Granada/La Alhambra

So, I went to the Alhambra (sounds better La Alhambra) the weekend before this post and it was a pretty damn ridiculous two days and one night.  I guess I didn't only go the La Alhambra but to the city of Granada itself (named after the Spanish word for pomegranate).  It was roughly a three hour bus ride, a bus ride filled with listening to people not let me fall asleep.  I know, I know, I'll only get to see these Spanish countrysides a few times, but a lot of them look like Mexico, and thats just dirty.  On arrival we got our rooms at our fancy 4-star hotel named Alixares (apparently 250€/night...like $346.83 at yahoo's exchange rate today, ballin').  I roomed with my friends Jeff, Carlos, and some random Spaniard dude who never introduced himself to me...but he does work with satellites?  They only gave us one humongous metal key so we just left it at the front desk and would ask them for it without ever needing to verify our identity (sketch).  Although I didn't sleep as much as I wanted to in Granada (at a club, el Camborio, until 4:30am or something, then duck game until 6:00am...I'm loyal), I am going to dedicate my health and revitalization to the food at the hotel buffet.  While not of the same quality, I felt as though for three meals I was back home eating the final meals my Mom made me, and I was SO SO SO happy.  I don't even know what most of the food was called but I know that it tasted good and a lot fit into my stomach.  Most importantly it didn't have TUNA in everything.  Tuna is the grossest thing in the ocean, just ahead of humongous garbage clouds.  Sorry for those who like tuna, but I can not emphasize enough my hatred for the residencia's favorite meal plan: green salad with tuna, followed by breaded and fried tuna, and topped off with a slice of what looked like pork until I put it in my mouth tuna.  There's some cartoon with a character named Tuna in it and I can't figure it out (Rocket Power?).

Okay, now that I have bitched enough about tuna I should probably talk about the actual coolness of La Alhambra.  Also known as the most visited site in Europe, La Alhambra is a palace, a fortress, and just a plain hill.  Being the moors final outpost in Spain is served as an important base for the Islamic population during the 15th century and before.  On top of a hill and surrounded by humongous walls, it is easy to see the strength of the builing/complex.  However, La Alhambra is more beauty than brawn.  As you can see from the pictures below, and other pictures that you might see, the palace(s) and fortress are filled with incredibly detailed architecture and elaborate gardens.  It is difficult to image the detail put into these buildings, so like google it or something.  The building basically served as a city full of the kings servants; servants that ranged from noblemen to soldiers to pooper scoopers I bet (or wait they just leave animal shit on the ground in Spain).  I'd type more about it but I don't want to just end up making stuff up.

Well after La Alhambra we went to some hookah/tea place and then had a couple of hours to wander aimlessly.  After returning to the hotel and eating, I went out to some bars and spent a solid two hours running into american after american in my program and just attracting a bunch of good old Spanish stares.  Finally, after many had given up on the night, a few friends and I took a cab to the aforementioned club, el Camborio, some how got in without paying cover (7€), and explored these humongous caves that had been turned into a dance club.  After losing ourselves in the maze of tunnels, we finally found the top level of the club which was open and and had a spectacular view of La Alhambra lit up at night (basically the bottom two pictures but from a different angle).  After realizing I had like 0 money to get a taxi home solo I ended up staying way later than planned and ended up back at the hotel around 5am, just in time to watch the duck game on some random streaming site.

The next day we visited the tomb of Fernando de Aragon y Isabel de Castilla (Los Reyes Católicos) and saw the gigantic tombs that rest above their coffins that are also on display.  Pretty crazy to see the tomb of the people who united Spain as a Christian nation and expelled anyone who worshipped other religions.

FYI, you'll know I think a place is cool if I mess up the symmetry with picture overhang from the XL option.

City of Granada

Was at a club on that hill, overlooking La Alhambra at night.

Soldiers Homes within the fortress

I like capitals, so what.

Not my best hair day. but at least I have an armrest.

Crazy detailed arch followed by crazy detailed wall... followed by crazy detailed (insert word).

Dome of one of the side "rooms" of the kings palace.  You can't tell but the texture is the same as the arch in the photo above.

View of La Alhambra from across the valley...and me.

Don't mess with La Alhambra.

I didn't have time to sit and edit bc i got way too annoyed with the picture uploading process.