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Granada Alhambra: Fortress on a hill
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Our journey continued from Portugal to Spain, where we tapas'd our way through Sevilla, Grenada, Sax, and Barcelona.
Since we were seeing so many cities, and only had limited time in each place, we took advantage of free walking tours in Sevilla, Granada, and Barcelona. These walking tours are my new favorite thing - you spend 2-3 hours walking around the city with a very knowledgable local guide (who absolutely loves their city), while learning all kinds of fun facts about the things you're looking at. At the end of the tour, you tip you guide as you see fit, and feel like you aren't totally lost while walking around during the duration of your stay.
Sevilla was an incredible city. By far, my favorite area was the previous Jewish quarter, which was a very picturesque part of town which teeny streets that could barely fit one car, lined with cafes, bars, shops, etc.
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Plaza de Espana in Seville: The most glorious DMV we've ever seen.
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Sporting my new sun hat on some steps in the Plaza de Espana.
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Seville: Legend has it that a young Jewish girl overheard her father and some other men planning an uprising against the oppressive Catholic authorities. But since she had recently fallen in love with a Spanish soldier living down the street, and feared for his safety and trust, she decided to reveal the plan to him. Well he told his higher-ups and they stormed the Jewish quarter where she lived, and chased the Jews down the winding streets, cornered them and open fire. Susana's father and many other family and friends were killed. She hung herself from this balcony, and the street's name was changed to Calle de Muerte, Street of Death.
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We regret Lilah could not yet walk for this experience. We found a hole in the wall tapas bar in Seville, where we saw an intimate flaminco show (no dancing, just music). Lilah loved it, and everyone loved her.
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The highlight of Grenada was, of course, the Alhambra. Our airbnb had an incredible view of the Alhambra, so we were pretty spoiled. Unfortunately, we toured the Alhambra on the hottest day of our stay in Grenada, with a pretty whiney little Lilah, so we spent a good chunk of our time there trying to keep everyone cool and happy. Regardless, this place is amazing. The details in every corner of the castle were stunning, and learning the history of the different Spanish powers was really interesting.
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| The view of the famous Alhambra from our living room, an ancient Moorish castle & palace |
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| Details of the intricate designs covering almost every wall of the Alhambra. Composed of plaster. |
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| Amazingly intricate, fractile-esque ceiling designs. |
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Tiles and smiles at the Alhambra...well smiles on some. Lilah wasn't too impressed with the Alhambra.
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Chris sporting his new panama hat in the Alhambra Gardens.
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Flamenco dancers cooling off outside a series of dance halls carved into caves.
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| Goofing off in an ancient Hammam (public bath house). |
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Tiny market alley (I can't get enough of these markets!).
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| Winding through alleys we'd come across these secret, mini plaza's, pictured here during siesta, they would erupt with life around lunch, happy hour, and late night. |
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We rented a car to get around Spain, and the drive from Grenada to Barcelona was about 10 hours, so we decided to break it up and stay in Sax for a few nights. Little did we know, Sax is pretty much the Riverside of Spain. Smack dab in the middle of the desert, an hour from the biggest city in Spain, an hour from the ocean, and an hour from the mountains. We spent a day at Villajoyosa, a beautiful beach town, which was definitely the highlight of our time in Sax!
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| Our first dip in the Mediterranean. |
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| The adorable town of Villajoyosa. |
Barcelona has been at the top of our list of cities to visit in Europe, and we weren't disappointed. We loved everything Gaudi, and walking around the Gothic and Borne areas. We stayed just outside of the downtown area, in the "Saints" neighborhood, which had a very local feel. Wandering its streets we found a mexican restaurant (I needed guacamole, I just needed it), a macrogastronomie tapas restaurant, and a craft beer bar. It was just a short metro ride from downtown, so we were pretty happy with the location.
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| Sagrada Familia in Barcelona: Absolutely magical |
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| Our little family in awe of the Sagrada Familia |
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| Little L. |
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| Barcelona Gothic Quarter: Artillery shell damage on the walls of Plaza de Sant Felip Neri from an Italian bombers during the Spanish Cival War. Several kids died during this attack, as this plaza also serves as a school playground. |
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| One of the major art pieces that revitalized the ocean front in preparation for the Barcelona Olympics. |
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| Last family photo from the top of Gaudi's Park Guell. |
