Hotel Vincci Granada

... on the site), including Charles V Spanish style palace, and the old Alcazaba, the fort of the Alhambra. But the true gem was the Palacio Nazaries. The intricate scripture on the plaster walls was amazing. The architecture and homage to water, with buildings reflected in huge ponds, is something you wouldn´t find anywhere else in Spain. The only let down was the Lion´s Fountain...the guidebook says its the ¨most photographed¨ part of the Alhambra ...

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... THAN 4, YOU LEFT ME IN THE ALHAMBRA. Well, all's well the ends well, since I made it on the bus, and for the rest of the trip, everytime the group got together, Nuria would call out, "Deena, are you here?" and once I assured her I was present, the group could leave.

After the Alhambra, we had some free time to get lunch, so I went with a few girls to a little hole in the wall that had 3 euro falafel. Having spent quite a bit of time in Israel, I have had my fair share of falafel ...

... flophouse for local gypsy squatters.) We met a guide in our hotel this morning and bused over to the hill where the Alhambra estate lies. It’s over 30 acres of palaces and gardens. The decoration inside the palace apartments is incredible.

Islam ornamentation never depicts a person or animal – only geometric designs or nature – and mostly prayers from the Koran and poems. The ...

... bus to Malag'sa bus station.  From the Malaga bus station I took an airport shuttle that I had to wait for 45 minutes to show up, then it took another 45 minutes to get to the airport.  I just made my 11:45 flight and even got into Milano a bit early.  By 2:30 I was on a bus to Milano Centrale, and 50 minutes later I was at Milano Centrale train station.  I ran in and tried to bypass the line to purchase a ticket with the automated machine.  The next train left in two minutes, I tried ...

... at that game. I don't know, I'd like to blame it on the size and ambience of the bar. I mean, it's just not conducive to effective foosball playing. It's obviously a game that needs intense concentration, focus, and intensity. Needless to say, I lost. We were going to go to a disco Tec but decided against it. We went home and passed out, looking forward to taking a stroll through Granada the next day.

On our 2nd day in Almerimar we decided to hire a car and see more of Spain than just the rugged coastline so we headed for the ancient palace and fort of Alhambra in Granada. We followed the coast west for an hour which is littered with tent like structures that cover most of the coastal area which are used to grow vegies under, I assume to keep them out of the intense heat of the summer sun. From the ocean it gives off an ...

... her husband is back in morrocco but she goes home every weekend to visit. I was really surprised by her independance. She served me a tea whose name translates as "dreaming of the Alhambra", which I'll hopefully be doing tonight. ___________________________ Just found out that the tea I was served is apparently an aphrodisiac...nice. Spent the morning at the Alhambra. It´s really hard to distil its beauty down to a few paragraphs, but suffice to say, it ...

Essaouira was a wonderful place of whitewashed houses, blue doors, and fabulously cool temperatures. Beth and Casey hoarded many pretty seashells from the beach, and all enjoyed the camel ride on the beach at sunset (Lou says "How much more romantic can you get?") We were sad to leave the nice hostel we had there, but alas, there was more to see. We caught the bus to Marrakesh and arrived at 4:30 in the heat, spent a few hours refueling on harira ...

... by a lush river valley below. The highlight was definitely the Alcazar, a fairy tale style castle perched at the end of the cliff overlooking the hills and valley. Granada is a city in southern Spain with the Sierra Nevada mountains on the horizon, famous for its Moorish Alhambra palace. I arrived in Granada after a six hour bus ride from Madrid not really sure where my hostel was, but booked after favourable ...