Granada was beautiful! The city lies close to the Sierra Nevada and it had just opened up for the winter skiing season when we arrived. Luckily, the mountain was the only place there was snow, the rest of the city was still looking rather autumn-like. We left this morning around 9 and arrived around noon. We check into the hotel right away and were given free time for lunch and to explore until we met with our tour guide who took us on a tour of the city. Granada, like most of southern Spain, was formerly ruled by Muslims and was later taken over by Christians. We visited the market, which was really quaint, covered with tons of beautiful fabrics, none of which I felt like buying after my 100 Euro loss the day before. After the walking tour, we broke off for dinner (BK lounge) and then got ready for the evening. We bought some wine and drank up in the hotel until we were ready to face the cold. As we were walking to the nightlife district, two guys on a Vespa drove by and snatched Natalia’s clutch from around her wrist, almost throwing her on the ground. We tried running after them and yelling but they were gone. She had her camera, money, phone etc in there and now it was gone. The poor girl was in tears which a slightly swollen wrist. They had no mercy. I called the police station so we could find it and make a report but we weren’t familiar enough with the area to get there. So I flagged down a cop car and they just gave me directions, no sympathy, nothing. It was ridiculous. I understand that these things happen all the time to tourists in Europe, but have some sympathy. After walking for almost 2 hours, we found the police station and at this point, not only was I slightly drunk, but livid with the system here. She filed a report and at this point, it was late and none of us had the desire to go anywhere so we just went back to the hotel and crashed.
The next morning we ate breakfast and took some of the food to make sandwiches for lunch later that day. We met up with our tour guide for our visit to the Generalife and Alhambra. Generalife was beautiful, just a bunch of fancy gardens and walk ways, great photo opps. The Alhambra was unexplainable. I can’t believe the time and patience these people had to make something so beautiful. The walls were just covered in intricate patterns, everything having some sort of meaning. Breathtaking.
We had some free time…we spent most of it wandering…none of really in the mood to shop considering the majority of us had been robbed in the last 48 hours. We arrived back in Sevilla close to dinnertime. I was wiped.
Today, nothing to special. Class. Getting ready to see the family this weekend. So close. So tired. G’night.
Maribel