Santa Isabel la Real Granada

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 ...

... of vino and a few hands of WHOT, it´s off to bed.

20 Nov
We awake to a chilly yet sunny Granada morning and decide to bus it into town. We are accompanied for the day by Amanda and Gavin a Scottish couple currently living in Barcelona. Alighting from the bus in town, we head up the hill to the Alhambra, which turns out to be a wonderful visual experience comprising of extensive gardens and a number of interconnected palaces. The ...

... of the small plaza that sold baked goods. It looked so good and there was a line with about six people. On my way back to the hotel and the meeting point I was doing some serious observations and I observed a ´joven´ go slightly out of his way to step on a crunchy looking leaf. I thought that was great. I´m part of this group on facebook that´s called "I will go slightly out of my way to step on a crunchy looking leaf". I myself will do this but I ...

Nous visitons l'Alambra, forteresse et palais, les cultures islamiques et chrétiennes se rejoignent. Nous partagons de beaux moments avec Sylvie, même si nous ne sommes pas toujours sur la mème longueur d'onde. Nos vies ont changé en 6 semaines et c'est parfois difficile de se rejoindre là au milieu... j'ai la sensation d'être un peu une autiste dans son monde... d'un c ...

... blue on the other...but theyre worth the exact same as the british pound, and both are used on the island. Sean was really looking forward to it here because it advertised you could go fishing wheneveryou wantecd.....so we wlked down to the quay or the pier, only to find out that you need 6 people to go, and that only usually happens on weekends, which we are definitely ont here on. So I feel really bad for him cause hes not gunna get to go, and hes been looking forward to that since ...

... you ask? Granada!  Granada was ideal because of the natural defense of the mountains, to protect from Christian invasion, but also ideal because of access to the Mediterranean Sea...so commerce with north africa and other countries was still possible.   Anyways....the last Nazari king's name was Boabdil (I remember this because it vaguely sounds like Bob Dylan,) and he ended up surrendering Granada y La Alhambra to Los Reyes Catolicos, (the ...

The first big thing we did was go to Granada's famous Alhambra. The Alhambra is a moorish fortess and castle. It was home to the last sultan in Spain. It is divided into three parts: The fortress for the military, the palce for sultan, and the workshops for the servants. The Alhambra is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The detail and design is incredible. Picutures don't do it any justice. AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!!!!

The Andalusian Triangle! Wow. This province of Spain is a vacation unto itself. Andalusia has it all: wonderful cities, breathtaking mountains, amazing beaches and one hell of a lot of olive trees. The triangle I refer to is the trio of major cities in the region. Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada. Here you can wander the maze of cobbled roads in Santa Cruz, Sevilla, the tight alleyways of the Cordoban Jewish quarter, and see the last remnants of the ...

... They insite me to scream) soy como una roca........................(I am like a rock) palabras no me tocan.....................(Words, they don't touch me) adentro hay un volcan....................(Inside there is a volcano) que pronto va a estallar.................(That will soon explode) yo quiero estar tranquilo................(I want to be calm) Es mi situación una desolación...........(It is my situation is one of desolacion) soy ...

... of the countryside and the mountains. After a week or so, it was time to move on, being the weekend, the next port of call, Seville, was all booked up. So Alyssha and I found a room in a little town called Carmona about an hour out of Seville. It was a very cute little town, whitewashed walls, tiny cobbled streets, city walls, this was an authentic Spanish town! That pool in the hostel was calling for us apparently, so finding a pair of bathers was the ...