The end of Mike's visit

I guess we should get back to where we left off...but first I want to let you all know I just made 2 videos/sideshows of our time at the aquarium in Valencia (1 with the dolphin show and 1 with all the rest). The dolphin show one I already posted on the link talking about our trip to the Oceanografic (2 posts ago) but here's the other one. Hope you like it! (I JUST learned how to put together the videos- i'm so excited!):

 Now to get back to Granada...
We ended up getting to the city in the late afternoon, then spent about an hour just trying to get to my friends house from there (I really have bad luck with one way streets in Spain). Eventually we made it but my friends were all busy so me and Mike just headed out on our own to explore the town. Since I'm pretty familiar with Granada already I was able to be Mike's personal tour guide :) yay. We walked around a big shopping area (on Recogidas), through Plaza Espana, then on the Paseo de los Tristes and up through the Albaicin (the old neighborhood). We also made it up to the Mirador de San Nicolas (a lookout area) and I finally got to see the view during the day time!!! I always go up at night so it was a nice first for both me and Mike.

After all that walking we headed back towards the house to rest...it was literally a few hours of walking around so we were both ready to sit down and relax. After a little bit of relaxing time at the house we met up with Carlos (my Spanish brother) and had some tapas at one of my favorite spots in Granada. And that, of course, was followed by a very long night...like always. First we hung out at my friends place for a bit (well, until 3am haha) and then made our way over to a big party that was going on that night. OF COURSE before we even got there my friend had been told that the police shut the party down (oh, i feel like i'm back in college...) SO we headed over to a small bar, hung out for a while and then went home at the early hour of 5am. It was actually my most calm evening in Granada, ever.
The next day was pretty mellow also. We met up with Carlos again for lunch at some famous Italian restaurant that had some great food and that was all followed by a nice long nap :) Later on Mike, myself and 2 of my friends headed to a Moroccan tea shop for some tea and crepes (always a must do when in Granada). When we walked into the place it even felt like we had just taken a trip across the ocean and over to Morocco. They did a great job of decorating the walls with the "traditional" carpets, having lots of pillows, low lighting and many hookahs around the place. Both Mike and I were wiped so it was a nice relaxing place to hang out for a bit.

After that we had to head back to Lucena...we were supposed to be meeting up with some friends that night. We said our goodbyes (it was probably my last trip to Granada this year!) and headed on the road. When we got to Lucena though we were so out of it we just stayed in and rested...


The next day was meant to be peaceful and calm since it was Mike's last day of his visit but of course things are never as planned. We ended up waking up super late, had to run to the gas station to grab some gas (to have hot water!) and got hit by a car on the way back...not badly but I mean come on! Then went to meet up with Carlos' fam for a last lunch with Mike where we all stuffed our faces of morcilla, chorizo and paella. After which we headed to go get Mike's bus ticket to Madrid (there's a bus from Lucena-Madrid) and what happened? Well they had sold out. So we went home and tried to search for another option online and what next happened? My internet went on strike...the only time i've had a problem with this one and it just chose to be THAT DAY! The we had to scramble over to Carlos' fam's house to use the internet and finally there we were able to find a ticket from Cordoba-Madrid and 1am that night. Now, we just needed to figure a way to get him up to Cordoba. Doesn't seem like a big deal being that its only a 40min car ride...BUT that day it was almost impossible to find anyone to get him up there. After numerous phone calls to friends we finally decided to put him on the 10pm bus. So then we had to go back to my place, get him all packed and then over to the bus station.


Basically our "relaxing" day turning into anything but that...I felt bad on top of it, not only because of the chaos but because he was going to have over 30 hours of traveling ahead of him (with all the buses, flights, and driving when he got back). But now Mike is all safe and sound in WA...and I'm here in Spain. BUT I will be back in a month, so in the meantime I'm back to more traveling and sightseeing!