Author: Gabi Neuman 

Location: Granada, Spain

If you don’t speak Spanish, the meaning of this title is the sea and the mountains—in my opinion it flows better in Spanish with that lovely alliteration.  Last weekend I was fortunate enough to experience both of these aspects of nature on Friday (because we normally don’t have Friday classes!!!) and then Saturday, which was appropriate for Earth Day I’d say.  Granada, being part of Andalucía, is in southern Spain where some of Spain’s highest mountains are located, yet it is also only an hour drive to the closest coast.  It’s the best of both worlds, if you ask me.

On Friday, three of my friends and I took a bus to the coast of Granada around 9am and arrived in Nerja around 11am, a tourist coastal town close to Malaga.  After dealing with 2 months of straight rain, our first beach day was a major step up from being stuck inside all day every day.  We made it to the center of the town and found a brunch place that over looked the Mediterranean Sea (as you can see in the photos).  After finishing our second breakfast of the day since we had all already eaten at home, we headed for the beach.  In Nerja there are supposedly two beaches—one large one, or what you would typically think for a beach, and then a smaller beach with beach chairs to rent.  Being that we couldn’t find the large beach and we were standing right next to the small beach, we decided to venture down to the small beach where we rented chairs for the day and chilled for about 6 hours.  Once we were on the bus back to Granada, we unanimously decided that it was by far our favorite day in Spain thus far.

The next day, Saturday, we had a hike with our program and our intercambios.  Quick description of what an intercambio is.  Through the Central College program we partner up with about 7 students who attend the University of Granada (local Granadinos).  During the semester we go to places throughout the city with them such as an open air market, out for coffee, and our last activity which was a hike up through the mountains.  None of us knew where we were going so we did about 3 circles through the touristy part of the city and then proceeded to hike up past the Alhambra—the most famous site in Granada.  A side note about Spanish girls vs. American girls going on a hike: usually Americans are prepared to sweat since it is April in Spain and things are starting to heat up, especially when you’re going on a 4 hour hike.  This means that we wear sport shorts, t-shirts, no makeup, and our hair is up and out of our face.  Spanish girls are the opposite.  They have long leggings on, their hair down, perfect makeup, and if they were wearing a t-shirt they were one of the rare ones.  That being said, I’m convinced that Spaniards don’t sweat, so they can get all primped up for a hot and sweaty hike.  Just another cultural difference if you ask me.  Moving on…we started at 9am, walked past the Alhambra, meandered through a field of sheep (and sheep poop), and made it to the top of the mountain by around 1:00pm where there’s a park that the majority of people drive up to.  After eating lunch and playing a game of “Detective”(which is pretty fun but I would recommend playing it in your first language). After Detective, we headed back down the mountain which took about a third of the time as it did getting up.

All in all, I’m thankful for the weather change and that it actually looks like spring here so that I can experience the Granada that the rain wouldn’t let me see.  It’s a gorgeous city with lots of nature surrounding it that stretches from la mar to las montañas.  The best of both worlds.