Another Ending

Well my trip to Granada, Spain has come to an end. I was sad to leave because it really started to feel like home for me. Seeing as I was recognized at two pastelerias and a teteria I consider my first trip to Europe a success.

Where will teaching and traveling take me next? Only time will tell!

Weekends Strolling Granada

More pictures from my weekends wandering!

Aren't the doorways beautiful!?

This is where people used to get their water before there was public plumbing.

More doorways!

The man in the blue sweater looks remarkably like Mr. Rodgers...

Statues - there are SO many here!

Alhambra from afar - Thursday I will get to see it in person!

Just another beautiful Spanish building!

Far shot! :) Talk about lovely!

My former housemate Nick and I overlooking the Alhambra. What a gorgeous day!

Stephanie, Kelsey, myself, and Nick resting from our stroll up through the Albaicin. Ah, those are the days!

Mas Comida!

As usual, I've tried more food in Spain! My latest treats are from my favorite pasteleria in Granada - Olympic 21. I am actually recognized there and am buddies with the employees... oh what my love of goodies has brought me!

This one is the same fruit one I had before (it was too good to pass up) and then another new addition on the right. It is pastry with custard in the middle which is light and super cinnamony. YUM!

My gigantic sandwich! Roscos are super common here - this one was labeled as vegetable but had mayo and tuna. It was yummy!

Side view.... I did in fact eat the whole thing. I surprise myself sometimes!

FINALLLLLYYYYYY!

The glorious day finally arrived for churros and chocolate - let me just start off with saying yum. :) It was quite tasty and completely spur of the moment as we walked around one night.

These are the churros and the milk chocolate (the one complaint I had was no dark chocolate for sure!) but it was tasty!

The smile on my face could not fade because finally I got what I'd been waiting for! :)

Then the guys soon found it endlessly funny because it looked rather.... shall we say inappropriate to see me eating the churros...

Boys will be boys but they were sure tasty! :)

Pronunciation Errors

Well this is just a funny story from teaching English...

Pronunciation of English is sometimes difficult for non-native speakers because we have different sounds that aren't in other languages.. For example:

During a teaching practice with beginners a teacher was drilling (saying the word and having students repeat the word to pronounce in correctly) the word breakfast. This older gentleman was having trouble and no matter how many times they went back and forth repeating, he just kept saying "breast-fest". I couldn't help but laugh!

Then when I was teaching beginners the same gentleman was having difficulty saying waitress only to pronounce "white-trash".... certainly makes a sentence funny when the "white trash" was taking your order or bringing you drinks. HILARIOUS!

Graduation!

We did it! We all graduated with our TEFL certificate! YAY!! Here are some shots from the event...

Mercedes - our house caretaker - makes an amazing amount of paella for us... boy was that delicious!

Vegetarian and mixed - those shrimp were awesome!

The spread - bread, paella and an awesome salad. Complete with sangria and fanta. YUMMY!

We waited patiently to hear our names being called!

And here we are from left to right: (top) Nick, John, Ryan, Juliana. (bottom) Luke, Fred, Megan, Keith, Kelsey, Stephanie, Suzanne, and me. :) Fun day!

The trainers in all their glory! Left to right: Dylan, John, Antony, and Richard.

A more serious picture!

Me accepting my certificate from Dylan! :) And the most exciting news was that I was valedictorian! YAHOO!!! All that hard work definitely paid off!

The classmates started chanting "Speech, speech, speech...."

So here I am making me heart-felt, impromptu speech. :)

Sights around Town

During my latest outings I snapped a few photos to show everyone back home. Somewhat random but they caught my eye!

Even in Spain the kids like Spiderman (this was for you AJ!). The kids here generally dress VERY nicely but it is fun to see a kid every now and again dressed like super hero!

I generally don't take pictures of dresses but this was gorgeous (minus the bow) and would totally wear it whenever I get married. Definitely caught my eye.

Street views in Granada.
My postre - a little tart with vanilla custard and fresh strawberries on top. YUM!

Stephanie with her dessert called Felipe.... we aren't really sure what it is actually called because when she tried to ask what it was called she accidently asked the nice man behind the counter what HIS name was, to which he replied, Felipe.... we got a good chuckle outside the pasteleria when we realized what happened and proceeded to call this little morsel Felipe! :)

Me, the city, my dessert, and a sunny day - what could be better!

Wide shot of the same thing. Just a gorgeous day in Granada!

A fountain in town - nearly every plaza (and there are tons) has their own fountain. All are so different!

GIGANTE!

I mean, really! Look at this postre! It was awesome! Like I have mentioned before, there really aren't many cakes around here - everything is mostly custards and tortes. But this little gem (obviously not so little being as it's almost as big as my head!) was like a chocolate covered Boston cream pie - vanilla cake, custard in between and covered in dark chocolate. It was tasty to the max and a steal for only 1 Euro!!

Strawberries!!!

I just had to share this picture.... I mean, strawberries in January! The mediterranean in amazing! :)

Another Sunday, Another Crepe

It's become a Sunday tradition around these parts to have tea and crepes on a Sunday afternoon. It's the perfect break from the day and a nice chance to get out of the house for a bit.

This Sunday I ventured way out of my crepe box and tried a savory crepe - cheese, chicken, avocado, tomato, and a dill sauce inside a crepe. Definitely tasty, though the good ol' fashioned sweet ones are still the ones I prefer!

Stephanie and I at the teteria having a good, relaxing afternoon!

Me and my Moroccan tea. It's what I get every time and I love it more each time. Might have to see if I can buy some - it's that good!

My little tea pot and cute cup from the visit. Makes me really want to get a nice teapot as the treat for myself from my trip here! I need to continue this tradition even after I've left Spain because it really does do the trick to relax you!

Some Clothes I Bought So Far

Here are some clothes that I have bought so far. More pictures to come soon but these are the only pictures I have taken of clothes so far.

Purple suede heels with a flower on the toe - talk about CUTE!

Brown and light blue shirt with ruffled sleeves - way cute!

For Chocolate Lovers Only

This dessert was truly and utterly a chocolate lovers dream! It was something that literally stopped me in my tracks and I was compelled to buy it. And for only 2 Euro I thought it was a steal!

As you can see... it's simply amazing! Chocolate torte/cake with a truffle on top.... and all in dark chocolate. It brings a tear to my eye!

Like heaven on earth.... The truffle was amazing by the way. Definitely put the cake over the top. For those of you who don't like anything "too rich".... don't even attempt this - it's not for the weak of heart. A full glass of milk is likely needed but oh so worth it!

MORE DESSERTS!

Well, like I said! I am addicted to pastries and I have made a personal goal to eat my way across Europe - of course this will not be my only trip so that is definitely possible. :)

My pastry was the fruit one to the left - so tasty! Cake and custard layered with tart fruits like raspberries and currants on the top with a light fruit syrup. Perfect balance to sour and sweet. Honestly one of my favorites since being here. Something about fruit and custard that is so light and just screams summer. Again I'm forced to say... lordy I wish I could bake like this! Maybe something to add to my life list! :)
Top view of the pastry - the flash didn't give the best photo but I just didn't want to spend time taking tons of photos.... I wanted to dig in!

Still More Sights to See!

Last Saturday 2 of my housemates and I went out for a walk just to get some fresh air and get out of the house. There were a lot of things due that everyone was stressing out about so few people left the confines of the house. Seeing as I needed a mental break AND I've been keeping up with my work so didn't have a whole lot, I ventured out for a break. Here are some sights along the way.

Up the hill looking at the homes from downtown Granada. What a grey day we had!

Architecture on the cathedral where Ferdinand and Isabella are buried. It's a pretty amazing sight to see. The church is massive!!

More architecture!

And even more - they don't make things like this anymore!

That's not even the whole thing of the cathedral! It is gigantor! Me in my red jacket so you can spot me easily!

The bell tower of the cathedral.

A long shot of the cathedral. Pretty gorgeous. If only there were some stained glass windows it would be the church I've always imagined would be in Europe.

Orange trees grow everywhere here! They are super sour though and are only used to make marmalade!

Walking down a corridor in the Albaicin!

More churches in Granada. The architecture is gorgeous here!!

Just thought that looked so cute and European. Loved it!

Stephanie and I on a side street in Granada.

One more shot of the two of us!

Kelsey and I with a gorgeous background!

The crazy different environment in Spain - prickly pear cactus and old brick buildings. How fun!

Old Moorish buildings all on the hill. Something about these white washed walls on a hill like that make me think of the Mykonos in Greece!

Down into town - the city looked so brown that day!

Me with the city and the cloudy skies. It was much warmer than it looked because of the overcast but it was a nice bit of fresh air and time out of the house! :)