Bus Rides and Sunburns: A Spontaneous Day Trip to Sierra Nevada

Today when I walked into my first class, the very first thing my professor said to me was, “Ay, tu cara quemada.” She was commenting on the rather pronounced sunburn I currently have on my face. Oops. People asked me if I had been to the beach this weekend, but no: I was in the mountains.  

Yesterday I went on a rather spontaneous adventure to Sierra Nevada with Sarah, Mary, Rachel, and Sam. Saturday night my fellow travelers had found out about a round trip bus for a day trip Sunday to this snowy mountain ski town, and the next morning, before the sun had even risen we were running to catch the bus. Rather, Sam was running and we were following not too far behind. And as he ran, we saw the bus pull away. Luckily there was another bus of the same company there and the lady on that bus called our bus, which then returned to pick us up. Not only would it have been incredibly frustrating to have been up that early just to miss the bus, but what a day we would have missed out on! It was wonderful. 

Though the day involved hours on a bus, I enjoyed every minute of it. We drove through the most beautiful countryside and I realized that despite the hours that we spent on a bus during our orientation tour, this was my first time traveling by bus through Andalusia. As the bus left Cordoba, we watched the sun rise over the campo, and as we returned that night the sun set over the mountains. Fue Increible! The only unfortunate effect of our drive through the mountains was the motion sickness that is caused for other passengers. The drive only made me slightly woozy, but it had a far more profound effect on my friend Sarah (who was very grateful when we stopped moving) and the young boy in the seat in front of me. Clearly this kid had a history of motion sickness. His parents were prepared. At one point the boy suddenly exclaimed, “Bolso! Bolso! Bolso!” An demand that was quickly obeyed by his mother who handed him a plastic bolso (bag) which he promptly got sick in.  Yet despite his uneasy stomach, in between puking, the boy pointed out the window and showed his incredible excitement at the nearing snowing mountains of Sierra Nevada.  Nothing was going to bring him down.

When we arrived in Sierra Nevada, we realized that it really is only a ski town. But it was gorgeous. I have never seen a ski mountain quite like this. There were no trees on the ski trails themselves, so the pure mountainside of glistening snow looked quite intimidating to an inexperienced skier such as myself. 

Since we were not skiing, I didn’t think too much about it. After wandering a bit, getting a bite to eat, and taking a much needed bathroom stop, we began our journey up into the streets of Sierra Nevada to get a better view of the town and 

mountain. There was so much snow everywhere and we had anticipated cold, but the weather was not what the scene would imply (nor was it what weather.com had predicted). It was so warm and we had so many layers with us. We wandered, climbed up on huge snow banks, built snowmen (Mary’s first time ever doing so), and generally had a leisurely day. It was great (though meanwhile the combination of Spanish sun and reflective snow was leaving its make across my nose and cheeks). Then it was a break for a milkshake and snack and then back to the bus. 

On the bus ride back there was no puking, though a big of queezy feelings as we once again drove on the windy mountain roads. A short way through our journey back was a forty-minute pit stop in Granada. In two weeks we will be back in Granda with our program, so we took this opportunity to lie in this lovely park and relax some more. I barely saw Granada, but I must say it made a great first impression. I loved the park and the life that there was in it.

And then our bus drove off into the sunset and in darkness we returned to Cordoba. All in all it was a wonderful day.

I will write again soon to update on Sevillanas, Flamenco (another dance class I get to take!) and my first private voice lesson. And if I don’t get to that before this weekend, I will also have lots to say about my upcoming trip to Ireland!! I leave on Thursday and can’t wait to go to my second European country and see my good friend Claire.

Hope all is well!

Adios