So Friday morning we got up at the butt crack of dawn to be on time for our tour. We get there and get on the bus. This tour was huge. There was 3 different buses. But they took different routes so we all went to the same stuff just at different times. Our bus was full. Every seat was filled. 

Our first, well I guess second because we stopped at a gas station for a bathroom break. But our first real stop was at a small town called Kinvara. This is the castle. 

There was a large lake? there as well. The little speck way in the back is the castle from above. Just obviously from a different angle.

Then we went to Corcomroe Abbey. This used to be a monastery. It used to house lots of important papers and documents. It was fairly big and the cemetery that is beside it, appears to have spread to inside the church. There are graves inside what would have been the church grounds. So that was interesting. 

It was here that I came as close as I could to my foreign-country-jail experience. I had the bars and the closed in area but the walls were short so I could have escaped easily. 

The ground was really bumpy here because there are tons of rocks on the round on and just underneath the surface. 

Then we drove for a while through the country side. Seriously, the roads were barely big enough for 2 vehicles. So that was interesting in the giant bus. But it was so beautiful. 

Then we made it to the coast. It was kind of foggy but you could still see quite well. It was so pretty. 

Then we passed a pack of alpacas. They were pretty chill just hangin out doing what alpacas do. 

Then we get to the lower cliffs. They were still pretty high but if you fell of these it would just ruin the day not end it.

These would end your day. These are the cliffs of Moher. They are sooooo high. They said that people from Harry Potter came and used these in part of one of the movies so that was awesome.

After we finished walking around the cliffs we left and went to Limerick. There was saw a castle.

We also saw the treaty stone. This stone was used to right the treaty between Ireland and England. But I can't see the actual treaty. I can't see anything. I think its just a rock. So we get back on the bus and go back to Dublin, well we try because there is all sorts of traffic because they closed the main road into the city. The bus driver was getting mad and I thought it was quite unprofessional. But we finally get back and go back to the hostel and go to be because we are so exhausted.

Tomorrow marks the last time we will be flying anywhere until we get on the plane to come home. We are heading to Dublin this weekend. We don't have class Thursday because it is some sort of holiday so we are flying out Thursday morning. This is both a sad and happy realization. I am sad that I don't get more time to go places. I am happy because even though I love Granada and the time I have spent here and wouldn't trade it for anything, I am starting to feel ready to come home. I miss driving. I miss beds that are long enough where my feet don't hang over the edge. I miss Rox. I miss normal food. I miss cheesy food. I miss fried food. I miss desserts. I miss friends and family. I am kind of sad that I won't be able to go to graduation and go to grad parties. But I am going to miss the ice cream here. It is fantastic. I am most defiantly going to miss shawarma. I don't know how I will go on without shawarma. It is exactly 25 days from today that I will be heading home. It is crazy to think that all of this is coming to an end. In January it seemed like May would never come. But it is almost May 1st. So May has finally come. 

So Monday was mom's last day here. Unfortunately I had class almost all day.  So she came to school with me for a while. Then I found out I had a meeting so we went to that, well I went and mom sat on the couch. Then I had another class after that. So I didn't get done with class until 5. And because of the meeting we couldn't eat lunch. So we had one last shawarma and then walked around for a bit and then went home. 

It was at this time I found out some devastating news. For those of you didn't know I had a fish named Octavius for about 2 1/2 years. It apparently died in FEBRUARY and I am just now finding out about it. I mean I liked the fish but its not a pet you can get attached too so I'm not too broken up. And there is still more. She told me she found him that day but didn't know what to do with him. She didn't tell me. She didn't flush it. She didn't throw it over the fence. She did give it a funeral and bury it. She didn't feed it to the cats. What did she do with it you ask?? She double bags it and PUTS IT  IN THE FREEZER. This is the best part of the story. She saved it for me so I can have a proper funeral when I get back. So I guess I am happy about it I just wish I would have found out when it happened cause I would have been fine if she buried and so she didn't have to have this dead fish in her freezer for 4 months. I really don't even know how to process this information. 

After we get home we finish packing up and then go to bed, well at least I do.

So Sunday afternoon we went to see these things called Fallas. They are these giant statues that are made of wood and other things. They have big contests in Valencia in March for the best one. This is the first time they have made a Falla in Granada. 

They set it on fire, why? I'm not sure just for shits and gigs I guess. I think that at least half the town of Granada came out to watch this spectacle. It was really cool. They started off by lighting lots of fireworks. It was a pretty nice fireworks show, it lasted for 5-10 minutes. 

After we watched it burn for a while we headed home. On our way we ran into a procession from Semana Santa. It got rained out so they finished it. So that was awesome. 

So, Wednesday I went to the airport to pick up mom. I get there early and have to wait for a while but then I found her. We got the bus and went back "home". We get home and I have to do some translations but the meet and greet went well. We had lunch and then we went out for a walk. We only walked for a bit since I had class. So I drop her off at home and go to class. After class we had a wine tasting. 

We had 4 glasses of wine we could drink. There was 1 white and 3 red. I liked the white the best but it still wasn't very good, just better than the red. I have learned that I really don't like wine. After this I go home and go to bed. 

The next day I go to class while mom stays home and sleeps. Then we get around and go to Malaga because we had booked a trip to Gibraltar. We get there and find our hostel which was a really nice one, probably the best one I've had. Then we walk around and get some food. We walk down to the 
sea. We go to bed and wake up early the next morning to walk down to the meeting point. We get there early and are waiting. There was a group going to Granada but we did see anyone going to Gibraltar. Their bus pulls up and we ask them about it and they said the time was changed and we weren't informed. So the left an hour earlier. So that was awful. But they did have empty seats and let us go back to Granada with them. So we get back home and just hang out and the go out to eat and to the Alhambra. Apparently this time of year is really busy and the tickets were all sold out. So we walked around the outside and then headed back down and did some shopping.  Then we went back home. We later went out with some of my friends for some tapas; Tammy says I can't say tell all but we stayed out kind of late. The next day we both slept in and then got around and had lunch, which was paella. Then we left to meet up with everyone to go to the soccer game. 

We get there and finally find our seats and there were people in them. So Veronica just told me to argue with them and to not let them just sit there. So that was awkward... But they ended up moving and we got our seats. We watched the game, which it was a really big game because they were fighting for something, a championship, or a certain rank I'm not sure. But Granada did not win. When we went to Barcelona and watched a game they played a team and it was that same team that played Granada. So that was kind of cool. Barcelona obviously beat them but they beat Granada pretty easily. I think it was 3-0. It was a pretty good game and it was fairly hot. So we all lathered up the sun screen. After the game got over we walked back and got some ice cream which was awesome. Then we went back home and then later went to get shawarma.  It was delicious as usual. Then we came back and went to bed early. Then today we went to mass at the Cathedral. It was packed, not sure why but there were some people in odd outfits so there must have been something going on.  

Sunday morning I woke up wayyyy to early and got ready to go to church. I had plans to meet friends and go to church. We met outside the cathedral. On my way I ran into a procession. I was like oohhhh cool I get to see another one!! So I stayed a while and watched it because I was kind of early. 

So I stayed and watched what was left since it was almost over anyway. Then I make my way to the cathedral. We stand outside and I get to see the whole procession this time. It was the same one but i didn't get to see all of it. They whole procession went inside the cathedral. Seriously the second the figure of Mary was inside the church it starred to rain. I am not joking. These figures do NOT go outside in the rain. They cancel them if its supposed to rain. There was defiantly some divine intervention there. So it finished and we all file inside. There was a smaller figure that lots of children carried behind the large one of Mary. We were walking up towards the front to find seats when I see one of my professors from school. I say hi and she asked me if I have a camera because her son was carrying the figure and her phone wouldn't work. So I got out my camera and took some pictures and later emailed them to her. So I felt pretty cool for saving the day. After that we sit down and wait. We wait for most of the people to leave so they can start mass. Mass was really nice. They had these people singing and playing guitars and to be honest, they were not good singers. But it could have just been the sound system in the church... but I doubt it was ALL the sound systems fault. After church got over we parted and I went home. I didn't do much

So Thursday we got up and around and left for the airport. It was sad to leave. There was so much more that we could have seen but we saw the big things. I threw my coin in the Trevi fountain so I know I'll be back.  We get to the airport and I find a scale to weigh my bag because I don't want to have it get put under again. So we go to the counter to check in and they don't even weigh it, so that was a good thing but I had stressed about this for a while.... We get through security with no problems and go and find our gate. We wait for a while and I got some pizza cause it was lunch time and the pizza I got there was really good. For being in an airport the pizza was fantastic. Soon its time to get on and we do, my seat is in the very last row, and it was an aisle seat and Destiny was in like row 5 or something so I was alone and bored. But I read and played music to drown out the sounds of babies crying. There was several small children on this flight and there was this group of them that was a couple rows ahead of me and there was two little ones that, I swear were having a crying contest of who could cry the loudest. FINALLY we landed and I had to wait cause it pulled up to a gate, when we boarded we took shuttle buses out and walked up the stairs. So I was basically the last one off the plane. Then we go outside and catch a taxi and give him the address of the apartment where a bunch of our friends had been staying at the whole week. It was only a couple minutes and we were there. We get out and go inside and go up to their room and go inside cause Lauren was waiting for us. Soon after we got there the rest of the people showed up and then we cooked some supper of potatoes and pasta. Then we played this card game and they invited some of the neighbors over, they were these two French guys.  They were really entertaining because they didn't speak a lot of English but they spoke Spanish so trying to talk to them was really interesting. Soon after that we found some other neighbors that were these three Australian guys. They were really funny. 

We wake up and get ready because we have to be out of the room by 11:00. So we all pack up and check out. We then head down to the beach. 

We had to walk on the sand for a long ways. There were 3 of us that had the wheely suitcases and they were really heavy so we tried to wheel/pull them on the sand, but we weren't really on the sand there was some stuff on top of the sand like parts of trees so it was a little easier to roll/pull. But we looked ridiculous. And we walked for I swear a mile if not more and all of it in sand. 

But we finally get there and all spread out and find a spot and I lather up the sun screen and lay down, I wasn't feeling a nap so I read on my iPad and enjoy the weather and just relax for a couple hours. Some of us go and find some food and we settle for a little place and get some hamburgers. They weren't bad but I got a cheeseburger with bacon, and that was it, no vegetables at all. But the cheese was hard, it broke off when I tried to pick off a piece on the edge, but the cheese on the burger was melty so that was weird and should have went against the laws of physics but what do I know? But it comes time to pack up and head to the airport. So we get there and we were a little bit early so we hand out and then go through security and kill some more time before we finally board. This flight was really short and before we know it we are in Malaga. We go outside and decide to take the shuttle to the bus station that night because the shuttle wouldn't get us there in time to catch our bus. So we get to the bus station and find a nice spot and settle down and get somewhat comfortable. We are there for an hour or so and then security come by and tell us we have to go because they are closing the bus station until 6:00. So we pack up once again and head outside. There is this little grassy area nearby so we go and sit down. 

Here is some of us all snuggled up sleeping. It was actually kind of cold at night because it was windy and none of us were dressed for warmth. So we were all a little bit chilly. I have an appreciation for what the homeless have to go through every night and I do not want to have actually be homeless. Eventually we move to sit next to the building because it was sheltered from the wind. Then about 5:00 some of the people go down to the train station because it was open, I didn't because I wasn't really that cold and it wouldn't be that long until the bus station opened, and seriously about 10 minutes after they left they opened the doors to the bus station and we went inside. Then we just wait and we get on our bus and I sleep the entire ride because I did not sleep a wink that night because A) I was not comfortable; B) someone had to stay awake and watch the stuff and there a couple of other people slept very little if at all so we talked and other than that I was reading. But I was so exhausted by the time I got home. I get there and no one is home because she had told me there was a chance no one would be there because they were doing stuff for Easter. So I get straight into the shower cause I felt nasty. Then I unpack my suitcase and then I lay down on my bed and work on uploading pictures and I was falling asleep upload so I set my laptop down and fall asleep. I'm not really sure how long I slept but it was somewhere around 5 hours. But then I get up and get around and meet Destiny to watch some of the Semana Santa processions. 

We go and find a really good spot, it went down a really narrow street and we were literally right there, I could have stuck my foot out and tripped some of them. It was really cool. It was a little freaky at first because they all look like the KKK but I got over it real quick. They play special music that is only for Semana Santa. 

We watched the whole procession. They started with the people in the capes then there are women in black that have lace veils and high heels. They wear high heels as a penance. Then there is the big thing, I want to call it a float but its not really a float, they big thing that has the image of either Mary or Jesus. Each brotherhood had their own and they decorate it with lots of things and make it really elaborate. Then the last is a band. There is another band in the beginning, I can't remember if its the very first or the second thing. 

After the procession finished we walked around and shopped. 

So we started our day off by getting on the bus. We drove past a lot of old building and churches.  Then we went past this massive building,Vittorio Emanuele II Monument.  

Here is yet another thing from art class, Trajan's column. It was built to commemorate him winning some battle. 

Then we finally made it to the Colosseum. It was incredible. There isn't much I can say about it, this is just something you have to see. There is so much history and events that happened there it is hard to believe it when your standing there. 

This is the inside.  There used to be a floor that covered this. What you can see are the remains of cages that were below the arena that held animals or people. There were trap doors that allowed them to pop up into the arena at any time. 

There was a cat just walking on top of the ruins like its no biggie... Thought that was interesting.

Then we went over to the Roman Forum and Palatine hill. This is the remnants of a palace. 

This is the Roman forum. This whole place was huge. It is hard to believe that so much empty space and greenery was in the middle of Rome and remains untouched. Which makes sense cause it is a historical site. 

Then we got back on the bus and went to the Trevi fountain. I didn't realize how big the fountain would be. It was huge!! 




We were hungry so we found some place that looked good around the fountain. We got some pizza which was really good. I do believe that they were skimping on the cheese but thats just me. I like to feel like I'm not going to go to the bathroom for a week after I eat pizza. Then we got some gelato which was fantastic. 

Then we walked down to the Pantheon. There was so much open space inside. It was really pretty inside, there were lots of sculptures. 

Here is the inside of the Pantheon. You can see that the top of the dome is WAY above the people's head. The top is open. It isn't inclosed, so that was kind of weird but I already knew this because of that dang art class. I think I am going into shock from how much stuff I am recognizing. 

Then we skeedaddled on over to the Spanish steps, which I thought was appropriate since we are studying in Spain. I am hidden amongst the people. Its like where in the world is Carmen Sandiego meets Where's Waldo. I am there I swear. 

Then we got back on the bus and road it around again then got off and came back to the room. 

So we started our day off by going to the Vatican city. On our way we were stopped by this guy giving us his spiel about a tour. And before you know it, we were paying for the tour. Which it was a good deal so I wasn't mad. Plus with them we were able to cut the line which was about a 3-4-5 hour wait so there's that... The tour lady was really funny. This the front gate to the Vatican state.

So we go inside and go through a scan and we get a headset thing so we don't have to stay really close to hear her talk. So we go outside into this courtyard thing. There is this little alcove with a giant pinecone. 

Then there was this giant golden globe in the center of the courtyard. I don't really know why but I think its just art. 

Then we go inside into the museum part. There were lots of sculptures and fragments of sculptures. All of the ceilings were painted. 

We walked through several rooms with sculptures and paintings but none that were really significant. But I liked the ceilings of the place. 

Then we walked into the hall of the tapestries. There were dozens of tapestries hanging and displaying different images/scenes. 

Then we went to the hall of the maps. She said that these maps are identical to the maps we have nowadays and they were made in like the 16th century. 

Then we went through a couple smaller rooms that lead to the Sistine Chapel. You weren't allowed to take photos inside but here is a board with some of the paintings inside. 

Then we went inside St. Peter's Basilica. This place was huge. I can see why this is the largest church. I'm almost sure it was about a football field in length, but don't quote me on that, its just what it seemed like.

Then we saw Michalangelo's famous sculpture of Mary and Jesus. It was really cool. 

Again, there is some seriously good photography going on here. 

This is the Basilica from the outside. 

After we left the Vatican we go and eat and I have some amazing pizza. Then we go and try to find the closest bus stop for the hop off bus and we stop by a shop that was part of the tour company and whilst inside it started to pour. I mean torrential downpour.  Then it started to hail. I haven't seen hail so much in my life as I have since in the time I've been in Europe. Then we find the stop and get on the bus and just ride it to the stop near our hostel and get off and just hang out for the afternoon cause we were so cold and wet, we decided it wouldn't be worth trying to see stuff cause we would be worried about our cameras getting wet and we would want to get out and take pictures in front of everything.