Granada!

I'm currently writing today's update in the kitchen (which doesn't have heating) with a jumper and bobble hat on, warming my hands up with a cup of tea. It's absolutely freezing. It was 5 degrees for most of today and I'm really not sure where that came from... I can't even warm up in bed at the moment because my room is just as cold if not colder. I've probably got damp so my door has been open all day to get rid of the smell, which is just fantastic really. Most of today's post is going to be about Granada where I went at the weekend, but beforehand, just a couple of noteworthy things to have happened within the past two weeks.

I had my first seminar for International Public Law, and the case we had to read for it was absolutely huge. It contained a number of different conventions and court rulings which I tried in vain to find in English (don't judge me, it takes ages and I still don't understand anything more by the end than I did at the beginning), and also 10 questions about the case which need arguments grounded in legal theory/practice in response. To make matters worse, we had a class test on the case - but in a pleasantly surprising turn of events, the teacher said I could use a dictionary and essentially said I could ask him anything I didn't understand! So he must realise that I am struggling which takes a little bit of the weight off my shoulders!

I attended the Madrid student welcome day. And what a waste of time that was. The event, unknown to me beforehand, was essentially a massive freshers fair which had loads of information about housing and trips and bank accounts. This would have been useful information before I came to Madrid, or within the first 2 weeks at most, but 6 weeks into term...?

I went to a fair for the National Day of Spain which wasn't a waste of time. It was just like a crappy amusement park on the British coast which reminds me of home so enjoyed it. Also reminded me of my time spent in Spain when I was little with my grandparents going to do the hook a duck in the evening! And of course what's not to love about churros every 10 metres. One thing that did make me chuckle was how many teenagers were there drinking - I know botellón is a thing but this was a different level of young people encountering their first experiences with alcohol! One or two had had one too many shall we say...

The library is getting very full now which I do not appreciate. And yes I am aware of how selfish this is.

I've finally registered as a resident of Spain! An appointment eventually became available and so that's one less thing on my long-term to do list.

And since my last post I've had my first menú del día at Punto Vegano, which included pumpkin soup to start, spinach ravioli as my principante (I haven't had ravioli in so long because shop-bought stuff always has meat or cheese in and it was heavenly) and pumpkin cake for dessert! I've also been to Delishvegan to try one or their donuts and it was the best I've ever tasted including non-vegan ones! They have so many more flavours to try so I'll definitely be going back. And I accidentally discovered a Spanish fast food chain that serves vegan options - it's called Pans and Company. I had their bbq huera (mock chicken) bocadillo and I was actually considering sending it back at first because I was so convinced they had given me real chicken one it was so realistic...

As usual I've ended up writing more than I was planning on, but nevertheless on to Granada! Got an early train Saturday morning and arrived about 11:00. The trains are super comfortable, which probably helps to explain their extortionate prices... I thought UK trains were expensive! But since learned that you can get a discount card for 50 euros which gives to 50% off tickets if you book a month in advance, which still would have been cheaper than what I paid for a return annoyingly. Anyway, my morning consisted of visiting some Catholic places of worship, starting with the Basilica de San Juan de Dios. Not really sure what I was expecting, but I was absolutely blown away! Words cannot describe how much gold there was, and with an audioguide included for 4 euros it was definitely one of the highlights of the day to my surprise. This was a slight shame because it made the Real Monasterio de San Jerónimo and the Capilla Real de Granada were quite disappointing in comparison. I went to a place called El Ojú for lunch. Now Granada is the home of Spanish tapas, known for its generous portion sizes, but I had no idea of the extent of this. With every drink you get a free tapa from a choice of eight, so for the price of 7.40 euros (the price of a starter in the UK?) I had 2 drinks, a mock chorizo sandwich, a roasted veg sandwich, and a massive slice of chocolate banana cake and I was absolutely stuffed. Didn't even need to order a main! Next I went to visit the summer house of Frederico Garcia Lorca, one of whose plays I studied for A-level Spanish and came to resent the name just like you do with anything to revise for hours and hours of end with, but naturally I had to make the visit regardless. A lovely lady gave a tour of the house and had loads of interesting information, even though I can't remember much of it now. I next walked to one of Granada's viewpoints to experience the amazing views that the city is known for. I think this was either one of the lesser well-known ones, or just the fact that it was a bit further away and more of an effort to get to. I was not disappointed! The views were gorgeous and a German lad was playing some peaceful acoustic guitar to his girlfriend which added to the tranquil mood and sunset lighting. On my way to tea, I hunted out some of the streets I'd previously looked up before coming - Granada has some really artistic graffiti and I'm glad I made the effort to find it! I had the hicuri burger (beyond burger with vegan bacon, vegan cheese and turmeric and orange bread) at Hicuri Vegan Restaurant for tea which came with chips and some absolutely banging garlic alioli. Afterwards it was getting pretty dark and so I headed up to the more well known (and closer) viewpoint to see the city (and the Alhambra) lit up. Even though it was pretty, the sheer amount of tourists (like myself, I know I'm a hypocrite) killed the mood slightly. I finished off the evening with some mango gelato which I enjoyed in a plaza a short walk from my hostel. Whilst people watching, I German hitchhiker came over and offered my some wine as he didn't want to drink alone and we got chatting for quite a while which topped the evening off. I do enjoy travelling alone because I can go my own pace but it is nice to talk to somebody every once in a while! Sunday morning began with another early start as I'd learned the previous day that if you get to the Alhambra early enough, you can buy the leftovers of what haven't already been sold online for that day. So I took my chances and checked out of the hostel at 07:00, had a fantastic beetroot houmous and avocado bagel for breakfast at Wildfood Vegan which conveniently opened super early, and walked for half an hour in the cold, dark and rain to the ticket office. And I got a ticket! The only downside was that my time to enter the actual Palace was at 13:00 which I wouldn't be able to make because I had to catch my train home that afternoon. But I still got to see the Alcazaba (military fortification with some of the best views of the city), the gardens, and the Generalife which all were fantastic! Afterwards I had an hour to kill and some did some window shopping in the city's middle-eastern themed shops due to the city's Arabic heritage, before having lunch at Paprika, which served some good but albeit overpriced quinoa steamed rolls. Overall, an absolutely fantastic city which thoroughly exceeded my expectations!