Anyway, backtracking to where I last left off. That night (5 days ago) after I wrote was the most music-filled night probably of life! After the internet cafe, we went for a dinner and show of amazingly expert Flamenco! It was totally exhilerating to see these Flamenco professionals weave intricate beats of guitar, clapping, and loud tap-style dancing with a Spanish flourish. After the show (regretably) finished, we went to Paul´s friends´house to see what they were up to. It so happened that they were going to a jazz club for the weekly Sunday night jazz show. We went along and saw a few different jazz bands, an amazing Brazilian-style percussion group, and a hilarious Spanish reggae group (hearing someone speak Spanish with a Jamaican accent is beyond funny).
I´m honestly having trouble distinguishing Monday through Wednesday from each other, so I´ll just bunch them in one mega-day. So, on mega-day I awoke generally early, although maybe late, got up and had a breakfast outside the cave, looking out at the mountains. Did yoga, or not, in the morning, then went on with my day. All three days I cooked yummy and healthy meals with the amazing fresh Spanish fruit and vegetables. Most notably, I was eating at least one mango a day because they´re so fresh and huge and delicious in Spain. I also ate the fruit from the cacti that grow around the cave, which was mild but tasty, not to mention free! I climbed neighbouring mountains and got to see a lot more incredible views. I saw another jazz concert, this one a quartet of skilled and really humourous musicians who clearly lived and breathed for music. I explored the more city-like part of Granada, which was nice, but not really impressive because it was a lot like the other Spanish cities I´d been to. I definitely prefer the old Morroccan city. I also spent an amazing afternoon touring around the ancient Arabbic castles of the Alhambra. It´s a beautiful place with several impressive buildings, giant gardens that had flowers and orange trees in bloom even in November, and a rich and interesting history. My favourite thing about the place is that, when it was first built, Jews, Muslims, and Christians all lived happily and peacefully together there.
My last night in the cave was spent the same way as my first, with Paul and I sharing wine, stories, and a cave-cooked meal. My final day in Granada I walked around the Morroccan part of the city for the final time before coming back to the cave for lunch, saying my goodbyes to Paul, and lugging my pack down the mountain to take a shuttle to the airport. My plane ride was a decent flight, and I landed in the airport outside Milan in the late evening. I then took a shuttle to the train station, and a metro into the city, where I was met by my new host Maria, a girl from Ecuador studying fashion in Milan for a year. We didn´t have too much time to talk before bed because I arrived late, but we chatted for a bit and she helped my plan out what I´d do today.
Today I woke up early and left with Maria. As she went to school, I walked to the Duomo, the most famous church in Milan. It´s huge and beautiful, with a ridiculously detailed gothic outside, and a more reserved inside containing tall stained glass windows, statues, and a really neat floor with flower patterns made of different kinds of marble and rock. I would have enjoyed myself more if it was FREEZING outside! It´s not that cold, but all day it´s been doing that stupid slush-snow-rain combination that spells out early death for me. My boots soaked through in a matter of minutes and I spent just over 8 hours with cold, wet feet before Maria was done school and I could change into dry socks. Not one to be defeated by weather, I managed to have a day filled with equal parts cowering inside and sight-seeing. I went around the insanely famous fashion district and openly gawked at all the gorgeous clothing that I will never afford. It was impressive! I also went to an Italian Villa that was once lived in by Napolean and is now a museum of itself as well as an art gallery. There was a lot of amazing paintings and sculptures, and I was really jazzed to see a wall of Toulouse-Lautrec paintings. The coolest thing, though, was a contemporary art exhibit by Tino Sehgal taking place, that used live actors as its medium, and had them singing, getting in people´s faces, dancing, or doing weird contorted movements throughout the villa. It was really wierd, disquieting, and brilliant. I ate my first real Italian pizza and foccaccia (both delicious). I loaded up with maps and planners at the tourist office so I can properly use and abuse this city in the next few days while I´m here. And tonight? Who knows!
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