Submitted by Pauline Zilch on the 2014 winter session program in Spain and Italy sponsored by the Department of Political Science and International Relations…
After our first week in Madrid, we packed up and left for Granada. Our bus ride was about 6-7 hours long, but it didn’t feel that way since I slept most of the time. Our hotel here is very different than our last one with a much more charming, Spanish feel. We get to go to class in an actual classroom this week at the University of Granada. It’s nice to see other students wandering the streets and hallways. Today we had class in the morning and then we took an afternoon trip to the famous Alhambra. This place is big! So many rooms and buildings to see. The architecture here is very different than most places we have been to so far. It was built by the Muslims prior to the Catholic take over and lots of the original decor is intact. We toured the majority of the grounds with our professor Jose Maria. It was nice to tour with him because it feels like everything he has talked to us about in class came to life as we saw this place. He is very knowledgeable and answers any questions we have along the way. The whole entire city can be seen from the top of the Alhambra which sits atop a mountainside. Spain seems to have quite the views.
