Hotel Almazara Loja

So Mom, Torrey and Scott arrived last Saturday and we had a wonderful few days travelling around Madrid and exploring the sites. It is so true (and funny) what my mom said about visitors, you never really see your own city until you have visitors to share it with. Though I had seen many of the sites around Madrid the first few weeks I was here, I was in such a whirlwind those first few weeks that it wasnt until this past week that I was able to really enjoy and ...

... the pond. The American author, Washington Irving, explored the palace in the 1800s (after it had fallen into disrepair) and stirred up interest about it with his Tales of the Alhambra. It is a truly magical place.

It's hard to list highlights – every room had details and stories about which many books have been written. Some views that stuck with us, though, include:

• the Islamic writings sculpted into the walls
Granada, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands jennyandpaul2

The train trip from Barcelona to Malaga, Spain took just about 5 hours on one of the super-fast trains in Spain. After having our passports checked and our backpacks x-rayed at the train station of Barcelona, we took the escalator down to the loading area. This was the first (and only) train we have traveled on that felt like an airport security check. Each train car had a host to guide us to our seats after checking our tickets ...

The following is a questionnaire that my mom sent me after one of my email silence binges. My responses follow sequentially. Mom: The worry meter is starting to register. Please fill out the following brief questionnaire: Sandra: Sorry Mom. I thought we had had recent communication. I guess it has been a while. Sometimes I lose track of time and it doesn't seem like its been that long. It seems to happen a lot in Granada for some reason huh? Love the questionnaire. Here ...

... est des plus agreables! Il commence meme a faire froid (frais) vers minuit... le soleil parti, pas de nuages pour retenir la chaleur... les degres tombent rapidement. ** On part ce soir pour Valence. Je ne suis pas trop excitee. Ca signifie la fin du voyage, le retour vers le Nord... au moment ou on commence a saisir le pays! Enfin. Belle nuit et belle journee demain en perspective. Je gage 5 Euros que je ne dormirai pas plus de deux heures dans le train!! A la prochaine!

... a wine bar (window in a house) for cerveja and tinto. Inbetween serving us the owners and their guests were getting up to some sus. activities - lots of singing ensued afterwards! On our 2nd day here we queued to see The Alhambra - the reason everyone comes to Granada. This is the only surviving large Muslim palace in the world. The Alcazaba is made up of fortresses, ramparts, towers and dungeons. But the ...

... at school, but nights are hard not having anything to do if I am bored. I like going to the cafe done the street to use it there, but that is adding up quickly with money. There was an accident outside of my apartment last night. A girl was crossing the street and got hit by a car. My madre told me she heard it and that the ambulance didnt arrive until almost an hour later ...

... Spinning is totally awesome and such a great workout!!! If you think I sweet alot when I run, you havent seen nothing!!! Everything Guadalupe has made so far has been great!!! Lots of soups, all different kinds, meat for pigs, not really similar to ham, always bread, and always fruit!!! My favorite meal so far was from Tuesday!! She made a dish similar to paella, which is a dry rice mixture with either different kinds of fish, sausage or both. The dish she made was ...

... Aix en Provence has a special shuttle bus that goes to both the TGV (high speed train) train station and the Marseille Airport, as well as some other stops along the way but you pay according to where you're going to get off but to give you an idea on prices, to go to the train station you pay around 5 euros and to the Airport you pay around 7 euros. Not bad and beats taking a taxi to the airport which is ...

... temptation. On both Saturday and Sunday morning it snowed. This is very unusual in Granada. Manuel went out and took about fifty photos. Each afternoon the sky cleared and became a beautiful bright blue. It is fantastic to see the sun after a few days in England. It just seems so bright here. The clear weather also revealed the spectacular Sierra Nevada mountains which surround Granada. They are really breath-taking and peak out between aparment complexes. Of course the Alhambra ...