An Epic Weekend With Carmen

While there were sad parts, there were many beautiful moments this past weekend. While many of my friends in the program went to Paris or Morocco, I decided I wanted to spend my last weekend of the program in Granada with Carmen, which was such a good decision looking back, and the two of us really bonded.

On Friday, I slept in and did some homework and other things in the morning while Carmen was at work. We had a lovely lunch, and ran some errands in the afternoon!  In the evening after I found out about Katie, Carmen was extremely comforting and offered lots of hugs, kisses, and support!

Saturday was wonderful. In the morning we met up with Jorge, Carmen's son, for breakfast, and they took me to the Alhambra Palace hotel, where we ate breakfast.  They have absolutely gorgeous, panoramic views of Granada, so it was really magical.  There was also something about the open air, being high up, and looking over the city that was very healing.  I am very much a reflective person, so I enjoyed looking out over where I have lived for the past 6 weeks.  It was so cool to know where things were, sort of like I was looking at a satellite map of the city.

 You can see my house from here!! But really, you can. I couldn't tell you which building though. :)

This is where we ate breakfast!

Then, we visited a beautiful nearby park and walked around for a while!  There were more gorgeous views! It was also awesome since this weekend the temperature cooled down, so it was very pleasant!

 This is the bridge I cross every day to go to class!

After exploring, we headed back near our home and got tapas and hung out a little bit before Johanna, Jorge's girlfriend, met up with us for lunch! They took me to a vegetarian restaurant, which was so nice of them! And it was quite delish! We also all got dessert, and I had a yummy piece chocolate cake! We definitely had some interesting conversation. For example, vegetarianism is not at all common in Spain, since they LOVE their meat, and Jorge and Johanna had never tried tofu or vegetarian burgers!

 Jorge and Carmen!

Raices means "roots" in Spanish

The rest of Saturday was very relaxing, and then in the evening, Carmen and I went shopping! It was a lot of fun, especially since "rebajas" have started.  Las rebajas are basically like Black Friday every day for the month of July. Nearly every store puts at least about half of the store (sometimes the whole store) on clearance, usually between 30 and 70% off! It's crazy!! We went shopping again on Sunday, so I will be coming home with a few dresses and skirts! 

Also on Sunday, we visited the Museo de Bellas Artes since there was a Sorolla exhibit, which is one of Carmen's favorite painters! Once again, we were up by the Alhambra in the Palacio of Carlos V, since the museum is on the second floor.

 You can see the stage from the concert on Thursday!

 The outside of the Palace, you definitely don't expect there to be a circle inside!

We weren't allowed to take photos inside the museum, but here is an example of Sorolla's work.

After the museum, she suggested that we get ice cream, so we went to Los Italianos again, and this time I tried chocolate y frambuesa, which is raspberry! YUM! We got home and had lunch, and then later she made crepes! They were so delish, and we had them with chocolate, the maple syrup I brought her, strawberry marmalade, and more ice cream. Definitely not my proudest day on the nutrition front.  I am sure there is a lot I am missing about the rest of the weekend, but basically it was so much fun to spend so much time with Carmen! 

Also, one more story from Monday that was so nice! Kelley was in Morocco this weekend, and so we weren't in contact at all, but when I came home from my Monday morning class, she was sitting on the steps of my building and was there to comfort and support me following Katie's death! She even gave me hugs and then we ate leftover crepes. So, I was very appreciative. :)

Whew, that was long!! Love you all soo much! Thanks for reading!