Who would have thought? I think the day might have finally
come. With all those weeks of nonstop rain and the Spanish customs of not
moving out of the way for pedestrians on sidewalks, I could not have been more
ready to get out in the sunshine and away from the city. Granada has several
parks and lots of pretty plazas where you can sit and have a beer or a gelato
and talk with friends, but Paige and I needed somewhere where we could really
feel completely removed from the day-to-day movement of the city.
To be honest, I can’t even believe I’m saying this! I have
always been a city-lover...I was convinced I wanted to move to Manhattan for
college (back when my dream was to become a Broadway star) and I’ve always
loved being in cities with lots of people everywhere and things to look at.
Sometimes they can be overwhelming, but that was what I loved about them; from
the crazy graffiti on the wall, to the natives making a beeline to wherever
they just HAD to be in such a hurry, to the homeless guy playing the saxophone,
I just couldn’t get enough of it.
Perhaps it’s the fact that I’ve seen so many cities here in
Europe in such a short time, or maybe it’s just that I’m learning to appreciate
the natural beauty of a place. Either way, I have found this past semester that
I’m happier when I get to spend time seeing the countryside of any particular
country or city. Granada has so much beauty surrounding it, but it sometimes
gets forgotten when walking through the city. Every once in awhile, I look up
and happen to catch a glimpse of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and they still
take my breath away just a little bit.
Now. DO NOT GET ME WRONG. You will still not catch me
camping or “roughing it” anytime soon (those of you who know me well know I am
just not the camping type), but I do enjoy spending more time outside and being
able to take a deep breath of fresh air. Thankfully, Paige happened to find a
wonderful paved running path close to our house that takes us straight outside
the city. It’s been so nice lately and I’ve gone for several walks along this
path. After walking for about 45 minutes, you turn around to see the massive,
snow-capped Sierras in the background and really have to pinch yourself. Call
me crazy, but there’s something about that farm-y horse smell out on the path
that is just really refreshing. A lot of flowers are starting to bloom as well,
which is hard on the allergies but great on the eyes. I know I’ll be spending a
lot more time on this path in the weeks I have left here!
This past weekend was filled with time outdoors; we went for
a couple walks on “our path” and on Saturday decided to head to a nearby beach
for some sun. One of the many disadvantages to not having internet? We have no
way to check the weather! The night before had said it would be sunny and about
75 degrees, but unfortunately it ended up being completely cloudy and a chilly
61 or so. Not exactly bikini weather. The beach we went to was in a town called
Nerja, about a 2-hour bus ride from Granada. We had brought picnic food and
planned to spend the whole day there, but ended up back in Granada in a couple
hours. Our time in Nerja was spent looking for shells and eating in a café all
while wearing a sweater. C’est la vie.
Back in Granada, we returned to sunshine and perfect weather
for a walk on the path once more. We wanted to go to bed fairly early to be
well-rested for our long hike in the mountains on Sunday! On Sunday a group of
people from our program decided to go on a hike together in a small town called
Güejar Sierra, about 40 minutes from Granada. The entire day was absolutely
breathtaking; the hike took us about 5 hours, and we literally couldn’t stop exclaiming
how beautiful everything was. The mountains were even cooler up close, and the
rushing rivers and bright blue lakes had me completely captivated. We got to
see some mountain goats, and took a short break part-way through to eat our
lunches sitting on some rocks by a stream. We got lucky and had great sunny
weather that wasn’t too hot or too cold. It was such a fun day, and a great
memory to look back on! Hopefully we will have time for another hike and a
couple more beach days in the next few weeks because I definitely want to spend
some more time in Granada and the surrounding areas before heading home in
exactly one month from today!
The weekend of all things nature ended with some indoor time
spent with technology. It was so, so great to spend over an hour talking with
my Dad since we don’t get to catch up nearly as much as I’d like. Even though I
don’t have internet at home here in Spain, I’m so thankful things like Skype
exist so that we can talk to our loved ones “face-to-face” while we’re over
here for 5 months.
All the sun and fresh air has made this nature girl pretty
much exhausted, though. My next adventure? A weekend in Scotland visiting
Edinburgh and St. Andrews! Stay tuned for a post about those shenanigans next
week. For now, adios!
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