Cristina’s parents Tina and Antonio welcomed me into their home with open arms. One of the first things I discovered is this wonderful drink called tinto verano. Tinto means red wine and verano means summer. The basics of the drink consist of red wine and sparkling water. Some places use lemon Fanta in place of the sparkling water and usually lemon and limes slices as a garnish. Communication in house was a bit difficult at first as I had not used my Spanish in so long. However after the first couple of days I could carry on conversations.
Throughout the course of the week I would take the metro towards the center of the town and visit various locations on my tourist map. My favorite included walking about the gardens and parks. The parks are huge and there are lots of trees providing ample shade from the summer heat. One of the parks even had a large pond area full of koi where row boats can be rented. Below are some of the locations that I visited.
Near the tourist areas the pedestrian crossing signals are different. Usually around the edges of the city it is the typical green man red man. However in the busier areas there is an animated green man. When the signal starts he starts walking. A timer on the side is displayed in orange and counts down the amount of time left to cross. As the time gets closer to zero, the green man begins to pick up his walking pass into a full out run. During all of this bird chirping sounds are made indicating that it is safe to cross. This is much better than beeps, clicks, or laser sounds I’ve heard everywhere else.
On the morning of the 17th, Antonio wakes me up in the morning in preparation for my 7:45am train. Tina wakes up later, as she had stayed up late working on the computer. We have a quick breakfast and she fixes me a bocadillo as usual for lunch. Bocadillo con lomo was what I would have for lunch which is a type of meat. This specific meat is from Antonio’s home town, like many items that I have eaten throughout the week. I hop on the train to Granada and watch the desert like landscape pass by in the distance. The landscape is quite different from what I envisioned. Olive trees are neatly planted in lines and cover most of the scenery on the ride. The area looks dry and arid. The sun shines brightly through the window making it considerably hotter near the window, however with the AC blazing on this train it is not a problem.
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