Ireland

"...it's happened once again, I'll turn to a friend, someone that understands, sees through the master plan, but everybody's gone, and I've been here for too long, to face this on my own, well I guess this is growing up." - Blink 182

Our flight left Madrid at 1145 AM, which presented a problem to Shawn and I as we arrived at the airport shortly after 7. With these 5 hours of down time, from the inept spanish bus schedule, we slept and tried to make time pass. Then we finally stepped aboard the Ryan Air-craft and heard a delightful melody;(which if you don’t know their song, it is quite annoying) not long after we landed in Dublin. I gained a throbbing headache from the flight and the flight attendants, but I couldn't be down as I was excited to be in an English speaking country at last.

In Dublin there were many sites to see and do, and I feel like we were able to see a majority of the city in our short time there. We were able to go to the original Guinness factory as well as other tourist sites like Trinity College, Dublin Castle, the Jameson Distillery and the Temple Bar. We just so happened to stay right next to the Temple Bar, which is a famous bar and district in Dublin. They had a great Irish band playing there one night, and we went in and enjoyed the scene. It is easy to say that Dublin was a city where I felt very at home. I would like to take my father there someday, because I feel that it’s a city that he would enjoy (mother: southern France, Italy, Spain, ie warmer climate). Below is not the Temple Bar, but it is a festive and popular one nearbyin the same district.

The most shocking part of Dublin for me was that we were able to find places to stay for incredibly cheap. It must have been the low season, because we stayed in hostels, in one of the most expensive countries in Europe, for only 10 euros. These hostels were not revolting either as one was the nicest that I have been in during all my travels. I would even think of having my parents stay there on a future visit. What a time it was in the city of U2, where you can’t turn a corner without seeing their memorabilia.

During my time in Ireland I decided to go on a day tour to the County Wicklow, which is just about an hour south of Dublin. This was a highlight for me as it is one of the most beautiful areas I have ever seen. If you can imagine green rolling hills Ireland and Scottish highlands that is County Wicklow. It is also very famous because this scenery is used for the backgrounds of many movies, including the recent PS I Love You, King Arthur, and Braveheart to name a few. It was a great place, and I saw more history in that brief bus ride than the United States can even think about. I learned details about the area through the tour guide that were quite interesting, including many famous people that choose the area as their home like Enya, Bono, and Daniel Day-Lewis. All the while I was thinking, “I would too if I could”.

As the tour of Wicklow came to a close, I then headed to the west coast and Galway. I was on my own for this part of the journey, as Shawn was staying with other people near Dublin, through couch surfing (which I had chose not to do). The Galway area was interesting as it has a large population of Gaelic speakers, and it was strange to hear this tongue as it felt like I was in foreign Europe all over again. It was at this time that I noticed that not many Irish had red hair. I later asked an Irish friend why this was, and he told me that in fact only 10% of Irish have red hair, while most just have brown or blonde, and that Scottish have the highest percentage of redheads. Anyways, I was told I looked Irish by Irish people and I took this as a complement, as I was treated quite well by the local people in my time there.

In Galway I walked the city, along the bay, and shortly after went on another tour, this one to the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs are set against the Atlantic Ocean and they are stunning as they reach a height of 700 feet above the water. The views there and in that whole area, County Claire, were beautiful. The wind was howling from atop the cliffs, yet it was a picture perfect beautiful blue day to view the area as we had sun in the skies, something that is not too common in Ireland.

After the Cliffs I returned to Galway and prepared for my journey home. First though, I stopped by a pub and watched a football game with some devout fans. It was Manchester United vs Sunderland, and everyone in the pub was for ManU. Finally in the 90^th minute United was able to score, and it was quite a moment in that pub. I definitely relish this experience, as I haven’t been able to view as many soccer games in Spain as I would like because I travel so much.

I then boarded a bus for the airport, and in the airport waited for my plane home. I had to wait about 8 hours, because I got to the airport in the middle of the night. It was a good time though, as I thought about how similar Ireland was to the USA (there were even Papa Johns there). Then I watched the news and found out that Irelands meat had a virus in it. (althought I am fine) Finally, I boarded Ryan Air with Shawn and we returned home to Spain, sad that our time was nearing its end in Europe.

Paris

"Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." - Lincoln

Having visited Paris before, I was disappointed at first that my group, API, would be heading there during my time here in Europe. Since it was a free trip though, I went and I saw and I conquered another city that I had previously misjudged.

We left Granada on Thursday, forcing me to miss a day of class, which I willingly accepted, and headed to Sevilla for our flight. After our bus trip there, we arrived about 4 hours early, so we waited, and finally were able to enter the checked zone. During this time I noticed that Sevilla’s airport was kind of lax on its security, as I passed the security check point holding Shawn’s ticket, and he with mine, an honest mistake, but all the while we were not told off.

A few hours later we arrived in Paris, and then headed by bus to our hotel in the Bastille district. Oh Bastille, Victor Hugo always comes to mind for me, as he wrote about the uprising on the Bastille in Les Miserables. Well, we stayed near this area, which today is only a monument because in the late 1800s the people tore down the real Bastille since it was a political prison that was despised by all.

Enough history, because so many trips before I have written far too detailed accounts, here is something shorter. A best of Paris.

The top five things that I did in Paris:

Number one was going to the Sacre Coeur and the Montmartre district of town. The Sacre Coeur is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, I believe, and I had a great time here once again, as there were people playing music, and others with tourist trick, all the while watching the sunset out over Paris. This district, the Montmartre, is on the north side of Paris, and it was the part of town where the intellectuals and artists lived during the early 1900s, like Picasso and Van Gogh. I could easily see myself living there.

Number two would be another walk that I did, this time it was around the Eiffel Tower at night. For five minutes every hour the Eiffel tower goes from its usual beautiful color to a glittering spectacular sight as thousands of lights show like fireworks exploding. Awe-inspiring is one way to describe it. We were also blessed to see the Eiffel tower blue at night, as currently France is celebrating being a part of the EU, and therefore it's blue.


Number three, we will keep with the walks, and this was as we spent some time on the Champs Elysees at night. The Champs Elysees is Paris’ big street, and they had a festival there during our visit which gave it a carnival feel. The lights on this street made it Christmas for me, and gave the city of lights a special appeal.


Number four, this would be my visit to the Musee d'Orsay. I loved this museum. If you are ever in Paris go to it. The Louvre may be the most famous museum in the world, and it deserves this recognition, but the Orsay has so many great painters, that I truly love. I was able to see Monet, Manet, Picasso, Renoir, and Van Gogh to name a few, as well as many of their most famous paintings.

Finally, there are too many other things that I would like to name, and cannot, so I will just list few things I did that I enjoyed. There was the short time I spent at the most exotic mall in the world, I would guess, the Galleries Lafayette. Situated next to the Paris Opera House, which is home to the Phantom of the Opera, I was in a mall that I could not afford even a pen. They had every designer store you could imagine, and it was packed. Then there was just walking around the streets of Paris that I loved, as the style of the buildings, and the cities set up just really intrigued me. Meanwhile, crepes, I ate a few, and they were delicious. This brings me to another food item, Nutella, if you don’t know it, I recommend buying it. Finally, I visited the grave of the late great Jim Morrison, the singer for The Doors. This was the most elaborate cemetery I have ever been in, with the graves being incredibly gaudy. Visiting Jim was a highlight because I took a Rock History class last year, and I thought it would keep me in good graces with my father back at home. Then there was my trip to Versailles. I have to give you some details on it. It was huge. I have visited way too many castles/palaces/ cathedrals at this point, because I wasn’t really thrilled with it, but the history of Versailles, the grounds, and the views made it a worthwhile side trip.

The return trip had us arriving at Charles D Gaul way too early, but eventually we made it to our plane, and then on to Malaga this time, before we headed home to old Granada.

The North African Adventure

"You come here with your laptop computers, your malaria medicine and your little bottles of hand sanitizer and think you can change the outcome, huh... TIA. This Is Africa."- Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond)

Train - Ferry - Bus - Taxi - Bus - Bus- Bus - Ferry - Bus. These were the means of transportation as I went on a rogue trip to Morocco for the weekend with a few friends. I was sure I wanted to visit Morocco before I came to Spain, because of many prior influences including movies and textbooks. Then later it was recommended to me through a wedding party planner and business associate.

Originally, I had an elaborate plan to do a week long trip into the desert that included many different cities, but when it was all said and done I wasn't able to do that trip, but it was still a good introduction to the third world. My plans of the desert, Marrakech, and the ancient city of Fes will have to wait for a future visit, because for this trip the time we had was too short, and the transportation too long, making what we did the best trip possible.

It began as we left Granada from the train station at 7 am on a crystal clear Friday morning. The train ride to Algeciras was in fact one of my favorite parts of the trip, as we passed through some of the prettiest parts of Andalucía that I have seen, and that I hope to visit in the future. After four and a half hours we reached the city of Algeciras, which is on the Mediterranean adjacent to Gibraltar.

Soon after arriving we were able to find the port, and there we waited in a complex area, similar to an airport, for our ferries to depart for Ceuta, a Spanish provincial city on the north coast of Africa. It was during this time that I was given a great chance to view the rock that is Gibraltar, although we were not on the side of it that makes it famous for its incredible views, we were still given many great views as we crossed the straits and headed towards the African coast. I could not help but think about where I was heading during this moment, a new continent, across the straits of Gibraltar, all things that seemed implausible.

Upon arriving in Ceuta and exiting the port area, we boarded a bus and headed for the border which was about 2 miles away. At the border we were herded like cattle into stalls to get our passports stamped before being able to cross. It was during this time that we met a man named Aziz, who was a part of the Moroccan government helping with tourists. I was weary at first of this man, as I had heard of many scams before arriving, but we decided to accept his help as he led us first to the wrong window, and then to the correct one. It was during this time that we were told Obama was a great thing for America by some French people. We then crossed the border, and entered a taxi for our 30 minute ride to the city of Tetouan. Upon reaching Tetouan Aziz lead us first to a hostel/pension hotel, which we accepted after inspecting it and comparing it with another hotel nearby. It was 5 euro’s a person. Then he took us on a walk of the old city, the Medina, which was built by Moors from Spain, in fact from the people of the Granada area after they were exiled. It was a beautiful maze of streets, filled with raw meats, such as hens with their heads still attached, raw fish with no ice in sight, and anything you could imagine buying. We then were lead to a building that sold rugs, where there were beautiful views of the city.

It was during this time that we realized there may be something wrong with this tour that we were being given, as we started what can only be called a rug viewing, where we were shown probably 50 rugs. We didn’t want these rugs, but not wanting to disappoint, we said we would think about a few of them. Then problems started. First they took us into separate rooms to begin the business transactions. I had a bed cover and a rug that I was interested in, although I didn’t really want either. He told me the rug was 170 euro’s and the bed cover was 120. I offered 10 euro’s for the bed cover, since it was cheaper, and he countered with 100 euro’s. Then I said 15, and he said 75. Then 20 and 60. Then I said 30 euro’s and he said sure 30 would be good. I don’t know why I drove my price up all of a sudden, I guess I was caught up in the thrill of the game, but still I was stuck. Not knowing what to do I first I told them I was low on money, so then they lowered the price more for me to 25 euro’s, and at that point I decided to accept the bed cover and end the charade. A bed cover, my luck. We did have tea at this rug outlet though, and that made it more worthwhile I guess, as it was the best tea that I have ever had.

Afterwards we left and headed back towards our hotel, just as an echoing siren sounded in the street, giving warning to all that prayer was necessary in the next few minutes, as it was Friday, their holy day, and Morocco is predominately Sunni Muslim. On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at a restaurant, although we were not hungry, our friend Aziz told us it would be a great place for us to go. At this point realizing that we were being somewhat used for these different stops, we asked to go back to our hotel, which he took us kindly too, and then we paid him a few dollars for all the help that he had given us. It was during this time that I met a man that we code named "Wisconsin." That is another story in itself that I can tell on some rainy day, but to give a reader’s digest version, we were sitting bait. It appears that many lowly people look to make their livings by trying to help tourists, especially in these medina areas and then asking for money. Well Wisconsin even had some friends in on the deal, and we were new enough at the whole 3^rd world thing, that we didn’t know to say no, but eventually we did, although we had a few interesting moments. When we returned to our hotel the manager told us a few Arabic words for the future, and he was very kind in describing what is customary to do. After this we didn’t have any more trouble with people in the streets for the rest of our trip, it just took a few mistakes to learn. We even took to night walking through the medina and other parts of the city for a few hours, without any troubles, and we enjoyed the area thoroughly.

The following day we hiked to the top of the hill that the city was situated on, and from this vantage point, we were given incredible views of Tetouan and the surrounding area. We did see many interesting things up above the city, like sheep roaming near the city walls, the kasbah, trash everywhere, and the poor state of many houses that made us realize just how poor the area really was, no matter how close to Spain it was. To end our time in Tetouan we toured the medina once more, ran into Wisconsin, who told us to leave the city, followed by him offering to help me find an atm. I told him no thank you, we walked to the bus station, and shortly after we left Tetouan for the mountain town of Chefchaouen.

The bus ride was something else as well; on the way there we were actually in a really nice bus, for the 2 hour trip. It was a charter bus, and it only cost us 20 dirham’s, which is under 2 euro’s. The driver though was a friend of Formula One and he was manhandling that bus on this scenic mountain valley road. There were photographers from New York that sat in front of us that got sick during this ride, although I was able to remain relatively stable.
Upon arriving in Chefchaouen we headed out to search for the old city. We encountered many problems along the way, as the bus station was located in a far part of the city, and we spent what seemed like an hour searching for food and the tourist area. Finally we found a good place, that was nicely priced, that gave us plenty of food, and a splendid atmosphere. Then we began the trek around the old medina of Chefchouen. It was during this time that I began shopping for some fake items. I ended up buying a dressy shirt from a man, while Keith bought a Djellaba, the traditional garb of the region. I then bought a Spanish Soccer jersey from another seller of fine goods. Both of these sales that I made were with a complex process of working the Moroccans way down from their original prices, of 30 euro’s for the shirt while buying at 9, and 10 euro’s for the jersey, and buying at 6. Happy with my day’s purchases, at least more so than the bedcover of the day before, I was then content to tour the rest of the city with its blue walls and houses. Then, just as we were leaving we ran into a man that was selling Djellaba's, and since Shawn and Keith both had them, I bought one, this time for the ridiculous price of 4.5 euros. The reason for this we later discovered was because I bought one with a defect, but it does not matter to me, it serves well enough, and I can go about my day looking like a Jedi from Star Wars if I so choose.
At this point our time in Chefchaouen was ending and we then walked back to the bus station, boarded our bus, and headed three hours northwest to Tangier. Along the way Keith struck up a conversation in Spanish with a Moroccan that he was sitting near. They had a great conversation, and as we arrived in Tangier, he asked us if we would like to go get tea. We accepted the offer, and then went and got more tea. It was quite good, but in the middle of this time we had the unpleasant situation arise where this young gentleman asked us for money. The reason was because his friend was sick. This was the point where I decided that I couldn’t take this anymore, this being used feeling that I had everywhere. Shawn and I both got mad at the guy and let him know our thoughts. Keith gave him some money(2 euros), and we went separate ways not long after. We were then in Tanger just for the night, as we found another pension hotel down along the Mediterranean. The following morning we only had a short amount of time to tour, and we in fact got lost and ended up somewhere down along the water, as we climbed down an embankment of the city wall. We therefore did not get to some of the places that I was looking forward to seeing, but I did see a few places that I recognized from the Bourne Ultimatum. Around 9 we walked back to the bus station, and boarded a bus for the city of Fnideq, which is near the border with Ceuta. This bus was full of Moroccans, and in fact I believe the three of us were the only tourists aboard. It was an experience. It was not a rickety bus, but it still made me feel like a local. Soon enough we were in Fnideq, and into a mass flea market, with everything you could ever imagine, and more poverty than you could ever believe. I heard something about George W Bush on an intercom twice in the 10 minutes that we were there. Those views I had there were unreal as we walked through on our way to the border. It was at this time I was greeted by a small child, who I told La, which means no, but he decided against, and he grabbed my hand and asked me for money, and I had trouble shaking him loose. I felt bad, but then I remembered an instance from Seinfeld with the cashmere-janitor.

We reached the border, got stamped, and crossed back into Spanish Territory. Then we walked to the ferry station and arrived early at only 1245. We split ways at this point, Keith and I to our ferry, and Shawn to his. Keith and I just made ours, and we were off across the straits to Algeciras. Upon arriving I looked up at a clock and realized my mistake. It was not 2 pm, but in fact 3pm. This problem arose because Morocco is in fact an hour behind Spain, and we had been living on that time for the two days we were there. I then turned on my cell phone and found I had a message from Shawn saying he missed his ferry. He ended up catching the next one, and because of this we stayed behind and missed the train. There was a bus though that was available and Keith and I took it a few hours later, but Shawn was determined to stay behind and get his money back, for the train ticket he had already bought (Keith and I never bought the return ticket). We arrived in Granada after following a beautiful path along the beach and through Malaga at 915 pm, and we got home just after 930. I showered. Then I ate dinner. Then finally, I slept. Shawn arrived home the next day on the train.
This trip was incredible in many ways for me, although mainly because I had planned many parts of it, without the help of a travel group or basic knowledge of a trip of this nature. I always like to do these sort of things, and to be able to put together buses, taxis, ferrys, etc, and to make it all work out, in a third world country was fun for me to do. I really enjoy doing things like that. I also was given a good taste of poverty, something I never have dealt with to this extent.
In the future when I return a little further south, I will know the most important things about Morocco, how to say no, how to take a bus, and how cheap the hostels are, and it will be marvelous just like this brief trip.

Solo In Barcelona

"The creation continues incessantly through the media of man. But man does not create...he discovers. Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the creator. Copiers do not collaborate. Because of this, originality consists in returning to the origin." - Antoni Gaudi

Before going on this trip, which I am about to tell you about, I had some doubts about Barcelona. I had heard great reviews from others that had studied there in the past, but I still was not on the bandwagon, but now after visiting it I can say that it deserves the praise. Let me begin my tale.

I had been looking at my calendar for a while, realizing that I wanted to visit Barcelona, but now with only a few weekends left here in Spain, I had a problem. I could make my visit the next weekend that was coming up, or I could wait and hope to go just before I left. Not wanting to chance miss a visit, I decided I would go as soon as possible. This caused a few problems as most other people had their schedules booked, but I didn’t find this bad, because I occasionally like to travel solo, getting lost and wandering in the direction that I think is right, without consulting someone else, and above all without causing hostilities because of this aimless wandering. I also enjoy the peace of it and being able to do exactly what I want to do and see, whenever. So I got online and found out that the train was a better option to reach Catalonia than plane. This was because Ryan Air, one of the low cost carriers in the area offered a great cheap rate that left Friday and came back Sunday for only 70 euros with all the fees added in. The problem with this was that it left Friday at 10pm from Granada, and arrived an hour outside Barcelona in Girona at 1130 pm. Then the return flight was Sunday morning out of Girona at 8am. That would leave me with only a day in the city, so I decided to do the night train, which ended up being only a little more than the flight, and ended up leaving Thursday night, and coming back late Saturday night. The train was about 12 hours both ways, but it was during the night, so I was able to save some money that would have gone to hostels, and I slept actually pretty well, as I am getting this transit sleeping pattern down (before I could never sleep).

The story begins last Thursday, as I left my apartment at 920pm, running behind as always, and hoping that I could still make the 945 train that was leaving Granada. This was the only train that was leaving for the next 9 hours and I had already bought the ticket, so I walked pretty fast. I arrived at the station in time, and was able to get to my seat before all the usual problems started occurring. This time is was my neighbors as neither spoke much English but it looked like I was separating the two of them and it was causing them distress. After a few minutes we switched places, and I left my wonderful seat, to sit next to a gentleman that reeked of foul odors, and was eating a large assortment bag of candy. Shortly after he asked me to move so he could use the restroom, or so I thought. This pattern happened four more times in the next two or three hours, a few of the times I was asleep, and eventually we decided to switch places. So I was able to get his seat that smelled, and the greasy cover his head had been on. Oh well. I flipped the cover and went back to sleep, waking a few times later in the night. When I finally came to we were in a town called Tarragona in northern Spain, and it was dawn. I was able to watch the sunrise, without my neighbor, as we passed between beautiful views of the vast Mediterranean, and long stretches of concrete condominiums. Eventually I decided to sleep some more, and I then woke up as we entered Barcelona.

A few minutes later I exited the train and reached the main area of the Barcelona Saints Train Terminal. I got lost for a few minutes right at first. Everyone was speaking English to me, which was crazy, hostel people, information people, I hadn’t experienced this anywhere in Spain before, although most of the rest of Europe is more like this. First impression, it definitely isn’t Spain.

Five minutes later I stepped out into the city, and began walking in the direction that I thought looked correct. After a few minutes I stopped and surveyed my map and the street signs, and then kept on in the direction I was heading. Then I looked again ten minutes later and I had only walked a quarter of the way to where I wanted to go, so I took a break and ate a small breakfast, and then continued on. This was how my time in Barcelona began, as I realized that it was a big city, but soon enough I ended up in center at Plaza Catalunya, and at that point my time as a tourist began. I started by walking Las Ramblas, one of the most visited foreigner spots in the city, with street vendors, performers, and the typical people that you find at any famous place.

So after a few minutes of enjoying the atmosphere, I continued on to the harbor area at Port Vell, and there after having been in Barcelona for two hours I decided I liked it. The harbor was beautiful, and because of the Olympics it was updated in a way that I loved. There were beautiful boats, and views of the city, as well as a cool bridge and marina area, and just like that I wanted to just sit there the rest of the day enjoying the endless sun.

Sadly, I could not, and after an hour with more breakfast mixed in, I continued on to my first work of Gaudi, the Palau Guell, which is just off Las Ramblas. Palau Guell is a very cool house that is free to tour, although I could only see a small part, I was still caught off guard by the designs, and it gave me an urge to see his other works throughout the city. After this I went and found a hostel to stay in for the night and then walked the old and gothic city of Barcelona without my backpack. Eventually I ended up at the Picasso Museum, and checked that off my list. I still think that Van Gogh may be my favorite painter and artist, but this museum helped me to respect Picasso much more, as it showed what a great artist he was at such a young age, before he adopted so many modern styles(if that’s what it was), and it also showed some of the slow transformations that he began making, which were interesting to witness. I will confess that the rest of my day, post Picasso, was not that interesting, but I did walk around quite a lot, and I spent some time people watching and in different clothing stores admiring the prices of different items, although making no purchases.

Then Saturday began very early for me, as I woke up just before 8am, in my hostel room. There were 17 others deep in sleep as I woke, yet no one was snoring, which was a great plus. I headed out for a run down along the harbor, to the beaches, and then along what I believe was the Olympic Village area, before returning to my hostel. All in all it was a great start to my morning, and after showering, I checked out and headed via metro to The Sagrada Family. Wow.

It’s tough to put it into too many other words than wow, but the whole time that I was there I just was wondering if my brother could be designing this type of place in the future; no pressure Thomas. It was incredible though, and just the intricacy, and the size, I am still amazed by it. I have no idea when or if they will be able to finish the plans that they currently have, but if they do it will be hard to find a better structure in the world. I went on a tour of the Sagrada Family, then hit the metro again to go to Park Guell, another area designed by Gaudi. During this time I had to switch metro trains via walking outside and I ran into another Gaudi work, the building called La Pedrera, which I did not tour, but took some pictures and studied it for a few minutes. Then on to the Park, which again was out of this world. Right when you reach the entrance to the park, you feel like you are in some sort of fairytale wonderland, that can’t be real, and yet it is, and it just keeps going, that is how pretty much how it is throughout the park. There were many parts that were unbelievable, but the part that still gets me was this road that was elevated.

The whole park was good though, and the views of the city were great. It was at this point that I decided that Barcelona was pretty neat. I moved it up on my list then and there. The events that followed continued to help it. First I metro’ed down to the last of Gaudi’s houses called Casa Batilo, where again I didn’t take a tour, but I did take pictures from outside. Then I headed back down Las Ramblas to the Port. At the port there was a yacht show going on, and I admired both the enormous and petite boats from a close proximity, and spent some more time enjoying the sun and the water. Then I headed up the hill that is nearby called Montjuic. It was on this hill that many of the Olympic events took place, including the main Olympic Stadium, swimming, and basketball.

I took it all in, just as the sun was beginning to set, followed by a slow walk back towards the train station as my time in Barcelona was coming to a close. The train ride home was enjoyable as well, and I arrived at my house at 9 am on Sunday, in time for a full day of recovery in Granada before my week of midterms.

I now rank Barcelona as one of my favorite cities that I have ever visited. The mountains, architecture, ocean, port combination just took me for a loop. I guess you could say I enjoyed it. Now I am home in Granada, getting ready for my next big adventure; and yes I am still glad that I chose Granada. It is home and I don’t think I could survive my time here in Spain someplace else; at least not for now.

The View

"First we'll make snow angels for a two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookiedough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle." - Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell)

This is the view just a few blocks from where I live. Ignore the ugly train station area, its actually much better than it looks.





I am excited for the Ski Resort to open. Lets hope early.

A few weekends ago...

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt

This past weekend my API group had the pleasure of going on our second of three excursions, this time to Sevilla. Sevilla is a city that is about three hours west of Granada, over some mountains, in a valley on the river Guadalquivir. It is in a very beautiful area, and most of the year it is also very hot there, with highs well over 100 all summer long. Sevilla is also a very historic and old city as it has been a key place in Spain since the Roman era, and has played a vital role in Spain since its reconquest in the 11^th century. In Sevilla we visited the grand Cathedral and its Muslim tower, as well as the Alcazar Palace of the King of Spain. Both were spectacular and we were given a large amount of free time to roam the rest of the city which I enjoyed thoroughly.

The adventures began when we arrived in Sevilla on Friday night and headed out on a walking tour. During this time we walked around a part of the city that can only be described as picturesque. Beautiful. We also went to the Plaza de Espana, which was built for the world’s fair in 1911. It is an incredible structure, and probably my favorite building in Sevilla. It has been used in many movies and today you can roam all over it any time you want.

We then went next door to a fair that was going on that had booths from all over the world including many from Arab and Spanish countries. The food there was pretty killer as well, and the music they were playing really made it feel like we were far from Spain. I then decided to retire for the night as we had a big day ahead of us.

The next day dawned and Keith, Shawn and I went on a run around the city. It was a fun time, we got a little lost, but we managed to get back to the hotel in time to have a huge breakfast before we departed for the Cathedral. At the Cathedral, one of the largest in the world, we were guided through all of the sections, including where there are the remains of Christopher Columbus. I would say some of the remains, as they say after shipping his remains back and forth to many burial locations after his death what is left today is only part of ole Columbus. Sevilla is also a very historical city, as this was the location where many voyages departed from, including Columbus’ primary expedition.

Next we climbed up the old Muslim tower that is connected to the Cathedral and were given beautiful views of the city, as the tower is the highest point in the city. After the tour we were given free time, and I spent this time going to a few museums and touring more of the city on foot.

Then on Sunday morning we went to the royal palace and grounds that were next to our hotel. This palace the Royal Alcazar was beautiful. I had no idea what it was before we went, but it is kind of a mini Alhambra. The Christian King of Castile, before Spain was whole, wanted to build a similar palace to the Alhambra, and he was on good terms with the people of Granada, so they helped him to build something, that was very beautiful, although not quite as grand as the Alhambra. The tour was great, and then our time in Sevilla had come to a close.

My few observations about the city are that I had not quite given Sevilla enough credit before I visited it, similar to Salamanca. I had always thought yes, it’s a pretty city I am sure, but not really believed it fully. I can now say there are parts of Sevilla that are prettier than anything that I have ever seen before, and yes some of these areas are touristy, but I really liked the central city. The colors of the buildings are incredible, and the central promenade with its tram line is great and really innovative as well. The weather was also very warm, and that made it a fun time.

Having left Sevilla mid day we headed west back towards Granada, and when we reached the town of Antequera we headed up into the mountains for the park called El Torcal. This part of our trip was stunning. I think that myself and a few others enjoyed it too much, but I found this park a great adventure to say the least.

I cannot explain it other than the limestone in this area has been shaped through millions of years in ways that I have never seen before, and today it makes for a great place to visit. During our few hours there we hiked, did some rock climbing, and enjoyed another great place in Spain that I had no idea existed, but yes it is now on my mind as simply incredible.

Now I have many things ahead to do. Life. It is very cold in Granada. This is real cold, not the type that I had described before. I guess the weather fluctuates in Granada a lot, and you never can be sure how it will be at one time or another. Anyways, after leaving the 90 degree heat of Sevilla, we returned to a peaceful Granada. Then the next day storms came through and the temperatures dropped. Since that fateful Monday we have now had 10 days of temperatures somewhere near 50 degrees as a high, and 30 degrees as a low, with it being very brisk for most of the day. So the winter jacket is out. This past weekend it rained for two straight days as well. I am ready for a change. You are caught up on my life. Snow on the mountains.

The Alpujarras

"Dulce soñar y dulce congojarme, cuando estaba soñando que soñaba; dulce gozar con lo que me engañaba, si un poco más durara el engañarme;" ( Sweet dream it was and also sweet affliction, when I was dreaming that it was a dream; a sweet delight I'd take in what deceived me, if only that deception longer seemed;) - Juan Boscán {currently studying in my literature class}

The Alhambra was Saturday, and on Sunday I went to the Alpujarras (nearly three weeks ago). The Alpujarras are a series of mountain towns on the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada within a short drive of Granada.
They are well known for a few reasons, one because many of the towns are at a high altitude for Spain, and the other because after the Christians defeated the Moors in Granada, in their treaty they gave the Moors the Alpujarra region to live, and because of this there exists today a strong Arab influence in the region, much more so than Granada.

We departed for the Alpujarras at 10 am from the bus station, and arrived at an area that has three of the most well known and well visited towns, Capiliera, Bubion, and Pampaniera at around 12:30. These towns are all in the same valley, and within a few kilometers of each other. They also offer incredible views, and together the three towns make a pretty awesome photo.

Each town is whitewashed, and located between 4,000- 4,600 feet. I had a good day in the Alpujarras, but I would like to return again in the future, because we had some hazy weather this day, and with snow on the mountains it would be even prettier I believe. Anyways, I hiked the area, and took in the terraced pueblos perched along the sides of these mountains.

I have read that you could find very similar towns in northern Morocco, as the building style is the same, and it was interesting to see this as the rooftops are all flat with tall chimneys. There was also a carnival going on in Pampaniera, and similar to carnivals/fiestas in Granada, they had many merchants and beggars trying to get your attention. I left the Alpujarras after being there for about 5 hours, and went the two hours back to Granada. The windy roads along the way made me sick, as the bus driver decided that he could manhandle the drive. All in all it was another good day seeing the area near Granada.

The Alhambra

"We can never obtain peace in the world if we neglect the inner world and don't make peace with ourselves. World peace must develop out of inner peace." - The Dalai Lama


Oh the Alhambra. The jewel of Granada, and more importantly one of the greatest works of Spain and the Moorish/Muslim world. I am lucky to walk past this wonder every day, and that is what it is, a wonder. There recently was a voting for the new seven wonders of the world, and the Alhambra was one of the contenders. It did not win the vote, which is too bad, but it still received the recognition of being one of the finest historical achievements in the world. What is it exactly, I will tell. The Alhambra is a series of palaces, forts and gardens that are on a hilltop near downtown Granada. They are much more than that though, as they are an achievement of Muslim Spain. The name Alhambra means red house, after the red soil that is so evident in the area. The Alhambra in fact was whitewashed when it was in its glory, although today it is more of a brownish color.

Let me begin by telling more of the history that I know, and trust me, I don’t know near as much as Wikipedia or some other source could tell you. What I do know is that the Alhambra was built in stages sometime between the 12^th century and the 15^th century, with other parts added in the 16^th by the Christians. The fort or garrison was the first part of the Alhambra that was built and that dates back to Roman times I believe, as an outpost for the area. Later, as the Moors controlled Spain, Granada was an important city, although Cordoba was the capital. Then as Cordoba and other areas of Spain began to fall to the Christians, Granada became the focal point and the stronghold for the Moors starting late in the 11^th century. It was during this time that the Arab leader of the area wanted to make a grand palace on the hill overlooking Granada, and so the first of the Palaces was constructed. Later others were also constructed in this area. These palaces illustrate all of the glory of the Moors achievements, in art and architecture.

As Ferdinand and Isabella overtook Granada in 1492, shortly before Columbus departed, they took up residence in the Alhambra. Later, the Holy Roman Emperor who ruled Spain as well as most of Europe at the time came to Granada in the 1500s and built a Palace next to the Moorish palaces, tearing down some historical areas in the process. Then sometime in the 17^th and 18^th century the Alhambra was forgotten, and left unkept, although never destroyed. Time passed, and during the 19^th century Washington Irving came to Granada, and lived in the Alhambra for a number of years. He wrote of all the tales that he learned of the Alhambra from locals, and published this later into a book. Also during this time Napoleon took Granada, and similar to other areas that he overtook his soldiers desecrated parts of it, even bombing parts of the walls of the garrison.

The Alhambra continued though, and sometime in this time period, post Irving, it was given a new life, and there was renewed attention for it. The gardens were redesigned and it became what it is today, which is a museum of the old in near perfect condition. That is what I visited.

The Alhambra is a thing that I knew I wanted to visit many times before I left Granada, but I was not sure when I would be able to go since it costs 12 euros, and on most days you have to book well in advance, because they only allow a limited amount of people in daily (it is a large amount of people, but still hard to get a ticket, as one of the most visited monuments in Europe). I was able to go on a tour with my school, and one of our teachers was a guide. This was good as she had all the insight on the Alhambra, but she spoke in Spanish the whole time, so I would say I learned a lot, but still missed some parts.

I learned many things and from my pictures you can see how intricate the detail was that went into each part of the Alhambra. It is in amazing shape today, given what it has been through, after siege and war in the area. The tour that we took was incredible, and I was stunned by what I saw. Many times you go to a place after building it up in your mind, and you are happy with your visit, yet sort of let down at the same time. This was definitely not the case for me, because although I had built this up, it was more than I imagined. There was only one disappointment for me the whole day, and that was in the Court of the Lions, as the Lions, one of the most famous parts of the Alhambra were gone, as they are being restored and will be back available to view in 2010. That is fine though, as I have seen pictures of them. After the palaces we moved on to the gardens and they were incredible as well, and the detail, it’s hard to describe, but the detail and the views were just beyond words.

I wish I could explain it more, but that is all. The Generalife is home to the Summer Palace and the gardens, which include one part that is not in Spanish or Muslim style at all, as the gardens were redone in the 1800s in French and Italian style.

That doesn’t matter though, it just makes it better I think, as now there are four different cultural characteristics in one area. It was incredible. I recommend a visit. In the future I will be able to describe it better, but for now this is all.

The Most Intense Week of My Life

"I am happy to announce that after talking with my children, my family and my closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden." - Lance Armstrong

Let me begin by saying that much like Lance Armstrong I have some fairly big news to announce.

I have come out of retirement. For some it may not be that big of a surprise, or shocking, but after ten months of being retired from the sport of running, I decided to give it a go again. Most people probably don’t even know that I ever decided to stop running, but I did. I ran the Chicago Marathon last year, and afterwords I decided that I didn’t want to run again for a while, and that while ended up being ten months. This was because I wanted to cycle with most of my free time, but it was also because I was unhappy with my decision to do Chicago. I finished the race, and I am very proud for doing that, but I am a pretty big fan of competing when I do something, and Chicago ended up being me fighting myself to finish the last few miles, walking more of the second half than most realize. So afterwards I decided that since I had put so little time into training for Chicago, that if I were to run a marathon again I would have to train, and really train. This gave me a break from running, and I decided to fully stop running, which was sad, but at the same time it gave me opportunities to do other things. After arriving in Spain, I knew that a bike may not be in my future and so I decided that I would begin running again. I had even seen before I left for Spain that there was a marathon in Lisbon on December 8^th, the perfect amount of time for me to train for it. So I began running after I got here, and I failed to mention this to my parents or friends back at home. Early on my goal was just to be able to run, and maybe if I could to do the marathon. Well I am here to tell you today that the training has not gone as well as I had expected so I do not think I am going to do the marathon, but I am running. Early on I had a tough time with motivation, as I can only take one shower a day, and I liked doing that before classes, yet I didn’t want to wake up any earlier than necessary to run, so many days in the first few weeks I didn’t run when I had wanted to. Then I bought the bike, and went on my trip to Galicia, both times where I was not really running. Where does this leave me then, as it sounds like I never work out. I do work out though. This past week was the most intense week of my life. The hardest, athletically. Let me tell you about it.

We will begin with the week starting on a Tuesday and ending on a Monday, because I slept the previous Monday, and that is not intense at all. Tuesday then. On Tuesday, I ran. In total I ran about 6 miles at a pretty good pace, and then came home, showered, ate lunch, and left for class shortly after. That was day one, rather relaxed. Wednesday followed with six hours of class in the morning, then lunch, and without a break after lunch I decided to go for a bike ride. I headed south out of Granada and reached the pueblo of Monachil after about an hour of riding. This gave me two hours to do the climb that was before me, but I was able to do it in just over an hour. I climbed my first mountain pass all the way through, switchbacks and everything. I felt like I was in the Tour de France, only by myself, and on a mountain bike. It was great, I loved it, and it really burnt my energy. I will confess that I am not able to climb an entire mountain yet without stopping. I was forced to stop after about 10 minutes because of some intense leg burning. After a bit of food and water, I began again, and was actually able to make it all the way to the top from that spot, so I climbed for about 55 straight minutes I would guess,

but then just near the top the road became much steeper, and my legs began to exhaust rapidly. Just as I was reaching the top a car passed me and it looked like it kept going on forever, and my heart sank and I stopped my bike as my legs gave out. I waited a minute then walked about 5 feet, and realized I was at the top; just the car was going on a drive way to a point further up. Disappointed that I had stopped, I willed myself to get back on my bike, here at the steepest point of the mountain right at the top so that I could cross point where the road went level, and at that point I felt that I had succeeded. I plan to do this ride once a week in the future, so that maybe after five or six weeks I can see some improvement, but on this day, I just felt mushy legs and a heart rate of 190. Here is a link to part of the days climb. You can see some of the percentage grades.

El Purche

Thursday followed; I woke late, and went on a seven mile run, the second half of the run being just punishing, as my legs were sore from the day before, and my body had not recovered either. I then had lunch and had to sit through an agonizing four hours of class. I don’t plan to do that again in the future.

Friday and Saturday. It is hard to describe these two days without saying this is what makes this the most intense week of my life.

My roommate Keith and I went on a hike. Keith is a very experienced hiker, having completed massive hikes in almost every part of the western United States, and myself this would be my first real mountain hike. Our original plan to go the Alpujarras fell through after we missed the bus, but with a little quick thinking we decided to go to Monachil, my favorite little pueblo at this point, and begin our hike from there on the north side of the Sierra Nevada.

We left Monachil and then headed back toward where I had hiked during my second weekend here in Granada, then west towards the town of Cumbres Verdes before reaching the point where I had biked to a few weeks before (the ride where I dropped the huge section of road in 4 minutes). As we reached this trail, we went in another direction on the west side of these mountains. I had my Jansport backpack, filled with a large amount of clothes, food, sleeping bag, and a mat for some cushion for sleeping. I think I have failed to mention this, but we slept in the mountains. Anyways. The hike began at 2pm near Monachil. At around 6pm, we were at the base of the mountain known as Trevenque.

We seriously underestimated this mountain, and had quite an adventure climbing it and then climbing down the backside as the sun was setting. As we reached the valley floor, we decided to continue on and look for a place to camp. After many unsuccessful attempts to find a suitable sleeping area, we eventually stopped to eat some food, and during this time Keith mentioned that we could just walk back home at that time. This would make the hike Epic he had said. I agreed, and so we began walking back. At around midnight, I told him that I needed to stop for a few minutes, as my feet were killing me. I was of course a beginner at this sport, hiking in running shoes, and with a backpack that definitely wasn’t made for hikes of this nature, as my back seemed out of whack. This stop turned into us sleeping for a few hours on the mountains edge, before continuing on just before first light. We reached downtown Granada around 1030, and stopped for some sugar at the local Dunkin Coffee, also known as Dunkin Donuts in the USA.

After our delicious breakfast, we headed home, and arrived at around 11am. I showered and then hit the hay once more, as my entire body hurt. It actually still hurts. The totals that we know of currently were that we hiked for at least 14 hours in a 21 hour period. I have estimated the number of miles that we hiked at somewhere near 30-35, as Google Maps does not accurately show some of the trails we did, although I am able to map most of it, because our walk back was on a dirt road.. Here is a basic view of what we did.

View Larger Map

Then on Sunday, I ran the Granada Half Marathon. Let me begin to describe this half marathon, what was the best half that I have ever run. My finishing time was around 1 hour and 40 minutes, but because of some serious soreness beforehand I was not sure if I would even be able to run. Once the race started though, I was great. I felt good the entire time, and I ran with a group of Americans which was nice. In the beginning it was just Keith and myself, but slowly we started meeting more and more Americans as we spoke English and people heard it from a distance. During the run we met two Americans, one that was studying in Granada, and one from Sevilla, and this became our running group. We ran the first few kilometers at a snails pace, and I really wanted to start picking it up and passing everyone, but I didn’t and I held it in reserve. Around kilometer 6 we were really starting to pass people, and we were dropping our split times, as the first 2 km were in around 12minutes, followed by a 7 km time in around 40. Then after the 7k we kept picking off runners, and I started to feel really good with our pace. At around 14km I spoke with one of the runners that we were with about going hard the last 4km, as we passed the 14k in 1 hour 12 minutes and 30 seconds. Soon after saying this I decided that 7 km was enough away that I could really drop some time, and so I took off. For the next 4 k I felt incredible, passing hundreds of runners, and then with 3 k to go, I hit a mini wall, but I pressed through it, slowing down slightly until I hit 500 meters to the finish, and at that point I picked it up again finishing in a grand time of just under 1 hour 40 minutes. I had run the last 7 km in around 27 minutes, and easily had a huge amount left in reserve giving me large amounts of confidence. It was the easiest 13 miles I had ever run, and yes it made me love the sport again. After the race I picked up Gatorade and my t shirt. At this point I was really happy that I had done this race that had only been 10 euros. Then Keith and I decided to make it worth our while and we hit up the beer tent for a few Cruz Campos before heading home. It was a great day, and it made me realize I must be in better shape than I thought.

Here is my diploma of sorts. I guess that they decided not to subtract the two minutes I waited before I crossed the finish line chip wise, because my real time was much closer to high 1 hour 39.

http://www.gescon-chip.com/diploma.aspx?idprueba=64&dorsal=1439

Pictures from the Media Maraton.

http://www.bancofoto.com/gallery_Media_Maraton_Ciudad_m113-sb_id-so_descending-page34.html

Some Individuals(enjoy the tan line. and yes that little girl only ran like 50 meters and I was passing her when the photo was taken, so it doesnt tell the whole story)

http://www.bancofoto.com/Media_Maraton_Ciudad_g113-_p9656.html
http://www.bancofoto.com/Media_Maraton_Ciudad_g113-_p9655.html

Monday was a day of rest. Guess again. I had six hours of class, lunch, and then I went on a 2.5 hour bike ride into the hills west of my house. I can take a break from this routine sometime soon, but not yet. This week will just have to keep going.

That is all for now, but I do want to clarify a few things. I can say that yes Jim Mills has given me much harder weeks, where I was run into the ground so to say. I can remember them vividly. This week I feel was different because I did 3 different principals, and each one at some point was the limit of what my body was capable of handling. Throw these in quick succession, with little energy left in between to do more than nod my head, and yes this was a week that ranks up there with the best.