the heat, the desert, and the beach

My last day in Granada I walked up to the Alhambra, forgot my money, walked down and then hiked back up. Luke and I wandered around in the scorching heat and developed pretty little sunburns. I had been expecting a lot more from the Alhambra, but thats just because I was so excited about visiting it. The palace is extremely big, and lots of areas are blocked off. Most of the water wasn't running either. The gardens were beautiful and numerous, huge Wistera, roses everywhere, and Italian cypress. After we walked around the palace we followed around some feral kittens. The Alhambra was such a tourist trap. There were shops all over and people everywhere.
I've spent the last couple of days in San Jose. Its this little town in a natural park on the Costa de Almeria. It is desert and the beaches are fucking awesome. The water is sooo warm and clear blue. And if you're willing to make the trek (which I was) then you get to beaches without very many people. Its supposed to be the hottest area in Spain, but I dont mind, its so beautiful. I spent hours just swimming around in the Sea. And there are almost no tourists, besides Spainards that come here for the holiday. Almost no one speaks English.
I met two girls in Almeria. They live in Madrid and they're from Wisconsin, accent and everything. They were really cool. They're living in Madrid for the study abroad program. When I go to Madrid I'm going to stay with them at their flat for a couple of days. There's this really fantastic musuem in Madrid, the Prado Museum. It has Bosch's the Garden of Earthly Delights in it and I cant wait to go. I'm going to go and catch my bus now...