My last post

This was my last week in Granada. I will be flying home shortly and have just finished my finals; it is such a bittersweet feeling. On one hand I am very excited to get home and see all my friends and family but I will really miss the friends and life I have come to know.

This weekend I took a road trip to the north of Spain with friends from Granada. We rented a car on Thursday and returned to Granada on Sunday afternoon. It was quite an adventure because only one of my friends was confident driving a stick shift. Once she was tired we weren’t really sure who was going to drive. I had driven one a few times before so I was the lucky one. Unfortunately and inevitably I stalled at the first few tollbooths (pretty embarrassing) and they had to reopen the gates but I quickly learned, and we were on our way.

San Sebastian is such a beautiful city. The architecture and layout of the streets reminds me a lot of Paris. The feel of it is quite different though because it is right on the water with a clean and soft-sanded beach. Lush mountains also surrounded the city. The food there was so delicious, we had pinchos for just about every meal. Pinchos are slices of bread with your choice of topping that can include meat, fish (my favorite), cheese and/or vegetables.

The next day we drove to Bilbao for our last stop. We stayed in the old, most beautiful part of town. The buildings were much like those of San Sebastian. We visited a beautiful three-storied market. It seemed like the fresh produce; meat and seafood went on forever. I have seen more beautiful markets but nothing on this scale. The Guggenheim museum was really interesting. It gave you more art history than other museums, which I really enjoyed. There was a lot to read and hear about so we spent a great deal of time there.

The next morning we took the long drive home; this time in daylight. I really enjoyed seeing the countryside. Being in a city for so long its great to get out into the countryside. The olive farms are really beautiful, we stopped to taste a raw olive…not a good idea, I don’t recommend it. We made it back to Granada safe and sound.

Done with finals and heading home in a couple of days, this will be my last blog. Thanks so much for reading. I have really enjoyed my experience and feel incredibly lucky to have had this opportunity.