Las Alpujarras excursion

I decided to go on an excursion through the school up to the mountain area called Las Alpujarras. I signed up, paid my money(I had been under the impression that many of the excursions were included-wrong!) and thought I knew where the meeting place was. On Saturday morning I headed out with confidence and determination only to get totally lost and had to call the guide and in my broken Spangish tell him I was lost and to not leave without me. I got a taxi and there awaited a bus of about 12 other students. Okay, a little embarrassed but I made it! The road up to Las Alpujarras was steep and curvy and very beautiful. The area consists of about 3 small towns and the first one we stopped at-Langaron-is know for it’s spring water and sold all over Spain.

To be honest with you, I only understood about 20-30% of the guide so can’t tell you in detail about the area....also another way to learn and he was quite slow and clear in his explanations which helped to understand. We went to a wine tasting room and had tapas there. The second to the last area was called Trevelez and very famous for their production of Jamon-ham. We were taken into a factory and believe me after that I seriously am considering vegetarianism! The smell along made me sick but what I understood was interesting.

Over all, a good way to spend a Saturday and it was a bit cooler there. We got back about 8:00 and I headed back to the casa and ate a light dinner and relaxed….nope, no fiesta for me that night.

Sunday morning I got up fairly early as it’s a great day to run through the town up the narrow streets towards the Alhamba(which I’ve yet to go visit but will do this week so I’ll tell you all about it-it’s supposed to be amazing. It was nice and cool and I got my barrings a bit better and of the layout of the town. Granada has a population of about 300,000 and is a university town. It’s really beautiful especially in the older parts of town and heading up towards the Alhamba. I went back to the casa to study, eat lunch and try to take a siesta but it was just too hot! I left about 5:00pm and walked all over including up to the Alhambra and just enjoyed the quiet steep walk up there and the coolness in the trees.I walked back down and got lost which meant MORE walking. I sat in an outdoor cafe-I love all the cafe's that are outside here especially enjoy sitting out at night when it's cool. Two very classy older Spanish women asked to join me and I practiced my little bit of Spanish. I went to pay for my beer but they insisted on paying for it. Over all....a great day!
www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/Las Alpujarras