*Granada

This past weekend the whole CEA group when on an excursion to Granada, Spain! It a blast and I got to add to my growing list of Spanish landmarks seen :] I think it's safe to say that I love traveling and discovering new things!

We took a bus to Granada which was a total travel time of 5 hours. We could have made it in 4, however, it is Spain. They decide that 2 hours is enough traveling and that we need an hour break to just hang out at a rest stop and recuperate. [Ryan Underwood would be very displeased ;] lol - for those of you who don't know, he is a quick and efficient person when it comes to youth trips, no stopping unless absolutely necessary!]

Our stay consisted of:

touring the city,

enjoying the sunset in Albaicin-Granada's historic quarter

seeing a live authentic Flamenco show - extremely cool

visiting an outlook of the city - at day/sunset and night

visiting the Alhambra - a palace built for the last Muslim Emirs in Spain and its court of the Nasrid dynasty (below is a very small part of it all - a garden/courtyard

View out from the Alhambra

wandering around by ourselves,

shopping in a market - a huge market with a lot of various shops in a condensed area

touring the Cathedral of Granada

and visiting Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) - it is a mausoleum that houses Catholic Monarchs including Queen Isabel de Castilla I and King Fernando de Aragon.

The tombs of...

•Doña Isabel de Castilla I
•Don Fernando de Aragón II
•Their daughter Queen Juana I of Castile, León, and Aragon
•Her husband Felipe I
•Their oldest grandson Miguel da Paz, Prince of Asturias

Needless to say, Granada was an adventure!!

This weekend is Carnaval (Carnival), which is a celebration were people dress up and go crazy haha should be fun :] I am dressing up as a butterfly! Pictures of that are to come!

I have met many people here in Spain, however, the one I connect the most with is named Steph. We enjoy each others company and both find great joy in taking a map and wandering around until we stumble upon something new :] This is one of the reasons we decided to plan a trip for when school is over (April 15th) to head to Dublin [2 days], then straight to Stockholm [2 days], just before my mom and Cati arrive. I am very excited to continue spending time together and learn more about her!

I have a new album on facebook for Granada:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=285791&id=500132155&l=bdd8a7b9d1

However, the Alicante on is the same:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=278856&id=500132155&l=8c4315d5e4