Submitted by Evelyn Lopez-Martinez on the 2016 spring semester program in Granada, Spain…
Ronda, Spain is heart-stopping! It was amazing to see a city so close to a cliff. The trip itself was not too bad. Taking a bus instead of a car takes a little longer of course. After the average travel time of two and a half hours and a thirty minute break at a rest stop, Ronda finally appeared unexpectedly outside of my bus window. At first, it just seemed like a small town, nothing too different. While I was there, I walked endless miles to complete as much as I could in the few hours I had. There was total access to what seemed a dangerous trail along the cliff in order to get a closer look at a small water fall and a different view of one of the main bridges. Looking up was unbelievable, I just couldn’t believe how much beauty one location could have!
I couldn’t leave Spain without seeing a traditional bull fight. That was my mind set before I actually witnessed one. Just a few days before the fight, a friend of mine found out that there was going to be a show in Granada on the following Sunday. It was great news since that meant that none of us in the group would have to travel to another city in order to see a bull fight. To top it off, I found out that the show was going to benefit the Down Syndrome Association. The whole situation was happening so quickly, but I was completely excited. On the day of, in the back of my mind, I thought I knew that the bull would die, but reality didn’t kick in until I was halfway to the Plaza de Toros. To make matters even more drastic, there were six bulls not just three like I originally thought. I thought three bulls were a lot to kill so six was shocking. The worse scenes were the first and last bull. The first one was bad because it was the first I had witness die in front of my eyes. The last was pretty terrifying because the bull was the biggest and it had a slow death. I tried to view it as an art and that was what helped me deal with all the blood. I can say the bull fight was interesting, but the official culture shock that I went through in Spain.
There is always a new trail I can hike while in Granada. It’s like a new adventure every time. On this day, the trail I took was just behind the Alhambra so I didn’t need any transportation at all. Usually it takes a little over thirty minutes to walk to the Alhambra from where I live with is not bad at all. The majority of the trail was make for cyclists. From the top, I was able to see many olive trees, something that Spain in general has an abundant amount of. The sun was in and out on this day and the majority of the time it was fairly foggy. Overall it was fairly simple, relaxing and another great view of the city.
Los Italianos is known as the best ice cream shop in Granada. Everyone in the city was ecstatic once they found out that it was open a week earlier then expected. There were long lines on the first days since a nice ice cream cone complemented the weather. The location has been open for numerous years and since the first day I got a tour of Granada, it was one of the many traditions mentioned that were on the list of must do’s for the city. For my first try of this famous ice cream, I decided to go with carmel and vanilla with chocolate bits. The cone was much longer than what we have in the United States, but the price was about the same. The flavors I chose were quite tasty and worth the buy.
