The Big Finale: Granada, Spain

 A bus ride + a train ride later, Neal and I, and my disintegrating suitcase, made it to Granada.  I loved Alhambra two years ago, and couldn't wait to share it with Neal. We had booked a Cathedral tour, too, but since the Pope died, it was canceled. No problem; lots to see and do in Granada.

Granada is up in the mountains. It was the capital of the Nasrid Moorish empire from the 1300s to 1492. They built a beautiful complex of palaces and gardens, which were positioned so it was very hard to invade. April is spring - their one week of spring, the guide said. After that, it gets unbearably hot. When I was here 2 years ago in July, it was melting, sweating, panting hot. This year it was perfect. Coming from rainy, cold Bergen (me) or snowy, freezing Vermont (Neal), I was dying to see flowers. Granada did not disappoint.

The scent of these made me pause for some deep breaths

All the orange trees were covered in oranges

 

We walked up the tree-lined trail to Alhambra, past the statue of Washington Irving. What does the headless horseman have to do with Moorish ruins? Washington Irving visited here in 1828. He was so impressed that he wrote "Tales of the Alhambra" and also talked to the Spanish government about preserving the fortress/palace complex. And that is partly why 8000 people per day visit Alhambra!

My little geeky heart went pitter-patter when admiring the palace architecture and decoration.

Spectacular entries. Privacy with window placement, but also breezeways.

Symmetry. In the middle it says something like, "Only God is Victorious" 

Fractals - an image is repeated smaller and smaller

8-pointed stars have flowers and leaves embedded in them

The stalactite roofs were amazing! And 8-pointed.

Everywhere we turned, there was symmetry, yet with so many details incorporated that it looked natural.

The obligatory Alhambra photo

It's a three-hour tour, so we got one break

Ongoing archeology. How did the workers live?

Water comes from those snow-capped peaks - Sierra Nevada

Water is a scarce resource, and so it's piped in, underground to hide it from enemy armies, and spread throughout the gardens and palaces. They had hammams, too, with steam rooms...

Everywhere, we had distant views

After Alhambra, Neal and I wandered around the central area, looking for tourist things to bring home. We had a paella dinner. It wasn't as spicy as we hoped. Then we went to a Flamenco show. I ordered us drinks and snacks. We ended the night really stuffed!

Male and female dancers, a singer and a guitarist distracted us from our drinks and snacks. 

Neal and I do not agree on the pudding - was it supposed to be butterscotch? Sweet potato? We also had sticks threaded with Iberian ham, and a delicious white cheese.

The dancers stomp the floor hard enough to have worn out the center part of it. Flamenco sort of reminds me of Celtic dancing, or tap dancing, only with lots more emotion.

Walking home, the narrow streets were packed

Uphill had amazing views, too

The last day, we wandered as far as the river, which we figure disappears by August

The receptionist looked up "Hardware Store" in Spanish for us, and we duct taped the up-and-down handle together. At this point, the suitcase got even further into its harikari. The actual handle popped out of the suitcase! I tell ya.

We took the train back to Malaga, for an overnight stay in the Holiday Inn Express Malaga Airport. Neal and I searched high and low for a courtesy bus. Nope. The information booths were closed, even though it was only about 8 pm. The taxis had a minimum charge of 25 euro. Google showed a 39 minute walk, with no sidewalks. Now, doesn't the hotel name including "Malaga Airport" imply that you can get to the hotel from the airport? We went ahead and took a taxi. So, now we are trapped in a hotel which is not near any food sources, even a gas station one. Their restaurant is open till 11 pm, so I got some food, but not Neal. He took a taxi to the airport in time for his plane at 5:55 am. I was sorry to part with him. Lots of hugging.

My plane was at 11 am, but I needed a new suitcase before security check. Arriving at 7:30 am, a suitcase store was waiting for me. Hooray! I bought a green Samsonite, then sat on the floor of the store, unloading my suicidal suitcase and packing my new green suitcase. Left the old one there, then made it right through security and into Duty Free. Bought a couple cosmetics and, by 9 am, I am sitting with my cappuccino, taking deep calming breaths. 

Now I have experienced this trip three times. That's the way I like it. 1) Planning and researching. 2) Doing the trip! 3) Blogging the memories. Thanks for joining me. I really enjoyed the time with Neal and the excitement of traveling to new places.