Days 10, 11 and 12

Day 10:

We went to a taste testing place which was absolutely delicious and interesting and tried different olive oils, different meats, cheeses, a yummy dish called “pan con tomate” which is pretty self-explanatory… “bread with tomato,” and a Spanish version of bruschetta which I do not remember the name of… and some desserts…

I have included pictures, but basically there were three types of olive to begin with that were made from different types of olives… They were VERY strong! And all had bitter aftertastes, but they were still good.

The pan con tomate is simply a piece of bread with tomato rubbed all over it so that it absorbs all the juices—simple but delicious! Then there was a plate of various types of jámon, then lechuga (lettuce) with fried garlic olive oil, vinaigrette, salt… and maybe other things… different cheeses with honey (which is very common here, to mix cheese and honey.) And the honey was made from bees who only harvested orange flower blossoms, I think. It was really good. And then different candies… one was an almond candy, another marzipan, another chocolate, and I don’t remember the last one… but they were all good except for the marzipan, in my opinion.

Day 11:

Chelsea and I went for a bike ride with a kind of bike tour guide. It was about 100 degrees or more, even though it was 7 pm, and we were the only ones from our group to show up so we got to have a really personal bike ride which was pretty cool. We went a little bit through town which was pretty scary because the cars here drive really impatiently and the roads are super narrow, so I was definitely being tailgated by a taxi for a long time…. Kind of freaky. Eventually we ended up by a river and road alongside it for a while which was nice because the temperature was much cooler and there weren’t any scary cars.

After returning the bikes Chelsea and I took our first Spanish cab—they are super cheap here! The ones in California that I’ve been in start at like 5 dollars, but here they start at one euro, and to get all the way across town was four euros, and then split in half is only two. Totally awesome. J

Day 12:

We went to the Alhambra!! It was super awesome because we had a tour guide who told us all about the history and we got to wear little headphones in one ear so we could hear him better as we walked. Super-secret agent status ;)

The place is full of nature… running water and gardens… and I learned a lot more about it than I already knew. For example, I knew it was the last palace of the last Arabic kingdom in Spain. I learned that the reason Granada (which means pomegranate) was chosen as a name for the city was because it is the only fruit that has its own crown… Also, the sign for perfection where you make your hand into a circle with thumb and pointer finger and then the rest of your fingers look like a small “w” is an Arabic sign for perfection which is equivalent to god.

Also Muslims believe that there are eight levels of “heaven” (the word my guide used) and only god can be in the eighth, so people can only reach the seventh. Hence, “seventh heaven” which I never realized came from a Muslim belief. Also, the numbers eight and ESPECIALLY seven are extremely important and prevalent in the Alhambra…. It seems like the number seven is everywhere there… in the geometric shapes, in the architecture… it’s really cool. It’s also really fascinating that all of the running water there (aside from some shooting fountains that were added more recently) has been running all by itself just from gravity since the 1200s… I find that crazy… Also, I was in the building where Queen Isabel signed the document which ordered the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492… I learned about it in my Spanish class last quarter so it is SO surreal to see it in person!!

We also learned that a huge part of the palace was destroyed by the French after they invaded Spain in some year that I don’t remember… So only three buildings remain.

Overall, it was very beautiful and majestic, and it is hard to believe that everything is so intricately done by hand!

And what is tomorrow/this weekend? We’re going to stay by the Mediterranean! In a hotel along the beach! I’ll let you know how that goes later! Adios! J