Sofia Somewhere

Despite living together for the past 8 months, Elisa, Lyle and I realized that we hadn't taken a trip together. So last Saturday we decided to go for a hike in Monachil. Monachil is a municipality in the Granada province, but it's just 30 minutes away by bus, and you can take the city bus (Line 183, €1.5 one way). We caught the 9:10 bus from Paseo de los Basillos (the bus leaves every :10), got off at the pueblo, and started to make our way to Los Cahorros , the valley where we would be hiking. Walking to the restaurant where the hike starts We again used the trail instructions from  Trek Sierra Nevada , but the information was a bit unclear. After being unsure as to where we were, we finally found the marker to start the hike!

Continuing our "let's try to do and see as much as we can in out last month of May" plan, Lyle and I went on a day trip to Almería last Friday. Almería is a city in the Almería province in Andalucía, about two hours by bus from Granada. It was an interesting city with both historical and very modern elements. We arrived at 11am, had a nice breakfast, then spent the morning exploring the old/historic part of the city. The city was said to be founded because the Arabs needed a better defense system. So the Alcazaba was built on the hill, and the name of the city gets its name from the Arab word Al-Mariyah which means "watchtower." So we headed to Alcazaba to check it out. We didn't enter, but took some nice pictures, taking in the view. The Alcazaba The Alcazaba

With just one month left in Granada, May has quickly become our "let's do everything we can in our last month here" month, and our remaining weekends here are packed with trips and activities. Last Saturday, we did a day trip to Guadix. Guadix is a small city in the Granada Province, just 55 minutes by bus from the capital. We had quite an adventure later on in the day, but first things first. Guadix is a pretty small town, so we took the 1pm bus which would get us there at 2pm. Our plan was to have lunch, walk around and see the sights, then catch the bus back at 6:45. We bough a vuelta abierta or "open return" ticket, so that in case we changed our minds, we could catch a later bus. It was a gorgeous day, though a little bit hot with the temperature nearing 30ºC. (It's been getting really hot in the city lately actually. I think Granada skipped Spring and the weather went from cold to hot.) But back to Guadix -- José, one of the teachers at Lyle's sc...

Granada welcomed the month of May celebrating "Cruz de Mayo" or the "Fiesta de las Cruces" ("May Cross" or "Festival of the Crosses") . Cruz de Mayo is celebrated every May 3rd, and supposedly commemorates Saint Helena's search for and eventual finding of the True Cross of Jesus (that's the religious origin, anyway). This holiday is celebrated in Spain and Hispanic America, and Granada is said to be one of the most prominent cities that celebrates it. I actually really enjoyed it because the city was so festive, but there were no where near as many people as there were during Semana Santa, so it was easy to stay out and enjoy. Plus, we finally have real Spring weather; the temperature stayed in the high 20s, even reaching 31ºC at one point. Tradition goes that in 1625 in a barrio in Granada, a Cross was put up in a plaza, and the day was celebrated with singing and dancing. Nowadays, many restaurants, schools, and plazas put up a Cros...

I can't believe it's May and I'm entering my last month here in Spain (for this school year at least - more on that later). Now that the weather is finally getting warmer, we're making the most out of our remaining weekends. Last weekend we headed to Cuenca which is where our friend Zed works, to see the city (I've never been), and also to celebrate his birthday. Lyle and I took the bus to Madrid on Thursday afternoon, then spent the night in Julie's place. The next morning the three of us took a Blabla car to Tarancon , the pueblo where Zed works. Tarancon is a pretty small town in the province of Cuenca. Zed told us that it was a really small town (he lives 3 minutes walking distance from his school, 5 minutes walking distance from the bus station) with nothing to do and see. I figured there must be a least something , and convinced the others to stop by on our way to Cuenca (it was on the way anyway). We made it to Tarancon and realized that... well, there...

While Granada is a lovely place to live in, traveling around Spain from Granada can be quite difficult since it's a bit far as it's located in the southeastern corner of Spain. So one of my goals while living here is to explore as much of Andalucía as I can, since it's more accessible now. Two weekends ago (yes, this post is way overdue), Alsa had promos on their bus tickets so I took it as a sign and booked some tickets to Jaén. With one roommate in Barcelona and the other in Málaga, it was another solo adventure for me. I woke up bright and early and caught the 7:45am bus to Úbeda , which is a city in Jaén , one of the provinces in Andalucía. I was actually only planning to go to Jaén city, but a few blogs and posts  I had encountered recommended Úbeda. I did some research and it worked out that I could visit both cities. I arrived at Úbeda almost 3 hours later (it arrived in Jaén at 9, then left at 9:30, and made a stop in Baeza before finally arriving at Úbeda). I sl...