Mi Barrio

I've grown very fond of my neighborhood in Granada over these past few weeks. It definitely took awhile to get my bearings, but I've come to notice different landmarks and patterns in the community that help me find my way (and even figure out what time it is). First and foremost, I got pretty lucky location wise. My apartment complex is about a three minute walk from school, five minutes from the infamous post office meeting point, 3-5 minutes from the gym depending on how late I am for zumba, and there are tons of cafes and bars in the area.

This is the front of my building. I live on the fourth floor and there is an elevator, but my goal is to not be winded walking up the stairs by the end of the program. If you search my address on google images the area looks a bit rough a round the edges--or at least my mom was not impressed by all the graffiti. But I'm a big fan of it, graffiti and all. Some of it is pretty cool!

This is Yo10, the gym where I have a month and a half membership. Typically I'm not a fan of gyms (too bright, too cold, too many people trying to show off), but the facilities are really nice, it's not usually too crowded, and the fitness classes are pretty great. As mentioned, my favorite is zumba, but they also have core classes and spinning classes. These are definitely the sweatiest ones I've taken (yoga and pilates here is basically equivalent to a siesta), although I have yet to try something they call "body pump" and "virtual fusion".

Public spaces area big deal in Spain, and generally take the form of plazas. This one, Plaza Trinidad, is pretty much the midpoint between my apartment and school. It's perfect for a midday treat, and there are plenty of surrounding cafes that all look delicious but most of which I have yet to try. There's a pretty decent gelato place in the corner, but see below for a picture of my all-time favorite, Los Italianos. 

Since going over to a friend's house isn't really a thing here, places for kids to play are important. And they're everywhere! This is just one (quite small) example of a park near my house.

Back to food: churros con chocolate has become a staple of my diet here in Spain. This is just one example of a place you can get them, but I suggest trying as many as you possibly can! 

And finally, this is one of the many yummy fruit stands in the area. Prepare yourselves, because Spanish produce is nothing like American produce (unless we're talking about California avocados or Florida oranges). Generally you can get a lot of fruit for not a lot of money, and it makes a great any-time snack! 

 

Mi Barrio (My Neighborhood)

My next blog assignment is to describe my neighborhood in Granada. This includes a 3-4 block radius around my apartment.

There is a beautiful plaza near my apartment named Plaza Gracia. This plaza satisfies all the neighborhood needs - there is a pharmacy, pescaderia (fish market), cafes, restaurants, discoteca, and more!

The Pharmacy

Here is one of the many discotecas of Granada, Campus (which I get in free with my student ID!). In this picture it is closed since it is daytime, but at night it is very lively.

The plaza is surrounded my several cafes and restaurants that have outdoor seating for customers. My favorite thing to order at a cafe is churros con chocolate. The best part: it is acceptable to drink the chocolate!

Since most people that live in the city live in apartments, most families have no yard for children to gather and play. In the plaza there is an area dedicated as the playground.

As I walk away from the plaza and toward my apartment, the streets remind me of Ann Arbor, but more specialty stores that appeal to families and adults of Spain.

A side street off the plaza has an Indian restaurant, Muglia. This is the first restaurant that I have gone to since my host mom cooks delicious meals every day that are included in my program fee. My friends and family have asked, "Why would you go to an Indian restaurant while you're in Spain?" Which does seem like a valid question, but at the same time, I eat Spanish food 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, and so do the native Spaniards! There are not many "Spanish" restaurants in Granada because when people eat out for a meal, they want to eat something different. Needless to say, the Indian food in Spain is delicious!

Ana Pilar is a perfumaria, a store that sells solely perfume and cleaning products (weird combination to an American.) I like to joke that this store belongs to my host mom because her name is Pilar and her best friend is Ana.

Pizza & Kabob is exactly what it sounds like --  it sells pizza and kabobs (but the kabobs they sell is similar to a gyro). Delicious, cheap snack.

My favorite store of Spain (besides Zara) would be the equivalent of an Asian Dollar Store. This store has absolutely EVERYTHING!!! It has shaving cream, bathing suits, crafts supplies, halloween costumes, board games... seriously EVERYTHING! Which has come in handy for myself and classmates that forgot to pack essential toiletries (...deodorant and toothpaste).

Lastly, here is the locked door to my apartment complex. I hope to post pictures to show pictures of my apartment later.

With Love From Granada,

Lia <3

The Two Ruder of the Three

The day trips to Seville and Cordoba this weekend have helped me to appreciate how beneficial a longer term emersion in a city can be (like we are experiencing in Granada). Seville was absolutely massive as we could tell from the top of the cathedral tower. Unlike the view of Granada from the top of the Alhambra, Seville was a multi-colored hodge-podge typical of larger cities. It was interesting to see the turrets of the cathedral and an ancient bull fighting arena right along-side the new developments of skyscrapers along the horizon line. This was a juxtaposition I noticed much in Seville, which I suppose can be expected from a city that relies so heavily on non-native tourists.
Yet it is clear why so many make the trek to Seville. The cathedral is absolutely breathtaking as the largest of the gothic style in the world, and until our tour I wasn't even aware of the fact that it is also the final resting place of Christopher Columbus. Reales Alcazares of Seville served as the influence of the Alhambra, and it was extremely interesting to find the connections where the architects took some aspects and copied verbatim others. I was surprised that despite being older, the paint colors of this palace were better preserved than the Alhambra. Finally, the last site that we visited was the Plaza de Espana, which 'hugs' Central America, and is an amazing tribute to the different cities/provinces of Spain as well.
The area of Cordoba that we visited was much more separate from the actual city, and thus the area surrounding the Mesquita had a very tourist-y vibe. I'm almost certain that beside the tour guides, shop and restaurant workers we didn't see a a native the whole day we were there. At this point myself and the rest of the group were absolutely exhausted (and unknown to me I was getting an even higher fever) so I wish I could have been a bit more energetic and eager to explore during our free time after seeing the Mesquita, but instead I was content paying for my tapas and walking across a beautiful bridge.

Sevilla/Córdoba

Let's start out by saying both were FABULOUS! If I had to choose, I think I'd say Sevilla was my favorite of the two. It seemed like there was a bit more to see and do there, but I was also pretty exhausted by the time we got to Córdoba so that might also have something to do with it. Both are definitely must-sees, but I think it's safe to say we found that people are a bit more inviting towards tourists here in Granada than they were in Sevilla or Córdoba. Overall, it was a great experience and I'm grateful to all the people who planned it so well. Yes, it was a lot of walking and a lot of listening (i.e. trekking through cities and trying to understand our guide in Spanish...they were very animated, so it wasn't impossible), but if you're going to do Sevilla and Córdoba each in a day our itinerary is the way to go. PRO TIP: if you plan to go out at night, take an ice bath or a nap or both during your break. Accept the fact that you're going to be exhausted no matter what you do, but remember that coffee is your friend and how many times do you get to party with Spaniards? The following are four things in particular that I really liked about these cities.

1) The view from the top of the cathedral in Sevilla. A picture is worth a thousand words, so...

I promise, 35 ramps to the top is not as bad as it sounds.

2) Getting to see the Procession of the Virgin Mary. Unfortunately for those of you who will visit in the nearish future, this procession only happens once every 50 years. Fortunately for us, it literally went right by our hotel! People in surrounding apartments didn't seem to happy about all the noise, but it was definitely very cool to see.

3) Fun fact about the Mezquita in Córdoba: it's gone through quite a few significant transitions. It was first built as a Catholic cathedral, then was converted into an Islamic mosque, and now it's a cathedral again. The current building is constructed right on top of the first, and there's a small section (not well photographed by yours truly, so apologies), where you can actually see that!

4) Wading in a fountain in Sevilla's Maria Luisa Park. It was hot, we were tired, and the water was delightful. This may not be a must-do per say, but we thought it was a great way to spend part of our two hours of free time. Plus other Spaniards were doing it so clearly its a legit cultural experience. 

P.S. The Spanish king abdicated today! This would be a huge deal for any country, but King Juan Carlos also happens to be the first king of Spain to abdicate, and the king who is known for helping the country transition to democracy in the 70s. 

Mi Barrio

Hola!

In this entry I will share a series of photos of the area that I live and explain what each on shows. I do not know what many of the shops are because I have not been to many of them, but I will do my best. Nonetheless, it will be invigorating and highly educational.

This is a photo of the street that I live on, Madreselva. It consists of many three story homes and two apartment buildings.

 This is a photo of one of the two cafes in close vicinity to my home. I have not been to either and cannot speak for their quality but they seem to be very busy in the early afternoons and late evenings.

 This is another photo of the cafe above along with the street that it is one. It has a pharmacy and an eye doctor on it as well as a handful of other stores. they all sit in the shadow of a rather unsightly apartment complex. This street is rarely busy, but I am no expert because I rarely venture down it.

 This is a photo of large intersection at the end of the above street. There are more of the large unsightly apartment buildings all around it. I think that the street I live on is much more pretty, due to the gardens many people keep in front of their homes.

 This is a long plaza-ish walk way. On the right side is homes. On the left a handful of small shops I have never been to. I know that past those shops is a supermarket, some sports stores, and one fo the few places in Granada that serves a refreshing variety of beer. However, these are not in the same neighborhood as me so I do not have pictures.

 This is another photo of the street over form me. It shows in better detail the beautiful gardens and homes around me.

 Here is the second cafe in my neighborhood. On hot days it is quite busy, it serves ice cream. I will probably stop by it one of these days, as it also sells pastries and I have a weakness for them.

 This picture also highlights the pretty houses and gardens in my neighborhood. In addition it shows the unsightly apartment buildings in contrast to them. I think that the contrast is nice.

 Here is a view of the neighborhood form the top of my host families home. One of my favorite aspects of the house is the terrace they have instead of a roof. At night I enjoy coming up here and listening to the sounds of the city.

This is a photo of the front door to my house. It has three stories with one being the terrace above. It is very roomy and reminds me of my home in Ann Arbor.

Finally here is my bedroom. As you can see I have already decorated it in my favorite colors and drawings! It also has a small room with a desk that you can see at the back. I am eternally grateful to my host family for their generosity and openness.

That is all for now.

Me Gusta Cordoba Mas Que Seville

Hola!

I understand that from the title it might appear that I did not like Seville but that is not the truth. It was a interesting city but I felt it was just too big to go to for only a single day. It also felt a lot like bigger Granada; whereas, Cordoba was a completely different type of town.

That speaks to the first thing I learned from this trip, the smaller the city/town is in Spain the more I seem to like it. I enjoy the ability to be able to traverse and find interesting spots as soon as I get to the town. In addition to this I have found that the small towns I have been to in the mountains, like Cordoba, lack many of the large apartment structures; instead sticking to small stucco buildings that I find infinitely more aesthetically pleasing. This is not always the case though, for large cities like Seville often have areas with buildings that are just as beautiful as the smaller towns.

This brings me to the next thing I learned, the cathedral in Seville is beautiful and massive. I have been to many cathedrals but Seville lived up to being the largest. I had not known this before visiting Seville, but it was plainly obvious after entering the building. I believe Ian pointed out how it looked much like the halls of Moria where the Fellowship first encounters the Balrog. I don't think that is what the Catholic church was going for but they sure did a good job at it.

This leads to the third thing I found interesting from the trip, the Mosque Cathedral of Cordoba. This building should be held up as the shining star of conservation activists. I have never before seen a building that managed to recycle and repurpose so many types of buildings and materials. From old churches, roman pillars, and a mosque a beautiful cathedral was born. The Catholic church was truly ahead of its time.

The final thing I learned was that I will need to visit Cordoba again. As I said before it was my favorite of the two cities, but I feel I missed much that it had to offer since we visited on a sunday. Most of the stores and restaurants were closed. I was hoping to find a shop that sold leather shoes since I had heard Cordoba was known for their silver and leather work but Unfortunately I will have to save this pursuit for another day; the tragedy.

That is all I have for now.

Sevilla and Córdoba - Tours on Tapas on Tours

Hello,

In this blog post, I will be writing about our recent excursion to Sevilla and Córdoba. What I found interesting, impressive, and any other comments that may come to mind.

Cool Things:

1. Seville Cathedral 
This cathedral is evidently the "third largest church building in the world" and was truly an architectural marvel. We also were able to climb up 37 ramps to the top of the tower and look out over the town of Sevilla. The city was much larger than Granada. Upon further research I found that the population is about 3x greater in Sevilla and it showed.

2. The Mosque Cathedral of Córdoba 
This building was really incredible both in architecture and historical background. Basically you had different religious groups taking this area over time and making additions to this Cathedral. The end result was a wonderful Cathedral with both Catholic and Muslim elements. The most amazing thing to me was this giant mahogany choir seat carving which you can see here.

3. Procession of the Virgin Mary in Seville 
After our dinner in Seville at the hotel, we were able to witness the process of the Virgin Mary through the streets of Seville. This was a really cool experience. Basically there were a bunch of guys crawling on their hands and knees holding up a giant float-throne type thing that had the Virgin Mary on the throne. Throngs of people were following and cheering and there was a big brass band. I talked to my host Mom and she said that people were especially religious in Sevilla.

4. Alcázar of Seville 
This place had incredible gardens and many beautiful fountains. One specific place was called El Patio de Banderas or like The Courtyard of Flags. There was one fountain in particular that reminded me of a volcano.

Thoughts: We met up with another group for this tour and I got to chat with a few new faces which was really nice! We also had the privilege of having two really great tour guides who were really passionate about what they were sharing with us. I loved experiencing that passion and feel that I have a decent understanding of the history of Spain (Andalusia especially) at this point thanks to the many various tours/excursions/lectures we have had.

- Patrick Wilson