More Sevilla photos

Here are some of the pictures from Doug's camera from our Sevilla trip.  Aren't the gardens beautiful?  They reminded me a lot of Balboa Park in San Diego, which was was influenced by Spanish architecture.  

Gardens of the Alcázares Reales

Entrance of the palace

City view from the tower

The cathedral

Doug's awesome picture of inside the cathedral

Happy Birthday Megan & Jenna!

Today is Megan's birthday and last Friday Jenna turned fourteen (wow I can't believe how old she is getting!).  I wish that I could celebrate with them but I hope that both my sisters have/had amazing birthdays and I miss you both so much...you guys are amazing.  I'm so lucky to have such beautiful and wonderful sisters!

Sevilla

This past weekend I went to Sevilla, which is a city three hours west of Granada.  Sevilla is much larger than Granada, so it was a nice change of pace.  Unfortunately though, we got there late Friday night and then left on Sunday at around four, so we didn't get to spend that much time getting to know the city.  However, what I did see of the city was amazing.  On the bus ride to Sevilla, we stopped at El Torcal, which is a national park in Andalucía with some really cool limestone formations, for a quick hike.  In Sevilla we took a bike tour through the city and through a big shady park, which I absolutely fell in love with.  I definitely love Granada, but I do miss large grassy areas, nice running paths and shady trees!  Sadly, the parks in Granada consist of more landscaped dirt than grass, so it was great to be able to walk around and relax in the shade (since it was ridiculously hot in Sevilla!).  

We also got to see the famous cathedral in Sevilla (which is the largest in Spain for those of you who were wondering) and the Alcázares Reales, which is a royal palace with some amazing gardens. My favorite part about the cathedral was that we got to go up to the top of the tower, named Giralda, and look out onto the city, which was breathtaking.  The Alcázares Reales reminded me a lot of a smaller Alhambra, since they both have Arab architecture and elaborate gardens.  However, in Sevilla we had to pay for our tapas, since Granada is the only place in Spain where the tapas still come free with your drink.  Plus the tapas in Granada, hands down, are better than in Sevilla, but then again I am a bit biased.  All in all, Sevilla was a great experience but by the end of the trip I was so happy to be back in Granada. 

Also, I've been counting down to this upcoming weekend because a group of us are going to Las Alpujarras, which are a mountain range part of the Sierra Nevadas, to make a two day hiking excursion.  A friend from API went a couple of weeks ago and he said the views at the top are more than worth it.  So, we'll be taking a bus up to Capiliera, a little mountain village where the hike begins and from there it's about a four hour hike to get to the refuge where we'll be staying the night.  The next morning we'll set out again for the top of Las Alpujarras (which is about two more hours) and then start our way back down to Capiliera to catch the bus back home.  I've heard that this time of the year is the best time to go, so I'm super excited.  I can't wait to post pictures next week!

I've posted some pictures of Sevilla below, but I'm going to post more once I download the ones that I took with Doug's camera.  I miss you all back home and I hope that your enjoying your day so far!

Giralda

Some apartments near the center of town, with the cathedral in the background.

The two pictures above are from the top of the tower.  The bottom one is the top of the cathedral.

El Torcal

Más de Granada

Since I don't have anything particularly exciting to post about, I decided I'd just post some pictures of things that I've done over these past two months.  Before I start with the pictures though, I thought I'd let you know that the weather here in Granada is finally starting to feel like fall, which unfortunately (I hate to admit it!) has oddly me craving a Starbuck's pumpkin spice latte even though I never used to order them at home.  However, I am really excited that the weather is finally getting cold, I don't know about you guys but I love it when the seasons start to change!  Luckily though, I was able to make it down to Salobreña one more time, right before it started to get cold.  Ok, enough about the weather....here are the pictures:

These are some pictures from when I went to La Alhambra.  I loved the all the colorful tiles and the elaborate ceilings!

A local "niño de Granada" with his dog.  

The "spanish burrito".  It's really called Shawarma and it is a pita filled with your choice of meat, lettuce, corn, olives (I got it without olives though) and some type of cheesy sauce.  Doug loves them.  

Tapas!

El mirador de San Nicolas.  This is one of my favorite places in Granada hands down.  The view of La Alhambra and of the city is breathtaking.  Plus there is always some guys playing flamenco guitar, which makes for a really cool atmosphere.  

Waiting at the Barcelona airport on our way to Brussels...I'm a lucky girl! 

Macaroons

Since I'm going to Paris this November with API, I've been keeping my eyes open for cool things that I want to see or do while I'm there...and I happened to stumble across this link a couple of days ago from the blog Vanilla Sugar (which really makes my miss cooking and baking at home!).  Don't these macaroons look delicious though??  I'm a huge fan of hazelnut, so I'm really excited to try the white hazelnut truffle macaroon.  Too bad I can't bring a box of these home for gifts!

Medieval Festival

This weekend in Granada there was a Medieval Festival in my favorite plaza, Plaza Bib-Rambla.  When I first heard about it, I thought it would be something that Doug would enjoy much more than myself, however it turned out to be tons of little booths set up selling handmade jewelry, ceramics, leather bracelets, yummy food, etc.  The only thing really medieval about it was that the vendors were dressed up, in my opinion I think that Spaniards just like and excuse to have a festival! Plus, part of the festival was located right in front of the main cathedral in Granada, which gave it a really cool atmosphere.  I ended up going to it about almost every day because there was so much to see and so many unique things that I wanted to buy.  I bought lots of cool little gifts to bring to my family and friends back home....I can't wait to give them to them when I go home!!

Salobrena

It's been so hot lately in Granada ever since we returned from our trip to Belgium, and since Halee and I really have been wanting to get another beach trip in before it starts cooling off again, we went to Salobrena.  Salobrena is the closest beach town from Granada, about a 45 minute drive south.  Halee, Doug, Lexi and I got on the bus early this morning and made our way to the coast.  We were one of the first groups on the beach in the early afternoon, but by the end of the day the beach had filled up quite nicely.  

The water at Salobrena was really relaxing because it seemed more like a pool than an ocean, since the water was so calm and clear.  There were also lots of little pebbles instead of sand, so Doug and I had a little rock skipping contest (I won) and at the end of the day we weren't covered in sand, like all other days at the beach.  It was also really interesting because the water got deep really fast, so we didn't need to go out far for a nice swim.  

I know its hard to see in this picture, but Salobrena was surrounded by little white houses along the mountains and cliff.  I loved it!

All of us got a good amount of rest on the beach and then around five, we packed up and caught the bus back home.  All in all, it was a great trip, hopefully I can go back next weekend too!