More Notes on Vacation Week

Favorite City: Certainly not an easy choice, but I have to say Granada. The city has Moorish, Islam, and Christian influences and the mixture resulted in some pretty awesome architecture. Besides that, the people were friendly, you could see snow-capped mountains in the distance, and I really liked the fact that Spanish is the first language (giving Granada an advantage over Lisbon, and Barcelona for that matter...)

Types of Transportation: High-speed train, subway, bus, GoCar, trolley, ferry, taxi, and airplane. I think that should be some kind of record.

Worst Transportation: This is a hard one, because we took three overnight buses, but I would say the bus from Granada to Sevilla was the worst, even though it was the shortest, because it didn't even leave until 3am! Again, if you can tell my why a bus would leave at 3am, I would appreciate it.

Best Meal: The tapas tour in Sevilla organized through the hostel was pretty cool. I got to try a bunch of different Andalusian specialties including a pepper stuffed with melted cheese and bread crumbs that was delicious.

Most Lost: Very few of the streets in Sevilla were labeled. And unlike Barcelona (at least the part where I live), the city wasn't laid out like a grid, instead there are tiny cobblestone streets criss-crossing in every direction. There were intersections of six streets in places, I didn't even think that was possible. After the flamenco museum, we were trying to find our way to the bull fighting ring and got extremely lost. In the rain. It was arguably the low point of the trip. Don't worry, eventually we found someone and got directions, and the sun came out.

Best Surprise: (tie) Discovering the nightlife in Barrio Alto in Lisbon. After we had dinner up the hill in the neighborhood named Barrio Alto, we were walking around and just a little farther up the hill was found streets and streets crowded with people drinking, chatting, and hanging out in the streets. There were people everywhere! I had never seen anything like it. http://www.visitportugal.com/NR/exeres/09F405B6-899D-4B1B-85BC-36EFCECBE71B,frameless.htm

The second surprise was meeting a girl who graduated from Dartmouth in 2009 at our hostel in Granada. She overheard Grace and Emily talking about room draw for campus housing, recognized some names of the dorms, and asked if we went to Dartmouth. She is taking a month to travel before beginning medical school this summer. We ended up chatting with her for an hour and even taking a photo of us in the most Dartmouth clothing we could conjure up. Dartmouth is pretty special that way.

Best Free Event: The Pancho walking tour in Sevilla was a hidden gem. Not only did I get to see some of the most famous sites in Sevilla, but I learned some history and got to meet other travelers. The free night tour in Granada was equally awesome. Thanks Oasis hostels! http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187443-d2212621-Reviews-Pancho_Tours-Seville_Province_of_Seville_Andalucia.html

Best Street Performer: Emily and I saw a man juggling a chain saw and two swords in Plaza de Opera, Madrid. The video isn't great because it was getting dark.