Hotel Puerta De Las Granadas

... where we made some new friends from Miami. We ended up tapa-hopping all night with Diane and Roguer, who knew of the good streets to wander down.
We were used to getting a little bite with a beer in Madrid, but in Granada you can get a whole meal! By far the best value in Europe is Antiguilla. With each drink (even if it´s a coke!) you get an entire ham and cheese sandwich, AND fries. Stay for a second drink? Then it´s a mini hamburger and a ...

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... the front until we find ourselves doing pogo (European mosh pit). Next thing I knew, I was crowd surfing the lead singer. Around 3 am, I was covered in sweat, dirt and another myriad of spanish bodily fluids. It´s incredible how alcohol can make a 45 minute walk seem like nothing. It´s also incredible how it makes you feel like a thousand demons are eating away at your brain in the morning when you have to wake up early to transfer hotels.

... had a free Flamenco show (2 ladies, very tight pokka-dot dresses, ruffled lower down, often hiked up, stern expressions and pounding shoes; a guitarist who really knew his strings; and a closed-eyed guy singer); “passionate” comes to mind. A nice nightcap.


Thursday July 9

Today was a free day, a day to re-trace our steps or see some fresh places. Our guide yesterday for ...

... found her walking around the park looking for me.  She walked me to a different part of town, and during said walk, I realized that my shoulders, now uncovered, were a vibrant shade of red.  I ducked into an ally and swapped my CU basketball practice jersey for a regular t-shirt.  But it was much too late, I was toasted.  We ended up at a Arabic tea house, hookahs on the table, but that's not my style.  We sipped tea and talked for a couple hours about life, liberty, the pursuit of ...

... into a tiny elevator that hardly fit us and our 2 duffel bags. We made to our rooms. The room was pretty small, smaller than a typical single dorm room at a university. Our beds, heavily spring-bound, were clad without sheets, but with a thin, substance-filled comforter that looked just SO appealing to sleep on. Our bathroom felt like an icebox with a shower that size of a sink with telephone-esque shower apparatus. Somewhat confused, we began to ...

... to a local cafe for a coffee and small bite to eat. Then businesses close from 2-5 for lunch and siesta where most people either go home or eat a leisure meal with friends (there is almost always beer or wine served.) Then it is back to work until 8 or 9. After work everybody goes out to eat for tapas and a drink. And then if you have a lot of energy you go out dancing or for live music (and bars do not close until 6am ...

... and we got a regular meal for lunch, and it wasn't that bad! I ate a flat bread chicken sandwich with a salade, and I don't remember the desert, and I know that I got some eggplant with it, and it was actually very tastey. In no time, my plane landed in Madrid and now it was time for me to start looking for the gate for my flight to Granada. Well, in typical Spanish fashion my gate was not posted and it should ...

... seen. There were Moorish arches everywhere, and the walls and door frames had complex geometric and Arabic plaster carvings. The level of detail in the design and decoration was astonishing -- and we have visited some impressive palaces and churches. As in many of the older buildings in Europe, the roof was more decorated than the walls, with beautiful tile mosaics and ornate plaster stalactites. After spending over an hour in the Nasrid Palace we walked ...