I have now been in Granada for a whole week and I'm starting to find my way around. Classes are going well although they are kind of intense and it was a struggle at first to drag all the grammar rules back to the surface, but the temptation to use French words whenever I can't think of the Spanish one is slowly disappearing!

On Wednesday evening, I went over to the flat of one of the other students in my conversation group, Theresa. She lives just over the square from me so we usually walk home from class together and she gives me tips on where the best bakeries are and when to avoid the supermarket. Most of the other students in our group where there too, as well as a couple of the teachers from the school and Theresa's son Matt. Everyone brought something to eat (I made brownies) so we had a feast. Spanish food is really good (well, from what I have tried so far) but I haven't got used to eating so late at night yet.

The weather was finally less grey this week so I managed to take some photos of the city, mostly in the Albaicin which is where the school is. It's built on a ridge and on the other side of the valley is the mountain with the Alhambra on top. I haven't made it up there but I think there will be a trip next week sometime with the school. It looks stunning at the moment, with the Sierra Nevada in the background covered in snow. Here are some pics to give you an idea:

This is the river that runs in the valley between the Alhambra and the Albaicin.

The Alhambra with the Sierra Nevada in the background.

The view I get of the city when I am walking to class in the morning.

A typical street in the Albaicin.


This week I have also managed to acquire a Spanish SIM card without any major problems and some trainers so I can actually do some exercise. I had to leave my other ones in Rennes because of the luggage situation but there it's still sales time in Spain so I managed to get some cheap. I'm going to join the gym that my flatmate goes to. It's just round the corner and they have lots of classes including aero-salsa which sounds more exciting than straight running (or "footing" as they call it in Spanish!)

On Friday after classes finished for the week, we had tapas at the school. It was really nice to sit outside on the terrace and drink wine in the sun. It's not super hot yet since it's still only January but you can get away with sitting outside without a hat and gloves. Roll on the summer...

New semester, new blogging ambitions.

What can I say?
I was a lazy blogger in December and only managed 1 post. This was not in fact because I had nothing to write about more that I had too much to do and was too busy doing it to write about it. What with concerts, trips to the opera, eating crepes, going out, exams, whirlwind visits of Paris, flying home for Christmas etc., blog-time was low down the list of priorities.

But it's a new semester (sort of) and I am now in Granada, so the blog is on again. We'll see how long it lasts....

I arrived in Granada on Saturday morning after a loooooong journey on Friday. I'm going to spare you the details, but instead take inspiration from a travel website I found called "The Good, The Bad and The Weird".

The Good:
* Travelling entirely by train means no flying!
* No flying means no luggage allowances, no worrying about if you have forbidden items in your hand baggage and best of all not giving Ryanair or Easyjet £10 for the privilege of using your credit card to book a flight.
* Being on the train means you can watch the stunning French/Spanish countryside roll by.
* Overnight trains are cool. It's like when I went to Corsica with Ruth and it felt like a proper adventure.
* The sandwicherie at Marne La Vallee Chessy station does a really good vegetarian sandwich with mozzarella, tomatoes and pesto. Possibly the only good thing about this station (see below).

The Bad:
* The journey was long, 28 hours in total. So by the time I got to Granada I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep.
* Marne La Vallee Chessy station, where I had to switch trains to go to Montpellier. Possibly even more depressing than Charles de Gaulle TGV. This station is basically meant for people going to Disneyland and you can get the bus from right outside the front entrance. It's all grey. Most stations have signs warning not to leave luggage unattended: this one has signs warning you not to let go of your helium balloon incase it causes a short circuit. And indeed there were half a dozen semi-deflated Mickey and Minnie balloons hanging around by the grey ceiling. Soul-suckingly depressing.
* The overnight train was cool. Like freezing. I had two blankets on and was still shivering, so the good old Aberdeen hoodie had to come to the rescue.

The Weird:
* The guy sitting next to me on the train from Marne La Vallee to Lyon. He was just really weird. But once he got off I was by myself so could watch True Blood in peace.

The trenhotel arrived in Granada early so I was at my new flat by half past 8 in the morning. I "found" a flat through another girl from Aberdeen who was in Granada first semester and has now gone to France. The flat is really central and I'm living with 3 Spanish people so hopefully should improve quickly.

Yesterday I went out with Pilar, my flatmate, and a couple of her friends to see the city. We walked through the streets up into the Albaicin which is one of the oldest parts of the city, on the opposite side of the river from the Alhambra. We also had some real tapas, which in Granada comes free with drinks. We also went to a tea-shop where they have chai. :-)

Today, my classes started at the Spanish school I am going to for the next 3 weeks. It's also up in the Albaicin and it was nice walking up there this morning even though the hill is really steep. There are not many other students there at the moment and there is no-one in my level, so in the morning I have 2 private lessons with a teacher and then after the break I have another 2 classes with a group for conversation type exercises. It was a bit daunting today because I am the only new student this week and I wasn't in classes with the others today because I did a level test instead, so I don't know anyone. The teachers are nice though and they have a programme of social events with things happening a few times a week.

Also fairly daunting was the supermarket round the corner from the flat where I went to buy supplies this afternoon. Everything was in the wrong order and I never did manage to find the tinned tuna...