Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Thanksgiving, Granada and Ronda

Well a lot has happened since I last posted. Two weeks ago, since it was Thanksgiving, we didn’t have school that day. However, the school took a field trip to a place about 30 minutes outside of Seville called Italica… it is old Roman ruins. It was actually kind of boring, but hey, better than school, so I can’t complain. After that, in the evening we had a thanksgiving dinner. I think I may have mentioned before that the school rents out a restaurant, and gives them American recipes, and well, they make it for us. It was actually better than I was expecting, but still not as good as my mom’s food… however, she has promised to make me a thanksgiving dinner when I get home… so I’m excited for that. The next day Britton and I left for Granada… a city 3 hours south of Seville. We were told that it is a beautiful city, and if you visit Spain, you have to go to Granada…. So we packed our backpacks and headed out. Granada is beautiful, and by far my favorite place that I have visited since being here. Granada has a ton of history, and the main site to go to in Granada, is La Alhambra, which is an old palace that was used in the 1400-1500’s, during the time of the Catholic Rein of Isabel and Ferdinand. Anyways, this place is sweet. It is huge, with all kinds of forts, and rooms, and fountains and gardens. It was amazing. I loved it. Britton and I were in a shop and the owner of the shop started talking to us and told us that we needed to take a different route up to La Alhambra, than the normal one, because it’s much more beautiful. So we decided to take his advice… and let me just say… it was well worth it. La Alhambra is situated on top of a mountain, and so it’s a decent climb up. The route we took had beautiful trails and bubbling brooks, and waterfalls. It was beautiful. Anyways, La Alhambra itself was just gorgeous. All of the walls are made with stucco, in these beautiful designs. Then there are the gardens… which are the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. Basically I am in love with Granada. It was incredible. We were there for 3 days and 2 nights. We also went to a church which held the caskets of Ferdinand and Isabel and 2 of their successors. Also, we went to these Arabic baths…. It was so cool. These were in use back in the day, and they have kept them up and running. Anyways, there is a hot room and a cold room, and we had 90 minutes that we could alternate between the two rooms as we wanted. It was so relaxing. It was all lit by candles, and there was this soft music playing in the background. It was really fun, and very relaxing. We needed a good spa day. So that is about all that has been happening with me lately. I have 2.5 weeks left, and I’m looking forward to coming home. I am excited to see everyone. I have attached some pictures below. Then this past Friday we went to Ronda for the day. It actually reminded me a lot of Granada. It was really pretty. So right now as I am writing this, I have 12 days left, and I can’t believe it. I am currently writing a huge paper on Don Quixote, and starting to prepare for my final exams. I am almost home, and am super excited to get back on American soil! Not to mention, it’s almost Christmas! Love you all!

La Alhambra




On our walk up to La Alhambra



Gardens in La Alhambra



The view in Ronda



Ronda

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Ash-

I loved your last blog entry and your pictures- they are amazing. I can see why you loved Granada so much; it was great to have some insights from the locals as to what to see, where to go, etc.

I think I am as excited (or maybe even more so) than you for you to come home. And yes, it is almost Christmas...yeah!!! I promise to fix you all your favorite foods, and we will get plenty of Alton Brown and "the boys" on TV at night; it will be great!!!

LUL-
Marms :-)

Anonymous said...

Dear Ashley,

I have been waiting "not so patiently" for your next blog so your Mom called me this morning as we were on our way to work to tell me to look it up! It was wonderful to hear about your trip and see the beautiful pictures. Through you I feel as though I've almost visited Spain I can hardly wait for you to get home so you can tell me even more about it!

Yes it's almost Christmas ... only what 20 more sleeps 'til Christmas Day. Remember that line from Muppets Christmas Carol? When you are ready for some of my spaghetti & meatballs with Mr. Greco's homemade bread just let me know I will truly be thrilled to make it for you.

Counting the days girl and praying for you for your final's.

Love You Bunches ... Mrs. G