'm on my senora's good side.

The Family Visits Spain! April 1-4

The moment/blog post you've all been waiting for - Steve, Di and Auntie Josie come to Europe!!  I had such a great weekend with them showing them around my home for the past few months and I think they enjoyed it just as much.  They were amazed at how different the culture was and how beautiful Europe truly is - much different than the states.  Even though we had such a short time in Granada (they arrived on Friday afternoon and were gone by early Monday morning!) I was able to show them some of my favorite parts to the city...


On Friday I surprised my parents by meeting them at the airport!  One of my friend's family was on the same flight so we were able to wait for them together.  The fam finally landed around 1 in the afternoon.  Mom and Auntie Josie looked a bit tired but excited and my dad was in high spirits - he slept the entire 8 hours!  The travel agent had arranged a car so we took that to their hotel and got them checked in.  They stayed at Hotel Carmen (which was beautiful!) right down the street from my apartment.  We took advantage of the beautiful day and I showed them around my home for the past few months.  They were amazed by the views and how different/pretty the buildings were.  We stopped by my school and then walked up the street to eat at a place recommended by our program.  It didn't take my dad long to get used to Spanish food - he ordered boiled octopus for his first meal!  After lunch we wandered around the streets and walked into a few shops.  Another thing I forgot to mention, we don't really have a big shopping center anywhere (like a mall) so the streets are just lined with shops.  Aunt Josie and my mom were in awe.. and I'm pretty sure my dad shed a few tears because he knew what was in store for him haha!  I took them to a famous ice-cream shop, called Los Italianos, that is ALWAYS packed.  Michelle Obama even stopped there when she came to visit Granada last year. They were all jet lagged so we went back to the hotel so they could sleep for a little bit.  For dinner I took them to Restaurante Sevilla which is famous for paella.  My dad was dying to try it and all of them liked it a lot!  Ours was filled with seafood, chicken and vegetables.  To walk off dinner we headed towards Plaza Nueva and I showed them the Alhambra illuminated at night.  Ask how many times all three of them tried to pronounce Alhambra.  My dad and Aunt Josie finally got it after 3 days.. my mom, not so much.  She was convinced it was called Alambriance...


Saturday we got an early start and signed up for a tour of the Alhambra and Generalife.  The tour group picked us up at the hotel around 9:30 am and provided transportation up to the Alhambra. There we met our tour guide, I forgot his name, who was conducting our tour in both French and English.  Everything he said he said in both languages - how exhausting!  I was able to teach my family a little bit too since we're learning about a lot of the same things in my Culture of Islam class.  They especially enjoyed the second part of the tour, the Generalife, which are gardens and the previous sultans' summer home.  From the Generalife you get a gorgeous view of the Alhambra! I'm pretty sure they took about 90 pictures there.  We took the bus back down to the heart of Granada and got lunch in one of the main plazas called Bib-Rambla.  I introduced them to Menu del Dia (the multiple course lunch I explained before) and they couldn't believe how heavy lunch was!  They all loved the laid back atmosphere of Spain and just people-watching.  Aunt Josie couldn't believe how all Spanish parents dress their kids the exact same way, regardless of age.  When we were all full we did a little bit more shopping and enjoyed the weather (which was sunny and close to 70!).  On the way home my dad demanded ice cream once again so I took them to another place we love going to. Still full from lunch, we decided on getting on very light dinner - how perfect for a tapas night! I introduced them to Calle Navas - a street lined with great bars for tapas.  It was hard to find a table at first since it seemed like everyone in Granada was out for the night, but we finally sat down.  For our first class we got tuna sandwiches and chip-like things.  We ordered an appetizer of tomato salad and an assortment of fried fish to pick on.  Again, we just sat and talked and my parents and Aunt Josie soaked in the culture.  I think getting tapas was one of their favorite parts!


Sunday we woke up to some cloudy and rainy weather.  I took them to mass, yes in Spanish, at the Catedral at 11:30.  I hadn't been there myself so it was an experience for all of us.  Mass in Spain is VERY short and the priest didn't look up once, he just kept reading!  We were out of the church no later than 12:00 - unheard of in the states.  Right around the corner from the Catedral is the Capilla Real.  Here we found many paintings from the 14th and 15th century from various artists.  We also got a look at the tombs where Isabel and Fernando are buried.  They're buried underground and their caskets are kind of freaky to see, but again, interesting.  We walked back to Bib-Rambla, since that's where many of the good restaurants are, and tried another restaurant called Monolo's.  After lunch we headed to my apartment so my family could see where I lived and to meet my senora!  I told them about the 2 kiss custom but I think we were all a little nervous.  As a thank you present for taking such good care of me my mom bought Encarnita a small crystal cat (since she's obsessed with cats) and a photo album.  My senora LOVED both of them and was excited to meet my family!  It was a little exhausting to translate between Spanish and English, but I made it work.  we went out on the roof of our apartment building, the terrace, so they could get a nice view of the entire city of Granada.  My family took a bunch of pictures with Encarnita too so I'll have to upload one when my parents send them to me when they're home!  We said our goodbyes and made our way to a small cafe to get a pastry and warm up a little bit - it had been raining on and off all day.  They all had a very early flight (7 am) to Rome the next day so we decided to call it an early day.  When we got back we skyped my brother, Bobby and Grandma Smith to check in and I left them so they could get a good nights sleep.


Overall the weekend was everything I expected!  I'm so glad I was able to show them all the things I loved about Granada and they seemed like they really liked it as well.  After they visited I realized I take some things that I have here for granted since they are so normal to me but so new and different to them.  I'll definitely miss these things heading back to the states!  I'm excited to see how the rest of their trip goes throughout Italy and can't wait to hear all their other crazy adventures :)


As for me, only about a month left - it is crazy how fast it has gone.  I probably say that every week haha.  This weekend I'm going hiking in the mountains with the group in a small city about an hour away.  The following weekend I leave for Italy.. then it's Easter, Portugal, finals and home sweet home back to the states... how bittersweet.

March 20-27

Another solid week in Granada!  I know I keep saying it, but it's very comforting to explore this city and stay put for a little bit.  My week of school was crazy (at least for Cegri's standards).  I had two 30 minute presentations and a test that thankfully got postponed until next week.  Since I was busy during the week I didn't do too many exciting things, but this weekend was a good one.

Sam, Spencer, Allison and I's tapa... YUM.. not.

On Thursday night a new discoteca was opening in Granada called Cinco (Five) so we decided to check it out.  We literally took the place over, but it ended up being a lot of fun to go out with the program again.  The open bar until like 2:00 didn't hurt either...

I woke up on Friday morning to the sound of a band... looking out my window I saw the beginning of a parade making its way down the street in front of my apartment building.  The World Cup Spain soccer team was in Granada for the weekend playing Czech Republic and a bunch of people were carrying a HUGE flag down my street making their way to the soccer stadium.  Everyone was on their balconies waving Spanish flags and cheering.  The World Cup win was much bigger than I thought!  Friday afternoon was another gorgeous day in Granada so Madeline, Karrah and I walked around a little bit after siesta.  Watching soccer games out at a bar isn't very big here, but a place really close to my house, Palacio de los Congresos, was hosting the game on a giant television screen so we made our way over there.  We sat on the steps of the palacio with the rest of the program and watched the game which started at 10 (kinda late for a sporting event I thought).  The first half was pretty rough with Czech Republic scoring first, but Spain pulled through in the second half and scored 2 goals for the win!  Everyone was going crazy at the palacio and the streets on the walk home were even crazier with people celebrating.

The giant flag parade

The soccer broadcast at the palacio

On Saturday we decided to take another trip to Nerja, Spain and go to the beach for the day... there was about 25 of us that went.  When we got there the weather was absolutely horrible and we were FREEZING.  Thankfully the weather broke up pretty quick and the sun came out for the afternoon so we got a little tan.  We all passed out on the bus ride home, and when I woke up in Granada I was feeling SO congested and felt a fever coming on... I decided to suck it up and go out with the group again for the night, but ended up coming home early so I didn't get sicker.  Why do I always end up getting sick at the worst times?!  My fever went away this morning, but I'm still really congested .. good thing I brought some Sudafed!

4 more days of class and then my parents and Auntie Josie will finally be here!!  The weather is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous as well so I'll be planning some fun things for us to do this week :)  Can't wait until they get here!

Nerja weekend!

So the weather has officially become GORGEOUS here.  I want to live outside, it's about mid 60's to 70's without a cloud in the sky!  I can finally bust out my spring clothes and shoes and retire my peacoat.  Primavera (spring) has officially begun, and Granada knows how to celebrate...

View over the river on my walk to class :)

Friday is called "dia de primavera" or first day of spring and the young kids in the city  interpret that as a giant drinking holiday called botellon.  Kelly and I decided to run some errands during the morning and I finally bought the purse I was dying for from a Spanish designer called Bimba & Lola.  (See picture below).  We went back home for siesta and then headed out again for the rest of the afternoon, the weather was too gorgeous to stay indoors.  I saw botellon televised during the afternoon news and it looked insane so Kelly and I wanted to at least see what it was all about. Picture a concert ground without any live music and a million drunk people - they had been there since the early morning!  It was crazier than I could have imagined.  We met up with a few people in our program for a bit who were just as amazed.  On our way home we actually ran into Kelly's host mom so I got to meet her - she's very nice and in her 50's.  Her kids actually host study abroad students as well so Kelly has a large extended family which is a way different situation than I have.

PURSE! for you Jenn :)

A typical lunch in Spain.. fish, pasta and veggies in a brothy soup.

Botellon - this picture doesn't even do it justice.

On Saturday we decided to head to a beach about 2 hours away called Nerja.  Our bus left at 9:00 am and it was pretty funny because literally the ENTIRE bus was American students from all differnet programs in Granada, half of them being from my program.  We got to the beach early afternoon and had a day of absolutely perfect weather.  It was probably the prettiest beach I've ever been too, the only downside being the "sand" was actually teeny tiny rocks and my feet STILL hurt from walking on them.  We baked all day in the sun and tried to venture into the Mediterranean Sea except it was like an ice bath!  We probably should have been more careful and put some sunscreen on because my shower when I got home was a bit painful.. my chest is a nice lobster color haha.  Overall it was a really nice day at the beach - all our senora's packed us "bocadillos" (sandwiches) for lunch so we had a little picnic at the beach and then got some gelato before getting back on the bus, which by the way we almost missed (I have such horrible luck with that!).  We decided to take a different way to get to the bus stop and realized shortly into our journey that we had no idea
where we were.  We had to SPRINT back through the beach (and many stairs) to get to where we had to be, but we ended up making it just in time (phew!).  The views on the way home were gorgeous as well with the sun setting on the city of Nerja and the ocean!

How gorgeous!

Pretty views :)

Today my senora wanted to walk around a little bit so she took me on another mini tour of some places in Granada that she didn't think I had visited.  It's incredible how many hidden gems there can be to one city!  She introduced me to some new plazas and churches around the city and we got a drink in Plaza de los Romanillas which made me feel like I was in a beach town because of all the palm trees and bright sunshine.  She also showed me some good places to take my parents and Aunt Josie for lunch and dinner when they arrive - get excited Mom and Dad!  Waiting for siesta now after our mini tour and then it's work time.  When did school get real here?  I have a 30 minute presentation in my culture class about Valencia (another popular city/community in Spain), a 30 minute presentation for my oral class with my friend Madeline (which we are doing it about relationship statuses, should be hilarious) and then a linguistics test on Thursday!  Yuck.  We're making plans already to head to another beach next weekend so that should get me through this busy week!



^^ The plaza with the palm trees and a fountain I pass on my way home everyday!

Miss you and thanks to all who read :) love your comments! xoxo

March 7-13 and Cordoba

Halfway mark.  These past two months have absolutely FLOWN by.  A bunch of us had a little panic attack how quickly it has gone by, we're seriously going to be back in the states before we know it!


Finally a nice relaxing full week (well almost!) in Granada.  I had some new experiences this week that are definitely worth blogging about.  It started on Tuesday for my Cultures of Islam class... we had a test on Thursday so our teacher, Elsa, decided to do a review and told us to meet her in this plaza.  Instead of studying in the plaza, she took us to a teteria, or a Arabic-style bar - how fitting for what we were studying.  We ordered tea and she bought us some pastries to try (I swear, I don't know how everyone here isn't 38947 pounds).  She even said we could smoke hookah if we wanted to - all of us passed, we felt a little awkward.  Only in Granada.  The test ended up going well, sometimes I forget I'm actually going to school over here.


Our program offers 2 free trips (well I mean they're not free, just included in the cost of the program) and a bunch of us signed up for the Friday trip to Cordoba, another town in Andalucia, about 2.5 hours away.  Our program directors Miguel Angel and Nerea, along with another lady from Cordoba who met us there, were our tour guides of the city.  We saw the Alcazar (I'm pretty sure every Spanish town has these) and the Arab baths which were cool.  My favorite part by far was visiting "el Catedral" which is actually a Mosque AND a Catholic church in the same building.  Crazy right?  Back in the day they actually shared these places of worship and the differences in the styles of each part of the church were very clear.  One minute you were
standing in the Mosque and literally you turn the corner and you're in the Cathedral.   I think I appreciated it that much more because we've been learning so much about Islam in my class so I could actually make connections to what I was seeing.  I think I've learned more in the classes I'm taking here than I have in my other 5 semesters at U of I - sad, but true.  We got home that night, took a little nap, and decided to FINALLY get a taste of the real night life here.  A big group of us met up in a plaza close to Kelly and I's house.  Sounds weird but that's what everyone does here and then they all decide where to go.  Our choice was Kapital - a popular discoteca here, but we made a stop at la Chupeteria (shot bar I've talked about before) before heading there.  Do not ask me how I managed this, but I ended up getting 15 of us "VIP"
passes to Kapital for that night - WIN.  We got to Kapital, cut the loooong line and didn't have to pay to get in.  We all had a blast.  The best is dancing to American music here (which is all they play) because everyone knows the words but I don't think they actually know what the words mean which is hilarious...


Saturday I woke up and my senora was making one of my favorite dishes for lunch.  It's not paella but very similar - basically rice with chicken that they cook all day.  After lunch I went over to Hannigan's to use the internet and got to skype my parents.  I thought going to an Irish pub at 4:30 would be empty - was I wrong.  There was a huge rugby game going on so the place was packed.  And then there was me in the corner with my laptop - nerd alert, I felt really cool. That night a bunch of us met up again in a plaza and got some wine.  There's a discoteca up in the Albaycin (its the "barrio" in Granada which translates to ghetto but it's not what you would picture an American ghetto to be whatsoever) that we all wanted to go to called Camborio.  It's
normal to GET to the discoteca around 2 or 2:30 IN THE MORNING.  I'm gonna have to get used to this I guess haha.  Before heading up there we met up with some girls traveling from Barcelona that were a friends of Kelly's friend to show them around.  Turns out they are Kappa Delta's from Indiana University (small world)... this whole sorority thing never gets old haha.  Camborio was absolute madness and even more fun than Kapital.  Not to mention it's half outdoors and half indoors so while you're dancing you get a gorgeous view of the Alhambra lit up at night looking down on the city of Granada.  So sweet.  We got our typical late night food - schwarmas - and headed home, at 5 am.  Shannon, you would be proud.


Today was another relaxing day.  I met up with Karrah, Kelly and Madeline for a little bit at Cafe Futbol to use the internet and I finally got to skype with my best friend from home, AJ! When I got home my senora was digging through old photos and she showed me her whole family and past students that she has hosted.  We sat and talked for a while about our families although she did most of the talking, like always haha.  Tonight I'm hopefully going out for tapas to meet Caroline's boyfriend Bret who is visiting from West Point this week. :)


Shout out to my Uncle Nick - I know you're reading this!

U of I takes on Dublin!

The first Friday in March is the biggest holiday to hit the University of Illinois campus - Unofficial St. Patrick's Day.  The university thought it would be a good idea to conveniently schedule spring break over actual St. Patrick's Day so we wouldn't have a chance to celebrate.  The bars on campus got smart, and created their own holiday which has been a tradition at U of I for the past 6 years.  Since us study-abroaders felt left out of the festivities, we decided to travel to the next best place; Dublin!  About 50 of us from U of I, studying all around Europe, met up in Ireland this weekend to celebrate Unofficial our own way!

Streets of Dublin!

Twelve of us took an early afternoon flight out of Malaga (thank goodness, it was only a 2 hour bus ride to get there instead of the usual 5 hour ride to Madrid!) on Friday afternoon.  The group included Lauren, Caroline, Cory, Andrea, Megan, Alison, Spencer, Sam, Lauren B, Matt, Ryan and I.  We got to Dublin late afternoon (after a great flight on good 'ol budget airline, RyanAir) and checked into our hostel which was right down the street from the famous Temple Bar.  Our hostel was even called Barnacles Temple Bar Hostel.  The facilities were great, and Caroline, Lauren and I got moved from an 10 person dorm to a 6 person dorm with our own bathroom - WIN.  It just so happened the other 3 girls in the room were Alison, Spencer and Lauren B so it was nice to finally be sharing a room without strangers!  We got into the Irish spirit right away and all went to a souvenir store to buy some attire - more specifically we bought the most obnoxious (but kinda cute) green and cream striped rugby polos... you'll be seeing a lot of them in my pictures!  We got some spiked ciders (best.drink.ever) from the convenient store and all 50 of us hung out in the kitchen for a while... you can only imagine how the rest of the hostel stayers felt about that one, haha.  We checked out a few pubs and I had my first Guinness (Matt Scully you would be proud!) although it was much heavier than I thought it would be.  My favorite pub was a place called Fitzgeralds where there was a live band who LOVED to pick on us for our obnoxious shirts and the fact that we were American, typical 'eh?

The rugby polos!

Saturday we wanted to do some sight-seeing around Dublin.  We decided on a free walking tour, surprise surprise, which actually turned out to be interesting.  Our tour guide knew a lot about the history of Dublin from many different aspects and we learned a lot about the famines and  plagues that took over Ireland's history.  The tour guide was also pretty adamant about teaching us all why them and Britain were such horrible enemies.. and although the story might be a bit bias, I can definitely see why.  Next we headed over to the Guinness factory to take a tour and see exactly how Guinness beer is made... I figured while in Ireland this is a must-see.  The tour was about 5 floors beginning with how the beer is actually made, to a taste-test, to the different advertising campaigns and how Guinness and St. Patrick's Day are celebrated around the world.  Yes, they even included America's famous St. Patrick's Day parade, I was proud.  The tour lead to a sky bar which over looked the entire city and a complimentary Guinness to enjoy.  All of us were wiped out so we split up to get some dinner.  Lauren, Caroline, Megan, Spencer and I  decided to try a famous fish & Chips placed called Burdock's.  On the wall they listed all the famous people that had visited there.. some of them included Snoop Dogg (random I know), Hilary Swank, the cast of P.S. I love you, Justin Timberlake's mom and a million more I can't remember. It was a bit pricey, but definitely worth the money.

Courtyard of the Castle

9,000 year Guinness lease!

All the different bottle types

Most of the group left on Sunday morning, but Caroline, Lauren and I (along with a few others) decided to use one of our "freebies" off of school and take a tour of the countryside on the west coast of Ireland.  We woke up at the God-awful hour of 5:45 am to be at the bus stop for the tour by 6:45.  It ended up being totally worth it.  We first took a 2.5 hour ride to Galway, where the tour actually started. They gave us a "breakfast break" at a nearby hotel to which we received AWFUL service from the waitress and didn't even end up having time to eat at all!  We boarded another bus for the next 9 hours to tour the countryside of Ireland, which made me actually feel like I was in Ireland. We saw castles, cemetaries, and many historical places from Ireland's history.  During one of our stops (which thankfully they gave us plenty and we weren't cooped up on the bus for that long) we ran into a girl from our sorority, Maggie, who was actually studying in Italy... small world huh?  Turns out she was on a different tour company but doing the same sort of thing we were.  It was nice to see a familiar face although really random.  Finally we made it to the Cliffs of Mohr, the main site we were looking forward to.  The view was absolutely incredible and we climbed to some of the highest points around the cliff to see as much as we possibly could.  That sight alone made the whole tour worth the early morning wake up call.  We visited a few more sites along the way home and finally pulled into Galway around 6:00 pm.  They gave us a quick dinner break, which made it only possible to eat Subway (boo!) and then we were back on the bus for the 2.5 hour ride back to Dublin.  I slept the whole way back and we all crashed early after such a long day and an early morning flight the next day.

Cliffs of Mohr

Tower on the Cliffs

Monday we had a flight out of Dublin at 9 am and got back to Granada (after all traveling was over) about 5:30 pm so it was another long day.  My favorite parts of Ireland were hands down the Cliffs of Mohr and seeing everyone from U of I!  Although I didn't dislike Ireland by any means, in comparison to the other cities I've visited I think I have to put it closer to the bottom, but I have no regrets from traveling there whatsoever.

Updated list would probably be: Prague, Paris, Sevilla, London, Dublin, Madrid.  My travels are pretty much over, minus a few other trips, so I'm relieved to finally stay in Granada and check out this city a little more.  I can't wait to blog about things happening around here and show you a little more about where I live!  I'll be here for about a month straight, before our final 10 day break where I'll hopefully be traveling to Italy :)