Granada, Spain

I've been putting this entry about Granada off for a long time, because I have so much to say about this beautiful place~ It's situated in South Spain and you should go there!

I went to Granada alone, as my travelling buddy went to Amsterdam (lucky monkey!). I had to take a bus to Madrid, then take another one down to Granada. All in all it takes about 8 hours from Salamanca to Granada. I was supposed to take the noon bus on a Friday, which means I would approx. reach Granada at 8pm. But when I woke up, I decided to change my plans. Skipped class, went to the bus station, and asked if I could change it to the 9am bus. He said I could, and guess what? It was the LAST seat~ (Hallelujah). Sat at the back seat, squished between a lady and an old man - which was fine lol.

When I reached Madrid, I knew which bus station to go to as my friend (whom i'm going to meet in Granada) told me where to take it. I purchased the tickets and waited for my bus..only to realise I was waiting at the wrong floor! Thank God I had the brains to ask the counter lady and she said oh it's upstairs..ran and found my bus! phew..oh and guess what? I think I got the last ticket again! Cuz it was at the last row and I sat next to a stinky rastafarian wannabe~ He was sleeping most of the journey, but the fantastic part was that he took off his shoes and put his socked-legs up and went to sleep! I don't know how long he did not shower but he stank!! (Maybe his dreadlocks played some part in the stench). next to me was a Chinese dude who was constantly on the phone, speaking Mandarin..lol thought I was back in Asia or something! hehehehe. It was a loooong journey, took 6 hours instead of 5, as we had a long break. Finally reached Granada. Took the bus to my hostel (my friend would be joining me there after her classes). I wasn't sure where the hostel was and the bus driver was the nicest man on earth! I showed him the directions and he asked me to sit behind him, then he stopped his bus for me even when it wasn't a bus stop so that I could get to the street! So sweet right? =D

Okay so I checked in, and found my room for 2 to be like a jail cell!

This is it.

But it didn't really matter as we were only going to be there to sleep at night! My friend called, and said she was on her way to the hostel. I was SO excited as she is from the same uni as I was back home, and we both were in the same Spanish class, and we both applied and got the scholarship to Spain! It had been a very rough time for her as she was all alone in Granada, but being the social butterfly, erm I mean dragonfly she is, she had made friends right away. She was supposed to be on the same flight to Madrid with me and our other buddy, but her flight to Thailand had some problems and she had to take a different route and I haven't seen her for ages! ..then I went out of the hostel to meet her as she wasn't sure where it was..it was so nice to see libelulas again!!! We screamed and ran then hugged like idiots at the road! Was reallly nice to see her again..and have girly talks!

There are a lot of graffiti art in Madrid..but NOTHING like the ones they have in Granada! They are so beautiful :

Art

Libelula & I went to visit the gorgeous Alhambra. She paid for my ticket. Thanks chic =D

Mad packed with peeps

Her friend pre-bought the tickets for us (Thank GOD!) as the line was soooo long!! I will probably have a post on Alhambra on its own (when I can) as there's so much to tell! so I will just post some pics up for the moment.

Drain?

King Charles' palace.

The only reason it's still erected is because the foundation is so strong!

Foundations of the houses of past

1 lion out of the popular 12 lions fountain.

We didn't get to see the 12 lions' fountain as the lions were under restoration. We were not allowed to take photos in the museum..but there was a glass section from the outside that we could see the lion from..so I took the opportunity

On guard!

See the box like thingy in the pic? That's where the 12 lions are supposed to be. This is in the palace of the moorish kings.

Beautiful arches. The palace is heavily influenced by Islam architecture, but when the Catholic kings took over, you can see elements of Christianity at work, like, there would be a statue of Mother Mary at the entrance and what not. It was really interesting.

We went up to the tower of arms..where the army kept watch. The view was gorgeous. I really felt like I was transported back to the past..with castles and towers and what not!

Tower of Arms

View from the top

So pretty...I wanna go there again! Just so you know, the Alhambra was nominated for the 7 wonders of the world; unfortunately it wasn't picked to be one of the wonders. Shame it wasn't cuz it's gorgeous!!

Gazelle steppin on Granada =p Stoopid me, didn't get a proper pic of it! Libelula had a nicer one =)

ORANGE TREE!!! I loved looking at them! So pretty!!

Palace of Yusuf the third..nothing but the foundations left..it kinda became a garden now.

It was a very hot day..wanted to jump in..but it was so green..i icky might have PIRANHAS! =p

Cathedral of Granada. It's so beautiful and bright. If you have seen my posts on Salamanca and Avila, you can see the difference of the churches there and here. Over there it's very dark and gloomy inside, but in the South, the churches are brighter and the walls are white.

There are more beautiful things in Granada, but i'm tired at the moment, so i'll just post this up okies?

Libelula and Mariposa mucking around

Thank you for sharing your wonderful Granada with me Lula. and Oh, VIVA MANUELO!!! =D