Protected: Giddy goodness

Granada finally

First off, my apologies for the lack of comments recently. I must admit I have actually still not caught up with parts of my blogroll since my trip to Andalusia and I currently have 333 unread posts. It will probably take a while until I get back into the swing of things and to posting comments regularly, but I will get to it eventually.

Now, finally the last part of my Granada review. I did upload the pictures yesterday already but it was too late to write a review, as I now work Mondays to Wednesdays and have to get up at 8.15am [I know that it isn't very early but for me it is, it also means I should get to bed at 1am at the very latest].

The day I arrived in Granada, I visited the Capilla Real [where you were not allowed to take pictures so I don't have any] and the Cathedral which are right next to each other. And while most Cathedrals make me think that the Catholic Church has way too much money, they are usually very impressive and nice to visit; I remember this one was quite big.

Afterwards I walked through the streets of the Alcaicería, the Arab bazaar of Granada. As far as I know this used to be where silk was sold, but now the narrow streets are full of tourist stores. Sounds worse than it is, as they have so many beautiful Arabic things to look at and buy.

I walked around the old town some more and saw the Plaza Bib-Rambla and the Corral de Carbon.

That night I went on a tapas tour with a few people from the hostel. The great thing about tapas in Granada is that when you order a drink, you generally get a tapa along with the drink [and it is not always just snack sized] so you can eat for very cheap. Afterwards we went to a tetería where I had a milk shake [at a tetería, yes, but it was hot, and I really didn't feel like drinking hot tea when it was already so hot outside]. We also smoked hookah [shisha] and that was the first time I did in my life, however, I am not sure I can see what is so special about it.

Anyway, the next day was Monday, my birthday, and I went to see the Alhambra. I got there, got my ticket from one of the ticket machines [which meant I only stood in line for a couple of minutes] and went to the Palacios de los Nasrides, which are essentially the main attraction of the Alhambra. And they really were breathtaking. The detail that went into the facades is just amazing. Unfortunately the famous lions from the Lions’ Court were not there as they were being restored.

Continue reading Granada finally…

A first taste

I will post the Granada pictures sometime this weekend, but here is a first taste.

This is my first try at a panorama, using Canon PhotoStitch [a software that came with my camera]. I took this at the Mirador de San Nicolas in Granada. It is the Alhambra with the Sierra Nevada in the background and the town of Granada to the right.

You can see the big version here.

By the way, if you have any advice on how to make the stitches disappear, please let me know. [I've already tried to make them less visible, but they're still there.]

And happy 4th of July to all my American readers!

Working away

Yesterday, I started my internship. Great news is I will actually be getting paid a little after all. I had expected the internship to be unpaid, but I will be paid €125 a month [working 20 hours a week]. It’s not much, but it will help me cover my expenses at least, and it is definitely more than the €0 I was expecting. I’ll be working Monday to Wednesday, so I work 6-7 hours every day and then am off Thursday to Sunday. I worked yesterday and today, and so far it’s very nice. Granted not all of the work is always exciting, but it is all new and interesting so far, and I have lots to learn anyways. Which is why I am doing this internship, after all. Everyone of my co-workers seems really nice so far at the atmosphere is pretty laid back at work. I am actually going to work again tomorrow but that is because I only started work at 1pm yesterday as opposed to 10am, so I have a few hours to catch up on.

Then I have been busy organizing the barbecue I am going to have with a few friends on Saturday for my birthday and also just to see them all again. We’re going to have a BBQ and then go out for drinks later. I hope it will all be fun and the weather will be as the forecast predicts [warm and sunny].

Well, tomorrow after work I am going to go to my brother’s place and afterwards I think I have to go to the doctor to get a prescription for my allergy meds because my allergies have been really bad since I came back to Germany. I hope I’ll be able to go through the Granada pictures on Friday and then I will finally post the last of the reviews.

Protected: Wedding weekend