The whole group reconvened (Kassey and Ryan stayed longer in Barcelona) and we explored. Blake gave us some suggestions on places to go, which included a neighborhood painted over by a graffiti artist, the Alhambra, and a really cool hillside above Albayzin populated by people who live in caves without electricity or running water. We wound up going to all those places.
The graffiti neighborhood was pretty cool, and after walking around the city for about 3 hours, Evan and I decided to go see the Alhambra.
This building is quite magnificent, partly because it's been influenced imposingly by Muslim and Christian cultures when they ruled during separate times. There was also an M.C. Escher exhibit there, and I was able to see the originals of some of his most famous works, including the hands drawing each other. You can spend all day touring the compound, but we only went to the main parts, which were really incredible, as were the views of Granada surrounding the palace.
On the way home I saw this piece of graffiti, and I found it so striking that I remember it even a month later as I write this post:
That night we met with one of Evan's high school friends who was very nice and showed us a great time. We wound up going to the same tapas bar every night in Granada called Poe. Poe was established 9 years ago by an Englishman named Matt who was a former teacher in need of a scene change. He says that owning the tapas bar has been his most enjoyable occupation. I was amazed by his prices. For 1.80 euro you can get a full mug of beer along with a tapas of your choice. The tapas selections were all incredible, especially the salt cod, of which I could not get enough. The nights we were there were very fun. The most memorable place was a club that served free drinks until midnight, then opened up into a big dance party. Before many people were there, we watched one of the girls there dancing with a guy who looked like a cross between Andy Sandberg and Napoleon Dynamite. Her dance moves kept increasing more intensely until the entire club stopped dancing and instead stood and stared at these two people outdoing everyone else. I had never seen an entire club stop for one couple, but there it was.
The next day we walked around the modern part of the the city and saw the church Isabella and Ferdinand commissioned for their burial. These anti-Semites built quite the church for themselves.
That night Evan and I walked to the top of the village of cave people Blake told us to see. These people did live in caves, but civilized caves with doors and furniture. We had to walk up a lot of stairs, but it was well worth it. The view from the top was exquisite, and while there we watched the sun set. Romantic, myes.
This preceded what turned out to be one of the most absurd nights of my life. Everyone else went on to Madrid, but Evan and I stayed an extra day in Granada. We went back to Poe to see Matt and to say goodbye to the salt cod one last time. Then we made our way to the bus station. We were told that we would be able to get a ticket easily since the bus wouldn't be crowded, but the advice was very wrong. The 12:30 bus was sold out, as was the 1:30 and the 4:00. The next bus leaving was at 11:00 and I was shocked and in disbelief. Mind you that this bus station was also in a sketchy area of town and far from the city center and we didn't want to spend the money going back.
When we found out that our bus was at 11:00, I had two thoughts: 1) I was letting down my friend Jessie Fleeman who was in Madrid and pushed her bus back to Salamanca so she could see me, and 2) I realized that I had to sleep in a fucking bus station. At these two thoughts I walked away from Evan in a fury and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed...and by bed I mean floor. In the bathroom, as I was taking out my contacts, Evan walked in.
Evan: Listen, at least I remembered to print out all of my boarding passes before Spain.
(Before Spain I neglected to print out my boarding passes, and a theme running through this trip was where could I find a printer to get my next pass)
Me: Why are you saying that now? That's unncessary.
Evan: Because, Dude, you're all mad at me now. It's not my fault.
Me: I'm not mad out you, I'm mad at the situation.
Having taken out my contacts I then left the bathroom and sat down in one of the seats next to a homeless man. After a minute Evan walked over.
Evan: Is this seat taken?
Me: No. Listen, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the situation. You need to let me be angry for at least 5 minutes. This situation sucks.
Evan: It could be worse. I mean, sometimes a bird takes a dump on your head, but it could be an elephant...
Me: What?! Dude, just let me scream into the canyon, okay?
Evan: You can scream into the canyon, but not if you're mad at the friend.
I really wasn't angry with him, which clearly wasn't getting across, and as you can see this conversation was useless and absurd. We took this picture immediately after so we could remember the moment. We weren't posing for this, we were just legitimately upset.
Thus began our night in the bus station. It cleared out soon and we found a space on the ground and fell asleep. I woke up an hour later--cold, vulnerable, scared--to find a homeless man sleeping right next to me. I looked over at Evan who was awake, and we both burst out laughing.
A few hours later Evan went to the bathroom and when he got back said he stood next to a different homeless man and stared at a pile of cardboard boxes drooling over how warm they looked. Eventually we went into the cafeteria after it opened for breakfast and fell asleep crouched over a table. When I woke up I found myself surrounded by a throng of bus-riders chatting away at the tables. I felt gross and groggy, but eventually 11:00 came around and we got on our bus. I made sure I was the first to step on the bus and I had never been more grateful to enter one. 10 hours after we were supposed to leave Granada we finally left.
We made our way to Madrid, our final stop in Spain, where we now had 18 hours to spend before our next flight.
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