Monachil out, man

For the next part in my ever-going blog series, I take you to a small town about 15 minutes outside of Granada by the name of Monachil (moan-ah-chill, hence the terrible title). We had a weekend day free and decided to head over, as one of my friend's house-mothers claimed that there was a festival going on and that they served free food. That's all the motivation we needed to check out this tiny town.

 The only bus to Monachil drops you off with about a 20 minute walk down the only road that connects to Monachil. You can see in the distance (somewhat) the size of the town...it's pretty small. It was a cool walk none-the-less.

 The town is nestled in between surrounding mountains on nearly all sides. It's very secluded, but really cozy.

 Sheep. That is all.

 Here we are entering the town. Quite a bit of people  here, and we can very clearly hear music being played from the festival. In fact, we could hear it from about the point where we got off the bus, 20ish minutes ago (more on this later).

 I don't know, maybe if this river had more water it'd be okay, but it was a pretty big eyesore for an otherwise pretty little town. Down this path shown and to the right, where all the people are currently walking, is the festival.

 Inside the main area was a huge tent with these dudes playing music. Further in, harder to see, there are a number of people dressed like the guys on stage dancing. Other people joined it too. It's worth mentioning that this was in fact not where the loud music we heard was coming from.

 I'm pretty sure that at one point during that day, this table housed some food. But by the time we got there, the 'free food' was nowhere to be found. We ended up getting some food at a little food stand just outside the festival. In fact, it was a cheeseburger, and I remember this because it was the first cheeseburger I had in Spain. Let's just say they should stick to their ham products (it was just okay).

 After eating, we had to find out what the sound was. We made our way to the children's carnival that was on the other side of the big tent, separated by a large wall. I'm not sure if they were hoping that'd keep the sound out. It did not. Pretty standard stuff here. Note Patrick from Bob Esponja (sponge bob). That show is pretty huge here right now.

 Yup those are real little ponies. And yes, they were as sad looking as they look in this photo.

 Here's where it gets crazy. See the dude standing on the railing here with his butt pointed at me? No,  he's not trying to moon us, he's trying to whack kids in the head with a little broom! I kid you not. He's dressed up in a sponge bob costume, moving around while this train goes through this tunnel multiple times. Every time it comes out, he whacks kids playfully with some sort of broom thing. The kids really seemed to like it, so I guess it wasn't harmful. Not sure it would fly in the U.S.

 Speaking of things that wouldn't fly in the US.....this ride. This ride was TERRIBLE for sooooo many reasons. That sound I have been eluding to this entire time? Coming from the guy sitting in the booth, operating this ride. Notice the insanely large speakers to the right side of this ride? Why do they need to be so big? I cannot begin to tell you how loud they were. It was worse than many concerts I've been too. I couldn't talk to my friends that were standing next to me.

That isn't even the main reason why this ride is ridiculous. You can see it looks somewhat normal for a carnival: a circular ride, spins a little bit, no big deal. When the ride first started, I thought it was really lame. It spun at a really really slow speed, and just tilted a bit. I was so wrong and unprepared for what came next. It began to spin a little bit faster, then slow down again. Eventually, it began tilting. A lot. Probably a 40 degree incline at it's highest. It needs to be noted now that the kids on this ride - NOT wearing any seat belt or anything. EVEN THEN this ride wouldn't be SO bad, BUT (and you know it's serious when I use this many capital letters in one sentence) the operator was purposely trying to knock the kids out of their seat. He would jolt the ride, kind of like when you're trying to get ketchup out of a glass bottle. These jolts would send kids flying from the top side of the ride to the bottom, where the kids would mush up together. It'd level out a bit, the kids would even out again, and then he would repeat. I was incredibly scared, no joke, that a kid would fall out of the ride completely, underneath the ride and get crushed. I was seriously scared. Add in the awfully loud music, the operator who would interrupt often with a microphone he has in the booth, and you have yourself a lawsuit on its first day of operation if this ride made it to the US.

 Anyway, after the let's-hurt-our-kids carnival, we decided to walk around the town a bit more. We left the festival and walked up a bit. It's quite hilly here. Remember to put your parking break on and turn into the curb.

 We found a small path that we probably weren't allowed to take, but took anyway. Got some interesting shots of the town.

 Here's where the sidewalk ended, and an even shadier dirt path began. It got even steeper here.

 In the end it was worth the trek up to the top. You could easily see from here the entire town. If you look closely in the middle of this photo, you can see Patrick once again.

 Took this photo to show two things: the awesome zooming power of my camera, and a house that is seemingly in the middle of nowhere on top of a big hill/mountain. Straight in the middle of this photo you can see a white spec on top of the hill...

 Here it is, zoomed in.

 We begin our hike back to the bus stop, as the sun is going down, and frankly, we saw all that we could in this tiny place.

 This is not a very big issue where I'm from.

 The sun going down over the mountains.

 The bus stop back to Granada.

I always seem to end on sunset shots, but can you blame me? This photo sums up pretty well this area...small, quaint, calm (except for loud death rides). Was a fun day. 

Hasta la proxima vez,

R

Let's all go for a walk outside now, the Granada sun's calling our name!

Wow. Super cheesy title. But I enjoy terrible puns/jokes, so I'm going to keep it. 

This is my second post of the day! Craziness! Be sure to check the very bottom of the page, click on the current month, and see if there have been any posts you have yet to see. I may even update a third time today...so please make sure to check the archives for any posts you may have missed.

I know I mentioned in my last post that I'd be talking about the Alhambra. It was a lie. I'm trying to go in order (somewhat) of what I've done while in Spain so that it has some fluidity and so that I'm able to better remember everything we did. If I posted about Las Alpujarras (that I just went to last weekend) I'd probably remember less and less about Monachil (probably my next update). So please, bear with me. 

 This update is going to be about another small trip around Granada. There will probably be maybe 1-2 more like this, because in the first month or two here, myself and a group of friends took a number of "exploring" trips around the city. Granada is pretty huge. Within the past 15 years, it has developed a lot. I currently live on a road called Camino de Ronda. The word "camino" means small trail. In reality, Camino de Ronda is a huge road, 2 lanes on each side and currently having a tram/train installed in the middle. I found out from a teacher of mine that the reason it is called a camino while still being a huge road is because about 10 years ago, when Granada was less developed, it was a tiny little road, and all the local farmland that supplied Granada was in my part of town. The road was not paved, it was one lane. Now, there are tonnnns of apartment complexes in this area. Crazy fast development.

Anyway, we started our walking where we tend to meet for almost anything we do as a group: Plaza Isabel la Catolica. You've seen this statue before, but it's pretty awesome, so here it is again (above).

 Very sunny, pretty day. Bank Caja Rural shown here.

 I have yet to stop in this store, but I have been meaning to. "Callate la boca" means 'shut up' or literally, 'shut your mouth.' They sell interesting knick knacks that I've only seen from the window. While waiting for our whole group to form, I took this photo standing next to the fountain, and I caught this guy eating ice cream. I don't think this photo could have turned out any better given this man's face.

 The view from the fountain staring straight down one of the biggest roads in Granada: Gran Via. The fountain we are standing at is basically at the intersection of the two biggest roads here, Gran Via and Calle Recogidas. It is definitely the busiest, downtowniest parts of the city.

 To the right, further down Calle Recogidas (may be called Calle de los Reyes here, not sure). This leads to Plaza Nueva, where theres a bunch of tapas bars/restaurants. Further down is the Albaicin and Sacromonte.

 A sign for my school, abbreviated as the CLM. It is an off branch of the Universidad de Granada. Even though I'm considered a student of UGA, all of our classes are at the CLM, which is mostly American kids. I'll be taking photos soon of the building and maybe even sneak some photos of my classroom/professors.

 You can see the little purple sign in the photo above in this photo. Going down the road straight ahead leads to the CLM, among other things. I used to take this path every single day. Now I take a new path; one that is a bit more windy but about 2-3 minutes faster.

 We began walking down Gran Via, and came across this flag. It is a big flag. I call it flag plaza. Sometimes, when you don't know the names, you just have to make one up. There is another plaza we walk by often with a burger king in the middle. Its name? Burger plaza.

 Quick snippet about this right here. Where we are currently standing is about 20+ minutes from my house, and about 10 from the school (CLM). I have a friend that lives about 20 more minutes up this street, at one point where it becomes so inclined that they have special pavement that grips shoes/tires better. If she ever hangs out in our group, it's about a 40-45 minute walk one way. We've walked her home a couple times. It's insane. I try to think about it when the 25 minute walk for me gets to be a bit annoying.

 We headed south a bit to the actual Universidad de Granada. There is a long walking-only street that has a ton of soccer fields, outdoor soccer courts, and basketball courts. Here is my roommate Kyle conquering the roof of this little building.

 Tons of stray cats in this area. Walking up and down this outdoor sports facility, we may have seen 10-12. Some nice citizen left a huge plate of pasta for them to eat. That's a lot of carbs for these little guys.

 An outdoor soccer court. About 6 of these in this area, all full. I guess soccer is popular in Spain?

Graffiti is really huge in Granada. This surprised me quite a bit when I got here. I'm hoping to compile enough photos to make a pretty cool post about all the graffiti I find here, because some of it is really talented stuff.

 The Sierra Nevada. Been there one time, it's like a whole other world up there. And it's in Granada as well.

 The same shot, zoomed out. The guy in the photo is my friend Jesse, who takes incredible, jaw-dropping photos. He also edits them a bit, but the finished product is really good. You can see he has a pretty nice camera.

 The not-so-attractive Granada train station, from a bridge. Haven't actually been there, but it's not exactly pretty from here.

 Took this picture just for my friends at home, Kyle and DK. Can't wait to get home and play some disc golf again!

 These containers are all over the city. They're the public recycling bins for glass (notice the small hole). Every drink in a restaurant, including water sometimes, comes in a glass bottle. Everyday while walking to class, I will see a coke distributer with racks and racks of glass bottles, taking away the old empty ones and delivering the new full ones. I imagine that's killer on your back.

 A bit further down the road, we came to the Plaza del Toros in Granada. Bullfighting is a really huge hot topic here right now. The majority of the people here are against it because they believe it is cruel to kill innocent animals. Every bullfight, about 4-6 bulls will die. The people supporting bullfights claim that the bulls are being honored. In many ways, they're right. The bulls are all named; they're like celebrities in some towns. They're entire life before the fight is pretty lavish (for an animal). They live in a farm with a lot of space to roam, are fed pretty heartily. They are not caged. They are tested at one point to see their aggression. If the bull is deemed not aggressive enough, it is castrated and becomes what it known as a buey. Otherwise, it continues on until its about 3 years old or so and becomes a full blown bull. Next weekend I believe I am going to watch a bullfight for the first time. I'll let you all know how it is (with photos) and I guess I'll give my opinion on the matter.

 The Plaza del Toros has a lot of restaurants inside, that are open year round. 

 Cool little church we spotted on our walking trip. 

 The olive tree, a staple in Spanish farming. I've posted a number of photos of the fields of olive trees. It's like that nearly everywhere you go outside of the city.

 Alhambra Cerveza (beer). I generally don't care too much about beer, but I learned a bit about this company and now I truly enjoy their beer. They're local, they allegedly make their beer with water from the Sierra Nevada itself. One of their beers is called Alhambra Reserva 1925. It's made from an old recipe, it's a bit stronger than a normal beer, and it is really smooth and has no bitter aftertaste. It's one of my favorite things about this city for sure, and has made me appreciate beer quite a bit more.

 Once again, we begin traveling back up to the Albaicin. This is a pretty amazing archway that signifies the beginning of the Albaicin. I'm sure it had some importance in the history of this city, but I don't know it!

 Up a stairway to the Albaicin. Get ready to sweat!

 Driving here is most likely a nightmare, but the people sure seem to not be scared. They fly down these roads.

 Much prettier day/evening than last time. This is taken from a pathway on our way up, overlooking downtown Granada.

 About halfway up to the top of the Albaicin (where you get the great view of the Alhambra and people steal your stuff) is this plateau/plaza. This is an area where a ton of hippies hang out. They're all really nice people for the most part. Many of them have dreadlocks, most of the area reeks of marijuana. The best part? Lots of them juggle! I went and juggled with these guys briefly. A fun exchange for sure.

Thus wraps up another day walking around Granada. These are the kind of shots that I remember. Hope you enjoyed that journey. Stay tuned for more in the coming couple of days!