Paella, Tapas, Sangrias...Oh My!

I literally do not have the words to describe my time in Spain. Like I actually do not possess the capability of conveying how unbelievable that country is, but I will try!

Wednesday morning, I left Lund with my friends Rebecca and Nick to catch our 11AM flight from Malmo to Malaga. We booked the entire trip to Spain weeks ago, but for me it was kind of a random trip in that Spain really wasn't on my "to-do" list of countries to visit. In retrospect... I have NO idea why it wasn't; it should be on every living being's list of places to go before you die.

This was my first time flying Ryanair, which was an adventure in itself... As most of you know its the cheapest airline in Europe and for good reason! The three of us joked as we pushed and shoved to get seats, and exchanged nervous glances when we took off since it pretty much felt like we were going to drop right out of the sky. Everything was yellow and plastic, including the chairs... but, hey, you do what you gotta do! Four hours later we landed in super sunny Malaga.

Yeah we boarded the plane from the ground; it was weird.

Malaga is usually known as a resort city; a lot of Brits vacation on the warm beaches there. So the whole all-the-spanish-I-know-is-hola really didn't come to mind until we landed. And no one spoke English. Butttt, lucky for me (and Nick) Rebecca speaks Spanish fluently, so she proceeded to translate for us the entire trip.

The "lil translator" herself.

Once we (I mean Rebecca) figured out how to get to the train station, we took the subway into the city. From there we had a 25 minute walk with our 25 lbs hikers' backpacks in the tropical humidity (I used to think backpacking would be cool, my shoulders beg to differ). On the way there we saw tons of mopeds, palm trees, and fabric covered, marble paved plazas. Our hostel was located right at the hub of all the action which made it easy to find our way around at night! 

Malaga was an amazing vacation from my vacation. I spent hours lounging on the beach and walking through tropical-plant lined avenues (Paseo del Parque). I ate huge plates of paella, tapas of fried calamari, and drank sangrias every night. I visited the Pablo Picasso Museum and hiked up Roman ruins to get a view of the city at night. One of the nights the three of us took part in our hostel's "Pub Crawl" to get a taste of the Spanish night life, which of course, did not disappoint! 

Here is one of the main shopping areas. 

The huge cathedral in the center of town

Inside of the cathedral; construction began in 1528 and finished in 1782.

Our first Spanish meal of the trip! Since we were the waiter's first customers he brought us free tapas including these green olives that I now love. I must find these delicious things in Sweden and the US! Here we shared a plate of paella which is a traditional Spanish rice dish made with chicken, seafood, onions, garlic, bellpeppers, tomatoes and other delicious spices. It was hands down the best food I've eaten in weeks (sorry Sweden paella>tubed caviar).

Best sangria of the entire trip (and I had a lot to compare hehe). Rebecca and I decided this was basically a REALLY sweet, cold and refreshing CapriSun with chunks of strawberries, watermelon, and pineapples in it. Uh..YUM

Sneaking pictures in the Picasso museum. They kept getting angry with me in Spanish...ooops. 

Picasso was actually born in Malaga but when he left at age 19 he never returned.

Found another church! A good portion of our time in all of the cities was spend wandering the town with no specific destination in mind. This was totally alright with me.

Our trip to the beach took us through the Malaga port first.

But eventually we found the sand. The waves of the Mediterranean crashed really hard and the shore line was rocky but is was definitely relaxing and refreshing to spend the hottest part of the day getting tanner than every Swede we know.

This Roman theatre of Malaga dates back to the 1st century. 

Bright and early Friday morning we left Malaga to make a day trip to Cordoba. The city is a remarkable combination of Islamic culture and Roman Catholic history. Throughout Spain's vast history Cordoba was a major city in the Roman Empire and Islamic caliphate. This trip to Spain realllly makes me want to take a Spanish history class when I get back to UCLA!

The main reason we went out of our way to Cordoba was to see the architecture of the Cathedral of Cordoba. I've read about it in books and learned about its significance in high school, but seeing the cathedral first hand was awe-striking. Its one thing to look at a 4x4 image in a textbook and another to to look up to see the massive arches above you. It was unreal, one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen. The unique combination of Islamic architecture and Catholic tradition made this site unforgettable and more than worth the trip. I still can't actually believe I was there. So blessed. 

The scenic walk to the cathedral.

The outdoor area totally reminded me of the Spanish style missions back home.

The dome of the cathedral located above the Catholic portion of the structure included the altar and pews.

Again, I just don't have the words...

The Cathedral of Cordoba was truly amazing but we had a schedule to keep! By 3:15 we made the trek, backpacks and all, back to the bus station to take the 2.5 hour trip to Granada, our third and final destination for the week.

We were exhausted, sweating profusely, thirsty, mosquito bitten, and achy allll over, but the moment we entered the magical city of Granada we completely forgot about all of these troubles. From the bus we walked through the modern down town to settle into our hostel, which was nestled at the bottom of the Alhambra itself.

That night I got to experience the most wonderful city, full of Spanish culture, life, and energy. We walked through old town, the modern down town, and the Moorish Albaicin. And every part of Granada, though completely distinct from the other neighborhoods, was absolutely beautiful! Everywhere you went you were immersed in the Spanish culture of tasty complimentary tapas with sangrias and tinto de verano. Granada is unlike any European city I've ever visited. At night the streets flooded with people of every age, eating dinner at 11 PM with their families. There is Spanish music and flamanco dancing in the plazas, artists drawing, and musicians playing. The night life wasn't your stereotypical clubs and bars with the goal of getting hammered, but consisted of sitting down and conversing with friends and family, actually enjoying your company. The city itself, as well as all of its people were so welcoming I felt I could stay there forever. It was so comfortable and homey, I forgot for a moment I wasn't traveling with family; it was the closest I've felt to home the entire month! I could seriously go on forever attempting to describe Granada but I will spare you ;)

Our cute hostel 

Streets of Granada

One of the many quaint restaurants!

A night view of the city and the Alhambra 

I absolutely loved these streets, packed tight with people and lined with Arab shops. 

Travel buddies!

The way to our hostel and the cheap, yet delicious tapas bar we love. 

Hi, can I live here?

The next morning, the three of us hiked up the side of the Alhambra to get afternoon tickets to the fortress, palaces, and gardens. We stopped for fried eggs and chorizo; I bought this delicious nectarine/peach juice that was to die for. By 2PM the sun was shining bright (but no humidity thank goodness) and we entered the historic landmark.

The Alhambra is a Moorish citadel and palace, since the Moors were one of the first to conquer the Iberian Peninsula in the 700s. It stands at the top of a hill where the Alcazaba (defensive area) overlooks the entire city of Granada. The Alhambra is well known for the Nasrid Palaces and the Generalife gardens. The Alhambra, just like other towns in Spain, went through the hands of the Muslim culture and the Roman Catholic Empire.

Here come the millions of pics!

In the Generalife gardens

Repetitive geometric tiles typical of Islamic art. The culture believes the most beautiful things cannot be found in nature, therefore their art work usually depicts these shapes. These tiles lined all of the bottom half of each interior wall of the palaces since it is more weather resistant than the stucco used in the picture below. 

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A ceiling in one of the palaces

Walking into the Court of the Lions in the Nasrid Palaces

AKA walking into an art history book

My favorite picture of the Court of the Lions; AH so beautiful

The view of Granada from the top of the fortress

We ended our night, and trip in Granada, with chocolate churros. I will NEVER be able to eat a churro at home again. 

 It was hard saying goodbye to Spain come Sunday. But, I know I will be back one day. I can't wait to learn more about the Spanish culture and experience its welcoming embrace once again. As of now, I'm preparing for my first day of class on Tuesday. Sweden is beautiful as usual, but missing just a little bit of southern sunshine and sangria.

Until next time,
Xo