Gracias + Denada = Granada

This past weekend, the program with which I am studying, took a trip to Granada. We left early Friday morning and took a 4.5 hour bus ride, which included a 30 minute mandatory break because drivers are only allowed to drive for 2 hours straight. Once we arrived, we took a walking tour of the city, which is absolutely beautiful. From our hotel room, we could see the Sierra Nevada mountains on the horizon, a breathtaking view. Since we had to wake up early the next morning, a few of us decided to try out the Baños Árrabes. We went to one that happens to be one of the oldest ones in Spain, and it was an experience to remember. We were told to start in the warm bath, which was warm enough to be comfortable, but not hot enough where it was relaxing. The second bath is the hot bath, which is equivalent to a hot tub, but shallow so the only option is lying down. Across from this bath, the hot stones. One of the most amazing sensations I've ever felt, lying down on the stones. My friend actually had to wake me up, which was a rude awakening from the dream that I was having. The last bath is the cold bath. I was only able to do about 20 seconds in this water, which felt like ice water, especially after the hot stones. Saying that it took my breath away is an understatement. After the cold bath, we were told to go into the steam room. Unlike a sauna where all you can feel is heat, the steam room was hot but the air was moist enough to feel the pores opening up as the water vapor warmed your body, relaxing it and the mind as well. In between the baths, we all got massages. They used oils along the body, relaxing every muscle, leaving your mind to forget where you were; I even found myself getting too comfortable and finding a puddle of drool below me. Amazing.
The next morning, we woke up early and took a tour of La Alhambra, which is full of history, too much of which I cannot include because that would be a novel within itself. We even climbed to the top of it, where the Sierra Nevada mountains can be seen, once again, on the horizon. After the tour, we walked back and the four of us girls sat down to Kababs, which are similar to gyros in the states. Delicious.
We walked back to the hotel and took our mandatory siestas before heading back out on the town for the night. We met up with a bunch of others and ate tapas at a nearby restaurant. The great thing about tapas in Granada- each drink that is ordered comes with tapas, so each meal is pretty inexpensive. We went to a few different tapas place and ate queso frito, some sort of taco thing with curry in it, and squid legs that still had the little suction cups on them. For those of you who know how weird I am about textures, be proud of me for eating the squid legs, and finding myself enjoying them.
After tapas, we went to El Camborio, which is a bar in a cave. Yes, we were dancing and raging in a cave. The music was awesome, the drinks were cheap, and the Spaniards were aggressive as per usual. We took a taxi back to the hotel, went to sleep for about 2 hours, then woke up, threw everything in our bags, and headed back to Alicante. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Granada; I found it to be much like Madrid, just on a smaller scale. There was great architecture, beautiful views, and amazing food. But after a weekend, I was excited to go back to Alicante... home sweet Alicante.