Grenada

Last weekend I went to Grenada with my study abroad program. In civilization class, we learned about the period of time when Muslims controlled the Iberian peninsula from 711 to 1031 AD (they weren't expelled until 1492, but after 1031 their control started to decline). Grenada was a very important city for the Muslims because it was a military stronghold in the 11th century and in the 13th century, the royal residence was established in Grenada at the Alhambra.

We left as a group on Friday afternoon. We traveled by bus, which is not my favorite mode of travel. It took around five or six hours to get there. After checking into the hotel, we walked up steep winding streets to get to a good view point of the Alhambra. The Alhambra is the palace where Muslim leaders lived starting in the 13th century. The view was gorgeous. It was dark so we got to see the whole city lit up.

On Saturday, the group went to see Grenada's cathedral and the tomb where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel (famous for funding Christopher Columbus' voyage across the Atlantic) are buried. I forgot to mention that I was sick this past weekend. When I woke up in the morning I wasn't feeling well enough to get out of bed so I slept in while the others explored. By the afternoon I was feeling up to getting out and about. I met up with the group at a market where we explored for a bit. I bought a few souvenirs: some tea, a scarf, and an evil eye. Then we had tapas for lunch. After lunch we went to the Alhambra. It is quite an exquisite building. The decoration is intricate and stunningly beautiful. The Alhambra is very large so it took us many hours to explore all of it. When we finished our tour of the Alhambra, we had an hour or so of downtime before going to see a flamenco show. I really enjoyed the show. The music was great and the dancing was very impressive. It reminded me of tap dancing with more hip shaking.

Sunday we checked out of the hotel at 10:30 am and got back on the road. After a few hours of driving we stopped for lunch. Then, we went to go see the famous windmills of Consuegra. Miguel de Cervantes made the windmills famous after publishing Don Quixote. It was very windy and quite cold, but it was worth it because the windmills were very cool.

Grenada really is a great city. I only wish that I wasn't sick and that I got to experience the nightlife. Hopefully one day I will be able to go back.