Arrival in Spain

On the plane ride from Philadelphia to Madrid I was fortunate enough to sit next to a gentleman who has traveled to Spain, and Granada specifically, on several occasions. I did not make any travel arrangements to get from Madrid to Granada before leaving the United States because I hadn't decided whether I wanted to take a plane, train, or bus. My seat-mate recommended the train because it is generally less expensive than a plane, more spacious than a plane or bus, and allows you to see the countryside better than the buses. I wasn't completely sold on the train, but once we landed and made it through customs I discovered the Renfe ticket counter was about ten steps from the information booth. So, I took the train.

I had to take the Metro to get from the airport to the train station. It costs about two euros, but if you have a bad back, or have over-packed, I would recommend taking a cab. It takes a lot of walking and going up and down several staircases to navigate the Metro system from the airport to the train station. The train station is three transfers are so away from the airport.

The train ride from Madrid to Granada takes about four hours. Unfortunately, I slept for most of it because of exhaustion from spending 26 hours in airports and on airplanes. But, before I fell asleep I saw a cool castle on a hilltop.

Once in Granada I shared a cab ride with some Stetson students who were on the same train. We arrived at the hotel shortly before 5:00 p.m. After getting settled into our rooms, several of us met up to find dinner. We decided to go tapas-hopping. Tapas-hopping is essentially bar-hopping, but you get fed for the price of your drinks. The food ranges from pappas fritas (french fries) to oysters and calamari to sandwiches and pasta salads. We started at La Bella y La Bestia and then moved on to several different restaurants and bars to try a variety of tapas.

One of the people I met that first night is a Charleston law graduate who did the whole summer abroad. He spent the first month in Granada and then did the split program between the Hague and Freiburg. He chronicled his adventures over on another blog.