Two trips to Granada this week... Qué suerte!
Updated: Oct 17, 2023
Between attending an orientation for my program on Tuesday and Fiesta Nacional de España on Thursday, I only had two days of work this week! My group and I took full advantage of the time off with a wonderful weekend trip to the pomegranate city, Granada, and a hike in Torrenueva.
Monday was an average day of work for me: teaching 6th graders about the digestive system, trying a new type of cake at break, and working with the secretary to get my last bit of paperwork done. I was particularly exhausted for some reason and took full advantage of the Spanish siesta to catch up on some zzzs.
We all had to get up and out the door early on Tuesday to catch a bus to Granada for our orientation. The ride was a relaxing hour spent winding through the mountains and watching the temperature steadily drop as we approached the city.
Since Sophie and I have been so on top of our paperwork, I was much more interested in making friends with other auxes, than paying attention to the presentations. We did not get much of a chance to socialize until the lunch hour after the information sessions, but it was worth the wait! The catered lunch was full of wine, beer, sangría, and passed hour d'oeuvres. After we met and talked with some of the language assistants in Salobreña, Sophie and I headed out for a quick tour of Granada center.
We metro-ed into the area of Granada that I am most familiar with and poked quickly into a few shops before stopping at my favorite gelato place, Los Italianos. Shockingly, there was close to no line and we were in and out with our dark chocolate and hazelnut flavored treats in no time. We ate our ice cream on the walk over to visit my old university. It was such a weird feeling being back and seeing all the students go to school, but it was nice to see the Centro de Lenguas Modernas again.
We went on a very quick stroll through the Albaicín, one of the older neighborhoods in the city, and continued on a tour of places that I used to frequent as a student. Although we almost didn't make it back to the bus stop in time, it was amazing to spend an afternoon in my favorite city :)
The highlight of my Wednesday was one of my students gifting me a hand-drawn picture of me. They really nailed one of my outfits from the week before and even added rosy checks. It was such a sweet gesture and made my day!
After siesta, I had my weekly language exchange call with Ada and we talked a lot about the upcoming national holiday. We both had a four day weekend to look forward to and it was a great way to kick it off.
Thursday morning Skye and I went for a quick run before packing up our stuff and heading back to Granada with Sophie and Renne for the weekend. We had stayed up late the night before booking some last minute accommodations, but the Eco Hostel turned out to be a wonderful place to stay!
After checking in, we went in search of some snacks and ended up at a tapas place in Plaza Nueva. We had some delicious tinto de verano and patatas bravas (roasted/fried potatoes with a spicy sauce) before meeting up with one of the teachers, named Buse, from my school who is a Granada local. Buse led us on a tour of the city and up to one of my favorite spots, Carmen de los Martires
We wandered around the gardens and appreciated the coolness from the shade and the fountains. I had visited this site once before with Ada when I studied abroad and it was just as beautiful as I remembered!
There were a couple of pavos reales (peacocks) roaming around the area and we were able to snag a picture with one of them. The walk up to Carmen de los Martires from Granada is a steep one but well worth the huffing and puffing.
Once we had returned to the city, we stopped to get piononos, a typical, Granada-original dessert. I skipped out on this treat (I find them too sweet to be enjoyed) but since they are Buse's favorite, we had to have the rest of the group try them. The reviews were mixed but overall not a crowd pleaser for us Americans.
We parted ways with Buse and went to meet up with some friends we met at orientation for tapas! It was a really busy night, but we were able to find a table inside and had a lovely time chatting and getting to know some other auxes.
The next day I headed out for a run in the area of the city I used to walk/run in almost daily. On the way there I spotted a pomegranate tree full of fruit!
We had a quick breakfast at the hostel café and walked straight to my favorite bookstore El Tiempo Perdido. I loved coming here when I was a student in Granada and had to revisit the cute, eclectic spot while I had the chance. I bought El Gran Gatsby (Spanish version of The Great Gatsby) and I'm excited to work my way through it and learn some new words!
After the bookstore, we went in search of new clothes at some of the stores that Motril doesn't have. Skye and Renne both made some super cute purchases that they ending up wearing later on in our trip. We then stopped by an Asian food store for some specialty items and grabbed empanadas on the way back to our hostel. We ended up passing another famous heladería and paused so Sophie could sample their brownie flavor.
After a siesta, Skye and I spent some time in the common room reading and journaling before meeting up with everyone for a hostel-led hike. Our tour guide, Eddy, led us up through the Albaicín to two famous spots: Mirador de San Nicolás and San Miguel Alto. It was so nice getting to know the other hostel guests while seeing the city from some of the best spots.
We shared some free sangría (curtsey of the hostel) with our new friends before heading into town for dinner at an Italian restaurant. Skye, Renne, and I went out to a few bars/discotecas and despite feeling old, we still had a good time.
Saturday morning was SUPER busy in Granada and after waiting for 15 minutes in a line to get into the cathedral, we decided to go another time and spent our remaining hours in the city thrifting and exploring. I was pretty tired since we had had a late night and greatly enjoyed the siesta I took when we returned home to Motril. Sophie, Lauren, and I continued the Spanish show, El Internado, we've been watching together and then we called it a night.
Today began bright and early for me and Skye since we wanted to get started on our hike as soon as possible. We took the very short bus ride (5 minutes) to the town of Torrenueva Costa where we began our 6ish mile loop. The walk was absolutely beautiful and we saw a great mix of mountains and ocean.
We accidentally stumbled across a nude beach and didn't realize our mistake until I asked if the guy on the beach was wearing nude swim trunks...thankfully we were quite a few stories above the sand.
One of the coolest parts of the hike was the Pasarela Colgante de Jolúcar, a hanging bridge spanning the gap between two coastal high points.
When we finished our hike we stopped at an adorable beachside café for some fresh squeezed orange juice and a tomato toast :) A perfect post exploring breakfast!
I couldn't resist swimming in the water when we wrapped up eating and even though we didn't bring swimsuits, we jumped right in (in our clothes). Of all the beaches we've visited so far this trip I have to say Torrenueva Costa might take the cake. The mix of polished shells, stones, and seaglass was incredible and the water was SO crystal clear. Also, a dolphin sighting close to shore never hurts a rating.
We tried to dry off in the sun the best we could but it ended up being a decently wet bus ride home for the two of us. I really hope to get the chance to explore this area more in the future and to bring my parents here when they visit! It was a perfect end to this week and I am looking forward to my full work week coming up.
So fun! Miss you guys 💛❤️