missionaryMAC

I spent almost six months studying abroad in Granada my junior year of college. It was...a test of faith in many ways, but I came home feeling like I could conquer the world. I'd visited Spain - not Granada - once in the intervening years and ever since, had had a hankering to stroll my old haunts and let the memories wash over me, see how the city that changed me so much has changed.  First glimpses...although I honestly don't think I was ever  at the train station way back when.  We found our Airbnb and then headed out for two places I used to frequent. I'm not sure what happened to the color/light show at Triunfo Fountains, so that was a quick stop. Pictured above (and three more times before the end of this post): 2008 vs. 2024. I HAD to order the "siesta" for old time's sake. Happy Tuesday, Granada. Looks like a beautiful day for reminiscing. My old apartment. Maybe the place I used to meet a friend for churros con chocolate every Sunday before church? ...

You've seen them.  The reel* where one friend is hunched over a computer, crafting a minute-by-minute itinerary, while the other opens PayPal and sips a glass of wine.  The reel about that one friend who thinks everything is walking distance...[20,000 steps later]... The reel about how you talk about buying plane tickets like most of your friends the same age talk about buying diapers.  Ashley & I brought these and more to life by staying on in Spain for six nights post- conference . The first three, we'd spend in Madrid. It hit me that Spain, and Madrid in particular, was my first international experience way back during my junior year of high school, hence perhaps my love affair with the entire country. Perhaps that's also why I didn't feel a need to see and do ALL the things: I've done them before. Granted, I could still easily spend a week at the Prado, the Thyssen and the Reina Sofía - each - but in this case I was happy to wander and check out quirky Insta...