I can't remember when the last time I blogged was, but I think it was a while ago. Since then I have started my own mini series of video blogs on Youtube, they're all on language based topics and you can find my channel here.
This weekend I went to Cordoba for a few days with Jack and Erin. Wouldn't usually mention the bus journey but I'm going to because we got a free bottle of water, packet of peanuts and a pastry as well as extra comfy chairs and a film to watch! Once we actually arrived in Cordoba however we met Erin off of her train and got a taxi to the hostel on the basis that we didn't really know where we were going. The hostel was very nice and just what we needed for the weekend. We spent Friday afternoon eating, wandering round and then eating some more! On Saturday we went to the Mezquita, the "must-see" attraction in Cordoba, it's a lovely building and well worth your money to take a look round if you're there. From there we headed to the Alcazar which has some lovely gardens as well as a tower you can climb to see out over the city. It was a really hot day so we took this opportunity to sit in the gardens for a bit to catch the sun. We came across a cheap Chinese for lunch which was really nice, and good for the price too. We also came across a market stall that sold loads of flags, we got some for LULangS, Jack got a Venezuelan flag just for the sheer hell of it and Erin got a Catalan flag, partly because she'd been looking for one for ages and partly because she found it really funny that she could buy one in Andalucia! After this we weren't really sure what to do with ourselves so we went and sat on the terrace at the hostel for a bit and chilled in the sun once again. In the evening we did a lot more wandering and then gave up on being good and cultural and had kebab for dinner... Our bus wasn't until 2 on Sunday but as we had our bags with us we didn't really want to do too much. We ended up walking towards the bus station and stopping every 5 minutes for a 30 minute break, I'm not even exaggerating! That wasted away the morning quite well and before we knew it we were on the bus and Granada bound, leaving Erin soaking up the sun whilst she did some work as her train wasn't until a lot later. I'm in the process of loading my million photos up onto Flickr so if you feel like taking a look they'll be there for you in a bit.
This week I have 4 days of classes (although if I overheard a conversation correctly it may even be 3...) before I go to Seville with Erin on Friday until Sunday. Monday and Tuesday are fiesta here so there are no classes, meaning just 2 days of classes for me next week and then my parents and my Nana arrive on Sunday for the week! I'll be back with an update for you after Seville, I doubt anything interesting will happen before then.
Showing posts with label Flickr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flickr. Show all posts
Monday, 23 April 2012
Sunday, 25 March 2012
A tiring touristy weekend.
This weekend has been a touristy one as Erin came to visit Granada for a few days. On Thursday I just had one class to go to before going to meet Erin from the bus, I rather unenthusiastically dragged myself up the hill and into the classroom just for the teacher to turn up and tell us that there would be no class. As you can imagine I was not impressed, not just because I'd got myself up there but also because next week we are missing a class because of a strike and I could really do with the lesson time for Latin if I am going to stand half a chance in the exam. Still, there is nothing I can do about it, ♫ Que sera sera ♫ and all that, so off I went back down the hill to the flat. When Erin arrived things were not quite as straight forward as they could've been, the internet says that the bus stop is at Triunfo Gardens so logically that is where I was waiting when I received a text from Erin telling me she had just got off of the bus, yet she was no where to be seen. Some confusion and rough directions later and we found each other after the bus had quite helpfully dropped her off down the road, not even in sight of the gardens! With the initial confusion over we spent the afternoon having a wander round the city, and even went inside the cathedral which I'd still not done. We ate in a really nice restaurant where the food was really moorish (Sorry, I think I have spent too much time around Jack and his terrible puns, I won't do it again...), I had a lovely cous cous dish with vegetables and we also had some arabic tea afterwards too.
Friday brought with it a trip up into the Sierra Nevada. I didn't really know what to expect but knew that I should make the most of my chance to go up into the snowy mountains and enjoy the views before it all melted away. The bus ride is only 45 minutes and cost us less than 10 euros for the return which was really reasonable. The views on the bus journey are amazing and every time you think that you couldn't possibly be driving any higher you turn another corner and up you climb a bit more. We were prepared for the cold with hats, scarves, gloves, hoodies and gillets but it wasn't as cold up there as we'd been expecting. In fact we sat outside a bar drinking cold drinks and watching the ice melt before our eyes. Being so warm and sunny yet surrounded by snow was more than a little surreal I must say! Whilst we were there we took the cable car up higher, we think it was around 8200ft, to really make the most of it. It was quite expensive at 16.50 each but worth it to appreciate the views up there, we'd been walking round the bottom of the resort which was absolutely dead, we soon discovered it was because they were all at the next stage up, there were loads of people! After another sit down with a drink in the sun we headed back down to have some lunch before getting on the bus again. In the evening we met up with the others to go out for tapas, we tried the Chinese tapas to start off with which was a strange concept but the food was good and that was all that mattered! The last place we went to had a huge range of tapas to chose from and we had some really good fajitas, will certainly be going there again.
On Saturday we woke up to the rather disappointing sight of clouds and everything looking generally grey but this actually turned out to our advantage because although it rained a little it made our day a lot easier. We walked (or more accurately climbed) up to the Alhambra where we queued, in order to queue, in order to just queue again! You'd think we were in England, we like queuing there, it's our national sport, but the Spanish don't generally like to partake in such an activity! Despite all the queuing we had a really good time, but we did an awful lot of walking and consequently by the end of the evening after we'd been out my feet were in no fit state to walk home and we ended up getting a taxi- stupid blisters! We'd not eaten anything for lunch before we went into the Alhambra and so were rather hungry when we eventually caved in to the temptation of buying a packet of gullible tourist priced biscuits from a stall, half a packet is a nutritious lunch right?! We did eventually eat again when we got back into town and went for tapas, including another visit to the Chinese tapas place. In the evening we went to Paddys with the others for a few drinks, finally arriving back at the flat in time to change the clocks and see an hour of our sleep for the night go flying out of the window...
Today I've not done much, in fact I don't really think I've done anything. I walked to the bus stop (that this time actually was at Truinfo Gardens) to say goodbye to Erin and then headed back to the flat where I have successfully done one load of washing, written this blog and put my photos on facebook. For those of you that want to see my photos from the weekend I've put them all (or at least am in the process of...)on flickr as opposed to Facebook where I have only uploaded half.
This week is going to be a short one as the Spanish are going on general strike on Thursday so I won't have my classes. I do have an exam on Wednesday though which I have no clue about the content so that should be rather interesting. Oh well! Just 3 days of classes to get through before a few days off and then off on holiday for a week! I can't wait now, it should be really good. As well as looking forward to seeing my friends (obviously) I'm really looking forward to getting to see a Spanish Easter parade on Maundey Thursday. At the end of this week I'll be half way through my classes out here in Granada and a third of the way through my time in Spain. 6 weeks down and 12 to go!
Friday brought with it a trip up into the Sierra Nevada. I didn't really know what to expect but knew that I should make the most of my chance to go up into the snowy mountains and enjoy the views before it all melted away. The bus ride is only 45 minutes and cost us less than 10 euros for the return which was really reasonable. The views on the bus journey are amazing and every time you think that you couldn't possibly be driving any higher you turn another corner and up you climb a bit more. We were prepared for the cold with hats, scarves, gloves, hoodies and gillets but it wasn't as cold up there as we'd been expecting. In fact we sat outside a bar drinking cold drinks and watching the ice melt before our eyes. Being so warm and sunny yet surrounded by snow was more than a little surreal I must say! Whilst we were there we took the cable car up higher, we think it was around 8200ft, to really make the most of it. It was quite expensive at 16.50 each but worth it to appreciate the views up there, we'd been walking round the bottom of the resort which was absolutely dead, we soon discovered it was because they were all at the next stage up, there were loads of people! After another sit down with a drink in the sun we headed back down to have some lunch before getting on the bus again. In the evening we met up with the others to go out for tapas, we tried the Chinese tapas to start off with which was a strange concept but the food was good and that was all that mattered! The last place we went to had a huge range of tapas to chose from and we had some really good fajitas, will certainly be going there again.
On Saturday we woke up to the rather disappointing sight of clouds and everything looking generally grey but this actually turned out to our advantage because although it rained a little it made our day a lot easier. We walked (or more accurately climbed) up to the Alhambra where we queued, in order to queue, in order to just queue again! You'd think we were in England, we like queuing there, it's our national sport, but the Spanish don't generally like to partake in such an activity! Despite all the queuing we had a really good time, but we did an awful lot of walking and consequently by the end of the evening after we'd been out my feet were in no fit state to walk home and we ended up getting a taxi- stupid blisters! We'd not eaten anything for lunch before we went into the Alhambra and so were rather hungry when we eventually caved in to the temptation of buying a packet of gullible tourist priced biscuits from a stall, half a packet is a nutritious lunch right?! We did eventually eat again when we got back into town and went for tapas, including another visit to the Chinese tapas place. In the evening we went to Paddys with the others for a few drinks, finally arriving back at the flat in time to change the clocks and see an hour of our sleep for the night go flying out of the window...
Today I've not done much, in fact I don't really think I've done anything. I walked to the bus stop (that this time actually was at Truinfo Gardens) to say goodbye to Erin and then headed back to the flat where I have successfully done one load of washing, written this blog and put my photos on facebook. For those of you that want to see my photos from the weekend I've put them all (or at least am in the process of...)on flickr as opposed to Facebook where I have only uploaded half.
This week is going to be a short one as the Spanish are going on general strike on Thursday so I won't have my classes. I do have an exam on Wednesday though which I have no clue about the content so that should be rather interesting. Oh well! Just 3 days of classes to get through before a few days off and then off on holiday for a week! I can't wait now, it should be really good. As well as looking forward to seeing my friends (obviously) I'm really looking forward to getting to see a Spanish Easter parade on Maundey Thursday. At the end of this week I'll be half way through my classes out here in Granada and a third of the way through my time in Spain. 6 weeks down and 12 to go!
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