What would I give Granada? Granada, diez

I think I found a place that I like more than my own city, yes ladies and gentleman I think Granada made the cut for one of the top places I have ever been ever.

Our day started out with a tour of the Alambra, a historical Muslim palace that also is famous for its status as a wedding gift from King Fernando to Queen Isabella. The Alambra is actually a series of buildings, an ancient city if you will that is also adorned with MAGNIFICANT gardens. The palace is pretty cool and definitely worth seeing, but if you ever take a tour of this place I would even go so far as to say skip the palace go straight to the greenery. I seriously felt like I was in a fairy tale walking throught this place with its array of flowers, green arches, ponds, and a fantastic view of the city. Madre mia!

After our tour we made our way to our hostel. This was my first time ever staying at a hostel so i didn't really know what to expect. When we arrived we realized that our room was on the roof, and when we walked outside our room we had yet another amazing view of the city. The room was fine too, except Mariko and I had to share a bed and I think we got the sex bed or something, because when i laid back on it it swayed like fifty times, and then we discovered a mysterious white stain on our comforter....hmmm.

When our check in(and siesta) were completed we decided to explore the city to find some cheap tapas. Apparently Granada is world renown BECAUSE when you go to any restuarant or bar and order a drink, you get free tapas. (Tapas are basically Spanish appetizers, my personal favorites are the Spanish omelette, or tortilla and fried calamari) The first night was a success. For a beer,a vino tinto, and dinner I paid 4.50 euro!

Later that night we decided to explore the night life of the city a little bit. Since most of us were a little tired we just decided to hit up some bars. The owner of the hostel suggested some places, one of them being "Afrodesia" a free bar/club hidden in a street covered in graffitti that only played funk and jazz.Even though this place was pretty cool, we decided to explore a little. Some girls and i strayed off and found ourselves at what seemed to be a pretty happening place, a club called "Granada Diez." I speculated that this place earned its title either because of its perfect ten status with it's flashing lights and array of platforms to dance on(at least that is what I liked about it) or because of the 10 euro cover charge to get in. Either way this place was a huge step above any club I have been to in Europe so far, which was further highlighted by the fact that we somehow got in for free :) A perfect end to our night I would say.

Our next day was jampacked. Full of first exploring the famous cathedral where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella have their tombs, and then taking a bus up to the ancient city on a hill called "Albacin." This miniture little hideway contained a fantastic view of the entire city and the Alambra, as well as an entire street dedicated to tiny Morroccan tea shops. My American girl statement of the day is that sitting in one of these little shops honestly made me feel like I was in a scene in Aladdin, plus I drank some of the best tea I have ever had!The events later that night only improved my opinion of this place.

We ended up meeting up with one of our friends from our program who has a friend that is studying abroad in Granada, which meant that she knew truly where all the legendary Granada tapas places were. The first place we went to was pretty typical; a couple rounds of drinks with some great Spanish tortilla and croquetas. The second place was out of this world, because I only have to say three words:Thai.food.tapas. Yep, this time with a round of drinks we got a serving of our choice of any Thai dish on the menu. While there we easly striked up a conversation with the owner, an Irishman who said he's been all over the world, but since Granada was his favorite place he had ever seen he decided to settle down, and start a different type of tapas bar to offer the people here a little taste of something new. I was of course amazed.

Later that night we decided to go to another one of Granada's famous clubs that is built in a cave and has a fantastic view of the city and the Alambra. First, however we made our way to a random parking lot in the city that hosts a giant "botellon"(Spanish pre-game party). We had heard rumors about this place, mainly being since that there are so many college students in the city, and since most of them like to pre-game in random parks before going to the clubs, the city actually decided to designate a spot where they could do it legally. When we got there I was completely stunned that what i was seeing was actually real. Yes, it was true what I saw,(and partcipated in) was about a thousand(not an exaggeration) young people gettng drunk in a huge parking lot. I felt like I was at a concert, minus the band. Taking part in this, and preceding to dance in a beautiful club on a hill was an evermore perfect ending to this new city that i have fallen in love with. Granada, te quiero.

If I could change one thing about this place it would be....

The fact that dog owners here don't pick up after their pets. I am not entirely sure what the law is here about picking up after you dog, but I don't think it is very strict because I cannot tell you how many piles of crap I have to encounter on my walk to school. (I mean it is just absolutely ridiculous I have to dodge them literally like bullets). When this happens I have to give myself a pep talk to refrain from throwing a tantrum. (Deep breath Jo, dodging this shit just keeps you on your toes, It's all part of the experience!) I guess there are a lot of differences between here and back home that i am willing to accept and even embrace but this I just have to keep a closed mind about.