Granada

Can it be Friday already? How has this week gone by so fast? Friday means that it's the weekend, and the weekend means that we're leaving Alicante, leaving Spain, leaving Europe so soon! It has flown by so quickly, I can't believe it.

But let's not focus on that right now =] Let me tell you about our two days in Granada.

We left Wednesday morning for the bus station and took a 4 hour bus ride there, putting us in Granada right at the hottest part of the day. We headed straight to the pool at our hotel (which was beautiful! Thanks, Marie =]), lounged around, took naps and showers, and got ready for dinner.

We were treated to dinner by Carmen, who made us reservations at El Mirador de Aixa, one of the most beautiful restaurants in Granada. According to Carmen, Bill Clinton ate here once and said that everyone should have a chance to go before they die. (And obviously, if Bill Clinton says it, it must be true!) But as it turns out, he was absolutely right - every table has breathtaking views of La Alhambra, Granda's most famous site, and the food was by far the best I've ever tasted in my life. Everything down to the bread I ate was delicious. One of the best parts of the meal, though, was when Carmen called the restaurant and the host hesitantly brought the telephone over to our table. She was just calling to make sure that we liked the restaurant and were having a good time - both of which were understatements, of course!

Everything was perfect, and to be surrounded by such beauty while eating such amazing food - it was something I'll never forget.

(You should check out this restaurant's website! You won't believe it http://www.miradordeaixa.com/)

Anyway, after our stomachs were full of good food and were sore from lots of laughing, we made our way back to the hotel and got a great night's sleep.

We spent Thursday walking around Granada and checking out the town - we had tickets to La Alhambra, but not until later in the day, so we had the morning to explore.

Our taxi cab driver showed us the newspaper headline from Wednesday, which announced that Michelle Obama (and Sasha, and her friends!) were going to be in Granada all day Thursday! We knew they were in Spain this week, but we never thought we'd be in the same city as them! So, we went about our day hoping we'd catch a glimpse, but unfortunately so did the rest of the city, and the Granada police force had some other ideas in mind. Everywhere we went, Michelle and Sasha were always just two steps behind us, and the police cleared everyone out of every place they anticipated the first lady's arrival.

First, we went to La Catedral which was huge and beautiful (as most of the churches I've seen in Spain have been). But I was having trouble paying attention to the audio guide because I kept looking around to see if I could spot an Obama anywhere. It quickly became apparent that they were on their way, because they stopped letting people into the Cathedral and started strategically turning the lights off in certain areas to make everyone leave. After we tried to plot an attempt to hide in one of the chapels until Michelle and Sasha arrived, we gave up and went outside to stand among the cameramen and other tourists waiting to catch a glimpse.

Once we realized it was probably a lost cause and that we'd never see the first lady, we crossed the street to get some gelato. Little did we know that Michelle, Sasha, and her 7 friends also had a craving for gelato, so we got kicked out of there pretty darn quick. We were allowed back in after they'd left (Sasha ordered a chocolate, by the way!), and there were tons of news casters and camera men in there interviewing the people who worked there. They even got a close up of my face eating my ice cream! I wish I knew about Spanish news stations and TV channels - I would have checked to see if my head shot made it on air. =]

Our final stop was La Alhambra, the palace and fortress still standing from when the Moors ruled Granada. The entire city has Arabic and Muslim influences, but La Alhambra tops it all. The detailed architecture, elaborate gardens, and stunning views of the city made it one of the prettiest places I'd seen thus far. There was running water throughout the entire place which was a nice soundtrack to our journey through the garden.

We had tickets to go into the Palace at 7, but had to go in earlier because, you guessed it, Michelle and Sasha were on their way! You could see the guards starting to move people through and hurry them along so that they could empty the place out. By then the novelty of being followed by the first lady had worn off and I was a little annoyed that they got to have every monument in Granada all to themselves! But it didn't matter - my feet were sore and I was ready for a break, so we went back to the hotel to hang out for a little before going back to the bus station and heading back to Alicante.

It was a great, relaxing two days, and I'm eternally grateful to Marie and Carmen for making it happen (and for a million other things too, but that can be its own blogpost!) It was the perfect "vacation within a vacation," and now we can add another Spanish city to our list of ones that we've seen!

That's all for now - it's time for another exciting dinner with Carmen, Marie, and who knows who else they'll find to invite over for dinner. I look forward to the conversations, arguments, and endless laughter that are in store for tonight =]

xoxo

lauren