The latest pics from Granada...

Día de la Cruz-the 3rd of May. A holiday typical of Granada where huge decorated crosses are displayed in public places (squares, plazas, etc) and people gather around them and socialize, of course with the ever present wine and beer. Nowadays it's turned into mostly a big botellon but it has roots in religion. Heh.



The first prize winner for the best cross in Granada. Check out the "mantons de manila" in the background. Very pretty.



Another cross, this time outdoors.



The crowd of people gathered around the cross pictured above. It was raining that day (reminded me of Portland!) but that didn't dampen people's spirits at all.



Another cross, a bit farther away from my house. Sadly, you can't see a lot of the decorations because of the plastic that was keeping out the rain.



The botellon forming near a cross



Last Friday, Chelsea, Diana and I went to Cafe Futbol for our last churros and chocolate of the semester.



Chelsea, ready to dive in to the plate of churros



The "after" pic :0)



After the churros, Diana and I went to see another Flamenco show at the CLM. I think I may like flamenco more now...









Then, last weekend we went on our last group trip to the little towns of Ronda and Grazalema in the western part of Andalucia...gorgeous. This is the Plaza de Toros de Ronda.



Views of Ronda






Artsy pic



Fountain at the Casa de Don Juan Bosco in Ronda



This is perhaps what Ronda is most known for, this massive bridge



While in Ronda I found Paco's long lost cousin, Pedro. :0)



Houses in Ronda...very "Andalucia"



Jeanette, Sarah, Diana, Rachel, and Chelsea



I love this pic



The view of Grazalema from our "casita". We didn't stay in a hotel this time...we stayed in little cabins that had great views of the town and of the countryside. It would be a great place to stay if you just wanted to relax for a weekend.



Diana, Katherine, Chelsea, and Colin on our impromptu hike up the side of a random mountain. Let me just say that we definitely blazed a trail...



Our goal was to make it up to this old, abandoned church on the side of this particular hill. It turned out to be quite pretty and we had some fun testing out the "self-timer" function of our cameras.



On Sunday we went on an 8k hike...check out this view



Hiking up the hill



Another great view



Who can resist swings? :)