Destination America!: Sangria, Please!

We had another whirlwind departure of bus, train, and car. We left Premia de Dalt early, caught the first bus down the hill, then the train into Barcelona, then picked up our rental car. With 4 of us, renting a car in each country has been the best option.

We were headed down south to the city of Granada. This was a marathon drive for us. We usually try to keep our drives under 4 hours, but this was gonna be 8. Yikes. We have to add at least another 2 hours for stops, so it was a long day.

Look closely.......It looks like "Pensacola" on that sign :)

We arrived to Granada and were following Google Maps. We came to an old part of town and our drive started going straight up a super steep slope. It was one of those two way roads where there's no way 2 cars can fit on it at the same time. We stopped where google said to stop, but we still didn't see the place. Decided to keep driving up the hill and came to a plaza where people were walking all around us and the two tiny roads in front of us said we couldn't enter. We had to back up down part of the hill, ask a guy for info about where we were headed and take a turn down a road that was so tight we had to pull our side mirrors in and no kidding had 2 inches on either side of the car. I told Diego I want him on my "Survivor" team. He's great under pressure. We made it out and still hadn't found our place :) We circled back around, parked, and decided to go on foot. It was long day.

After a late night arrival........dinner in Plaza Larga.

Our Airbnb was on a pedestrian street and that's why we couldn't find it by car. The place was cute and in a great location. Only not cool part was that the temps were in the high 90's and we didn't have A/C. It was brutal sometimes.

That's our street and I'm standing at our front door.

Granada is a very neat place to visit. It is in the Andalusian region of Spain and the history of this part of the country is very interesting. Thanks to the awesome history books series we were familiar with the story. The Moors ruled in this area for 800 years, from 711 until 1492. "Moors" were Berber and Arab people from North Africa. The neighborhood/hill where we stayed is called the Albaycin and was the hill where the Moors lived. Across for the Albaycin neighborhood you see another hill and there is the palace, where the Sultan lived, called the Alhambra.

View of the Alhambra from the Albaycin neighborhood.

View of the Albaycin neighborhood from the Alhambra

They were built that way so that the Sultan would keep an eye on the common people and the common people would be forced to see the huge power of the Sultan everyday. The Moor influence is still very strong in this area and most of the tourist shops are selling things you would expect to see in middle eastern countries.

Markets in Granada

Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand eventually conquered the area around the same time they paid for Columbus to find a way to India heading west and he stumbled upon the America's.

Plaza Isabel de Catholica showing Isabela giving Columbs the funds to go explore.

We spent a few hours touring the Alhambra and it was impressive. The details area amazing.

The Gypsies (aka: Romani, Guitano) also play a huge part in the history of this region. They immigrated here from Northern India as early as 600 A.D. and were well recieved. Many of them lived in the caves in an area of Granada called Sacromonte. It is in those caves where Flamenco music and dance were born. In 1492, the first anti-Romani laws were passed.......more Isabella and Ferdinand influence.

So we set out on a quest for a Flamenco show. Everyone has a different opinion about where you should go to see a show. Some say one area is not real Flamenco, but a tourist show instead and then the next person says the other place is a tourist trap. We were walking through town one day and saw that the Ministry of Culture and Heritage was putting on a Flamenco show in the Corral del Carbon (a historic building) for 3 nights only. The dancer, Tatianna Garrido, and her group were world renowned and we decided this was our best bet to see an authentic show. It was amazing. We weren't allowed to video or take pictures, but the singers were unreal, the guitar player amazing and I don't know much about Flamenco dance, but it was very cool to see. Great show and I'm so glad we stumbled on that place.

Diego snapping a quick pic before getting caught :)

There is a culture of tapas here in Spain. We were immersed in them in Granada. When we sit and order a drink they bring you a tapa. It was such a great way to have a little snack and get a taste of the local food. We started having tapas every afternoon. Our same four drinks......Sangria, beer, pineapple and peach juice.

We did two walking tours while we were in Granada. One was of the main sights of Granada and the second was an evening tour of the Albaycin neighborhood. We learned so much and we have really grown to love these free tours. The guides are awesome. Just make sure you tip accordingly. Also, we have discovered something amazing in the last few weeks.......Our girls can be left alone. The pic below is us on an evening tour and the girls stayed back at the apartment with a movie. It was a nice little date.

Standing in the Albaycin and the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevadas in the background.

The heat was so intense and our place was up the Albaycin neighborhood so we had done a lot of steep hiking in the past 5 days. We decided a fun way to not walk so much on our last day, but see some of the areas that we hadn't, would be a moped. They are very popular in this city because the roads are so small. We got medium sized bikes because we wanted some power for the hills, but it took some time for me to get used to it. After a few hours I felt more comfortable and we had a lot of fun. Saw a lot more than we would have otherwise and didn't get back to our place until midnight. Diego could hear Luna giggling the whole time and Sofia kept telling me how much fun she was having. :)

In Granada there are homes with gardens and high walls that separate them from the city called Carmens. You will see many doors with the name "Carmen de .....". Behind the door is a functional garden and a home that you would never imagine was behind those stone walls. One of our tours ended in a Carmen that is owned by the University. It was beautiful.