La Segunda Parte de Semana Santa: Granada y Sevilla

I woke up early en la mañana de Lunes to grab a cab and catch my flight back to Madrid to finally see my parents! I got into Madrid around 10 and waited for possibly the longest dos horas de mi vida for Mom and Dad to land almost two hours later. I’m sure you can guess, but it was a very happy hello, with a few tears of joy shed and plenty of hugs to go around! Over the moon to be conjuntos, we jumped on the metro and headed to Cristina’s apartment to get my bag of winter things to send back home and so Mom and Dad could meet Cristina! We got to my apartment building where first Mom and Dad got to meet Gregorio and his son David before heading up to meet Cristina. It was such a treat to have my parents meet Cristina because, obviously, she’s been a big part of my life for the past three and a half months! Mom and Dad loved having the opportunity to thank her for taking care of me and I think Cristina enjoyed meeting my parents since she usually doesn’t get to when parents come to visit during Semana Santa. We all enjoyed some ice cold water (quite the rarity in Spain) on la terraza and had a nice conversation, with some translation involved, about each other’s plans for Semana Santa and just getting to know one another. And of course I can’t forget Greta! She’s no Betty or Belle but I’ve loved having un perro to make things feel like home. It was finally time to go check in to nuestro apartamento off Gran Via which ended up being the perfect place for us to enjoy our time in Madrid, as well as store equipaje durante nuestro tiempo en Granada y Sevilla! We took a minute to just enjoy all being together and my dad surprised me with DIET DEWS, which he had carefully packed in his suitcase as a surprise for me! Tenemos hambre, so the three of us grabbed a quick bite to eat in the plaza near our apartment before mom and dad embraced la cultura Española and took a siesta while I ran to pick up some groceries from Corte Ingles. We spent the rest of the evening taking a paseo down Gran Vía and in Sol before a delicious dinner at Cornucopia!

After hitting snooze once or twice, we were all finally up and moving as we made our way to pick up our coche and start our Spanish road trip to Granada, Sevilla, and then back to Madrid! Once we made it to Granada (without a hitch, thanks to Dad’s European driving skills), we had to navigate the car through the little cobblestones streets of la ciudad in order to get to our incredible hotel, Casa Morisca. Pictures can’t even begin to relay how neat the hotel was, not to mention the incredible view of the city and La Alhambra that we had! Excited to explore the city, we walked towards Plaza Nueva and grabbed almuerzo at La Bella y La Bestia, which translates to Beauty and the Beast!

Mom and Dad at Casa Morisca

Lunch at La Bella y La Bestia

We spent the afternoon just taking in the city and enjoying its wonderful atmosphere before happening upon some las procesiones de Semana Santa! For anyone who didn’t know what to expect, it could have been a little unnerving at first but it was such a sight that I really don’t know how to put into words but hopefully los fotos y el video can help! I even made some new Spanish friends during the procession, who had precious kids and asked me to au pair! As nice as they were, I told them lo siento but Spartanburg was calling me!

The women in the Semana Santa procession

Cathedral where the procession ended

That evening we were wowed by la vista de la Alhambra at night and finished our night off with una cena increíble a la Mirador de Morayma, which we discovered later is one of Gwyneth Paltrow’s favorites! It was a lovely atmosphere, on the garden terrace that looked out towards the Alhambra! Stuffed from la comida deliciosa, we walked back to our hotel only to come upon a night-time procession, which seemed to have a more sacred and somber tone than the afternoon procession but was just as beautiful.

Granada at night

The Alhambra

La Mirador de Morayma

Night procession

Excited for our Miércoles and tour of la Alhambra y Generalife, we got an early start and made our way to Plaza Nueva to meet our tour guide. We started our tour in el Generalife, which are the gardens at the palace that were, no surprise, absolutely beautiful and gave us a great view of not only la ciudad de Alhambra, but also of the city of Granada. From there Carmen took us through the three palaces, all unique and incredible. It was quite the tour! Afterwards we walked back down to Plaza Nueva and grabbed lunch in Albaicín next to el Rio Darro before hopping in the car and heading towards Sevilla!

La ciudad de la Alhambra

Once we reached Sevilla, we checked into our hotel and took a paseo through el parque de Maria Luisa until we reached Plaza de España, where we took in the beautiful architecture before heading to el barrio de Santa Ana for una cena de tapas. Mom and Dad got a taste of the Spanish culture by eating dinner at 10pm and trying the croquetas and jamón ibérico. It was another wonderful evening, full of people watching and another procession! On our way back to the hotel, we made our way through the crowded plazas as everyone got ready to watch another procession before calling it a night. We woke up Thursday morning to lluvia but rather than letting it affect nuestros planes, we grabbed an umbrella and made our way towards the cathedral to enjoy un desayuno español with tostados con jamón ibérico and then touring the beautiful Gothic cathedral that had a special altar out for Semana Santa, as well as a hike to the top of the bell tower where you could take in the whole city. Deciding it was time to make our way back to Madrid, we grabbed Dad un café Americano from, yes, Starbucks, and drove back to Madrid in la tormenta. Once we made it back to our apartment and dried off from downpour, we hopped a cab to finally head to Lateral! The weather ended up working in our favor, as many people decided to stay in, so we were able to get a table and enjoy a delicious dinner of everything from brochetas de pollo y croquetas to ensaladas y jamón ibérico con brie fundido.

Plaza de Espana en Sevilla

Madrid!

Cathedral in Sevilla