This weekend ISA took us on a trip to Las Alpujarras (a mountainous region in the Sierra Nevada) and Nerja (a beach town on the Mediterranean). It was absolutely amazing. Quite possibly the best two days of my life. I felt like I was on some super-luxurious vacation. It was also perfect timing, because just last week I finally started to feel completely at home in Granada, happy to be living in Spain, and ready to take on life's next big adventure. And an adventure it was. It was only just over an hour's bus ride to get to our hotel up in the mountains, much of which was on winding roads on the edge of a cliff. Scenic, but a little scary. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and set off for our 5-hour-long hike. I was expecting it to be brutal, but it actually wasn't that bad. We had two tour guides who stopped every so often to tell us things about the geography of the region and how people interact with the environment. Our hike took us through some little pueblos, farms, and some foresty areas. Every minute was breathtaking. Most of the pictures that I got are of the mountains in the distance. At some of the most exciting parts, it would have been too dangerous to stop and take a picture. But it was fun. Later that day I explored the little town that we were staying in with my friends. There were a few cute tourist shops, and a cool cafe bar where I enjoyed some nice hot tea. It was really warm while we were hiking, but it got super cold at night. ISA treated us to a buffet dinner in the hotel restaurant, which was great.
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| It was so exciting to see pumpkins growing! |
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| One mini-adventure was having to cross over this little creek. Most of them had stepping stones, but for this one we either had to leap over or balance on little logs. What was cool was that the water was orange. |
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| The whole mountainside tiny white villages just scattered across it. |
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| Going downhill was actually a lot more difficult than uphill. |
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| It might have seemed kind of strange that we were passing so close to people's backyards, but it was cool to see what they were growing. |
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| This was the view from the balcony of my hotel room. |
The next day we had breakfast in the same restaurant, and set off for the beach town of Nerja. First, the bus dropped some of us off to visit La Cueva de Nerja, one of the largest caves in Europe. We got there only a half hour before they closed for siesta, but even a quick exploration of it was super neat. After a quick lunch in the park nearby, we took a bus to the city center and walked from there to the Balcón de Europa. This is a plaza that looks over the Mediterranean Sea, so you get a perfect view of everything: the sea, the beach, the town, and the mountains. From there we went down to the beach itself. It was really nice to wade in the Mediterranean Sea while exploring the rocks and little caves that were right on the coastline. Some people in my group were actually climbing up onto the boulders and jumping into the water, but I did not find that necessary in order to enjoy the day. After a few hours here, we got on the bus and headed back to Granada. I went to bed almost immediately after coming home. It was a fantastic weekend, but I was just worn out after all that sun.
This weekend ISA took us on a trip to Las Alpujarras (a mountainous region in the Sierra Nevada) and Nerja (a beach town on the Mediterranean). It was absolutely amazing. Quite possibly the best two days of my life. I felt like I was on some super-luxurious vacation. It was also perfect timing, because just last week I finally started to feel completely at home in Granada, happy to be living in Spain, and ready to take on life's next big adventure. And an adventure it was. It was only just over an hour's bus ride to get to our hotel up in the mountains, much of which was on winding roads on the edge of a cliff. Scenic, but a little scary. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and set off for our 5-hour-long hike. I was expecting it to be brutal, but it actually wasn't that bad. We had two tour guides who stopped every so often to tell us things about the geography of the region and how people interact with the environment. Our hike took us through some little pueblos, farms, and some foresty areas. Every minute was breathtaking. Most of the pictures that I got are of the mountains in the distance. At some of the most exciting parts, it would have been too dangerous to stop and take a picture. But it was fun. Later that day I explored the little town that we were staying in with my friends. There were a few cute tourist shops, and a cool cafe bar where I enjoyed some nice hot tea. It was really warm while we were hiking, but it got super cold at night. ISA treated us to a buffet dinner in the hotel restaurant, which was great.
The next day we had breakfast in the same restaurant, and set off for the beach town of Nerja. First, the bus dropped some of us off to visit La Cueva de Nerja, one of the largest caves in Europe. We got there only a half hour before they closed for siesta, but even a quick exploration of it was super neat. After a quick lunch in the park nearby, we took a bus to the city center and walked from there to the Balcón de Europa. This is a plaza that looks over the Mediterranean Sea, so you get a perfect view of everything: the sea, the beach, the town, and the mountains. From there we went down to the beach itself. It was really nice to wade in the Mediterranean Sea while exploring the rocks and little caves that were right on the coastline. Some people in my group were actually climbing up onto the boulders and jumping into the water, but I did not find that necessary in order to enjoy the day. After a few hours here, we got on the bus and headed back to Granada. I went to bed almost immediately after coming home. It was a fantastic weekend, but I was just worn out after all that sun.
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