Sofia Somewhere

A few weeks back, Marina (who was my roommate when I studied in Pamplona in 2008) and I were chatting, and she mentioned that she wanted to visit me in Granada before I left. I had exactly one free weekend left in May, so she bought some train tickets, and visited me. She had actually never been to Granada before so it was fun getting to showing her around. She took the overnight train from Barcelona at arrived in Granada at around 8am on Friday. After some breakfast (the both of us) and a shower (her), we started our day. Tickets for the Alhambra had been sold out online long before, but they reserve tickets that you can buy on the day itself. So first we walked up to the Alhambra and bought tickets for the afternoon (morning sessions were sold out already). Then we spent the rest of the morning walking around the Albayzín and checking out the view of the Alhambra from the Mirador de San Nicolas . View from the Mirador de San Nicolas

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...

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...

Semana Santa , or Holy Week, is one of the biggest holiday celebrations in Spain. The origins of the Semana Santa festivities go back centuries as Spain is, and has been, a predominantly Catholic country. Everybody gets the week off from work, and on most Spanish cities, from Palm Sunday up until Easter Sunday, the churches and townspeople celebrate with processions -- devotees parading around the city with a float depicting a scene from the Passion of Christ. While the processions were originally religious in nature, nowadays, they are mostly for show and spectacle. Most of the people who travel to see the processions are tourists rather than devout Catholics. The last time I was living in Spain I headed to Rome for Holy Week . This time around, especially since I was living in Andalucía (considered to be one of the places with the best procesiones ), I wanted to take advantage of that and experience Semana Santa here. Granada was crowded with people! I read in the papers that thi...

In the South of Granada, below the Sierra Nevada lies 70km of valleys in a region known as La Alpujarra . La Alpujarra extends over Granada and Almería , and is sometimes referred to  as   Las Alpujarras . This region is one of the last areas of Moorish settlement in Spain. The name alpujarra supposedly derives from the Arabic word al-bugsharra meaning "sierra of pastures." La Alpujarra is made up of quaint hillside villages that have an average altitude of 4,000 feet above sea level. They're full of whitewashed houses and are thus known as pueblos blancos (white villages). Surrounded by streams, ravines, and woodlands, the make for some of the best hiking trails in Spain. So yesterday, Lyle and I decided to take a day trip and go for a hike. Our day started with a bit of misadventure -- the bus to the bus station was taking really long, and we ended up missing the 10am bus by just a few minutes. The next bus was still at 12nn, so we ended up visiting a nearby Carre...

While Catholicism is predominant in Spain (though nowhere near as big in the Philippines), Carnaval festivities only started getting big recently. Carnaval is, of course, a festival that takes place before Lent. It's typically a week long fiesta with parades, public celebrations, and merry making. Cádiz is one of the most popular Carnaval destinations here in Spain, and we joined a group that organized a day trip to Cádiz for Carnaval. It was another good deal at €18 round trip with food and snacks (a normal bus trip costs €35 one way). So on the morning of Saturday the 14th, we dressed up in our costumes, headed to the meeting point and we were off to Cádiz. A fairy, a pirate, and a hippie

The Sierra Nevada is Spain's most famous mountain range, and also contains the highest point in peninsular Spain (the summit of Mulhacén at 3479m). Rising behind the city of Granada, we took advantage of its proximity and made a day trip out of it. In the summer it's known for its hiking trails, and in the winter, what else but for its skiing. So on Friday the 13th, we took a bus up to the mountains (€9 round trip) to enjoy a day of snow and skiing. (Quick cultural trivia: in Spain and Spanish speaking countries, the day of bad luck is on Tuesday the 13th. They have an idiom that goes: "En trece y martes, ni te cases ni te embarques." which means that on a Tuesday the 13th you shouldn't get married nor board a ship). Snow capped mountain peaks Winding roads up the mountains The bus ride was a short hour away from the city, winding up and around the mountains. We left at around 10am and enjoyed the magnificent views from the bus as we were going up. We ...

After exploring Sacromonte on Saturday morning, we headed back to the city center and had a hot chocolate break in a charming jazz café, Bohemia . I had to head home a little early unfortunately due to a stomach ache. But come evening  I was feeling much better and Lyle and I cooked some nilagang baka . We found pechay at the mercado and we were able to make the dish taste great. :)

On Saturday morning we headed out to explore Sacromonte , one of the barrios of the city, best known as the gitano or gypsy neighborhood. Sacromonte gets its name from Sacromonte Abbey , an abbey which stands at the top of Mount Valparaiso . Valparaiso was the old name of Sacromonte. The name was changed to Sacromonte ("holy mountain") because of the holy relics of San Cecilio which were allegedly found in the Santas Cuevas (Holy Caves) in Valparaiso. San Cecilio also happens to be Granada's first bishop and patron Saint, and on his feast day there are huge celebrations most especially in Sacromonte. It's quite easy to get to Sacromonte; the "entrance" is on the  Camino del Sacromonte , and the start of the road is marked by a statue of  Chorrohumo , who described himself as "King of the Gypsies." Chorrohumo was a gypsy patriarch who guided travelers around Sacromonte telling them stories of the gypsies and of the Alhambra. Chorrohum...

This past weekend was a long weekend or as they call it in Spain, un puente (literally, "a bridge"). Monday, the 8th, was a holiday - the Feast of the Immaculate Conception or la Inmaculada -  and it was an extra special puente for the Spaniards since Saturday, the 6th, was a holiday as well - Día de la Constitución Española  (Constitution Day) or la Constitución for short. As the name suggests, it's the day when Spain approved its new constitution marking the country's transition to a constitutional monarchy and democracy. Since the two holidays are celebrated each year, this special long weekend even has a name: Puente de la Inmaculada . If the 6th falls on a Monday and the 8th on a Wednesday (or a Wednesday and Friday respectively), they get a 5 day weekend. I'm not sure what happens though if the 6th falls on a Tuesday and the 8th on a Thursday! It's a pretty festive weekend; a lot of families go out of town (Granada in particular was packed with visitor...

I started off my birthday with Sunday morning mass at the Cathderal . Construction of the Cathedral was halted in 1728, and the Cathedral was never finished. It thus lacks the South Tower, and was given the nickname La Manquita -- the one-armed woman. The facade of the Cathedral

Our second day in Málaga was amazing (so be prepared for a picture heavy post). My co-teacher from Málaga told me that Málaga has a much warmer climate than Granada, and we were really looking forward to that. True enough, the temperature stayed in the low 20s the whole day, dropping only in the evening, and we had clear blue skies and a lot of sun. It was perfect weather for us (a much needed break from Granada's cold) and we enjoyed a good day sightseeing and eating. We started the day with a visit to the Mercado de Atarazanas , the central market of the city. It's located in an old iron-clad buildings which was originally a gate that connected the city with the port. It was recently restored and now boasts a beautiful stained-glass window at the entrance.

I wanted to spend my birthday someplace new (and nearby), so I decided to visit Málaga. I had always wanted to visit, and missed out on it when I visited Andalucía on my last Spain trip. At just 1.5 hrs from Granada, it was a nice and stress-free weekend trip. Lyle and I took a Blablacar for just €6, and Julie met us there after taking the bus from Madrid. Upon arriving in Málaga, we dropped our stuff off at our hostel and then set out to explore. Located in Andalucía and in the Málaga Province, Málaga  is the sixth largest city in Spain, and heart of the Costa del Sol which is comprised of the towns along the coastline of the Málaga Province. Although it's a pretty big city, most of the touristic sites are located near each other (in the historic city center), and it's quite easy to walk everywhere. From the bus station to our hostel it's about 10 minutes, and then another 10 minutes to the city center. Signs at the city center

Last Friday was Lyle's birthday and to celebrate we spent the weekend in Sevilla and Rome. Flights out of Granada were expensive (mostly connecting flights in Madrid), so we decided to take the bus to Sevilla and fly out of there (did end up significantly cheaper). We took the 3am bus to Sevilla -- we went out the night before and just ended up sleeping on the bus -- and arrived at 7am giving us a few hours to explore the city before our 2pm flight to Rome.

Last Saturday we decided to head to the beach while we still could - that is while the weather was still nice and it's not too cold. We took a day trip to Nerja , a small town on the Costa del Sol . It's actually part of Málaga province, but is just 2 hours from Granada by bus. Lyle and I actually missed the morning bus, so we got there in the afternoon, but with still enough time to enjoy the city. The forecast said that the sun would be out, but it actually rained on and off the whole time we were there. Despite that, we still managed to enjoy. It was raining when we arrived in the city, but we were able to find Elisa (our roommate) and two other Irish girls we met the day before, Paula and Orla. We ducked into a café to get away from the rain, and Lyle and I had a late lunch. Paula and Orla had to leave a bit after (they had been there since the morning), but Elisa, Lyle and I went about the city. The light wasn't great because of the grey skies, but it's prett...

From Córdoba, it was off to Granada! This was actually the one city I wanted to visit the most in my trip. I was really dying to see the Alhambra and all my planning revolved around this city. Anyway. When we arrived in Granada it was almost 9. We took the city bus from the bus station which was supposed to take us to the Cathedral (which is near Plaza Nueva, which is near our hotel) but for some reason, it took a different route. We ended up having to get off at the city center and walked uphill to Plaza Nueva. It wasn't so bad though and we found our hotel without much problem. We checked right in because the boys wanted to watch the basketball game. So after settling down a bit, Ange and I went out to buy dinner. We found a cheap kebab place nearby and bought some for all of us. Then we headed back to the hotel and watched a game with the boys. The next day we slept in a bit since we would be waking up quite early the day after. We looked for the Alcaicería and almost it! ...

Before I begin let me just say that Córdoba is such an underrated city. Whenever I (and most people I know) hear Andalucía, they always think of Sevilla and then Granada for the Alhambra. But Córdoba is just gorgeous and it's become one of my favorite Spanish cities. On our last morning in Sevilla, we didn't do much. Just slept in, packed and then checked out. Bel went to see the Alcazar early in the morning. Ange, Quintin, and I had breakfast at Cien Montaditos and Javier went to mass at the Cathedral. After mass was done we walked back to our hotel and took a taxi to the train station. Bel was waiting for us there and we made it 7 minutes before our train was scheduled to depart. (Hehe.) Our train ride to Córdoba took an hour and twenty minutes. When we got to Córdoba we took a bus as instructed by our hostel, but we didn't know the stops and ended up going down like 3 stops after we were supposed to get off. So we just decided to walk (uphill) to the Plaza and from t...