journeywithmadonna

…….at the top of this hill was quite a hike but gave a fabulous view. On the walk down I took this picture of some of the gypsy caves, politically correct Roma!   They seem pretty happy, were friendly and didn’t mind us walking through their living rooms……..of course there were no TVs, not that we could see anyway.

…..handsome dude is in the front because the picture is really of the snow in the hilltops of the Sierra Nevada mountains off in the distance.

………as seen from Alhambra and we can even see our apartment from here….well kind of!   Instead of “where’s Waldo, it’s where’s the Canadians?”……….never mind, we won’t play.    Granada was first occupied by the Moors in the 8th century, later by the Nasrid dynasty from 1238 to 1492 and during this period artisans, merchants, scholars and scientists all contributed to the city’s international reputation as a centre for culture.   Lots happened in the next 500 years but we’ll leave that for google if you’re interested, but today Granada has a population of approx. 241,000 and many efforts are being made to restore it to its former glory. Although there are many areas to explore in Granada one of the most popular is called Alhambra and Andrea insisted that Granada had to be on our list as she visited here a few years ago and raved about the city and Alhambra……..so glad we listened!
Our guidebook describes Alhambra as a magical use of space, light, water and decoration that characterizes this most sensual piece of architecture. Built when the Nasrid dynasty ruled Granada, about 1232, modest materials such as timber, plaster and tiles were used and were superbly worked to create their idea of ‘paradise on earth’. Over the years the Alhambra has suffered ruin including an attempt by Napolean to blow it up, but in recent years it has undergone extensive renovation. You could spend hours exploring the area as it is truly unbelievable. Once again my ipad pictures do no justice.
A footpath from Alhambra leads to Generalife which is the country estate of the Nasrid kings. Apparently it was to here they escaped from the palace and where they enjoyed tranquility high above the city and a little closer to heaven. These gardens began in the 13th century and have had many modifications over the years. Today it is also the setting for Granada’s annual music and dance festival.
We spent our first day in Granada exploring Alhambre, Generalife and Nasrid’s palaces and were not disappointed……..so worth the visit!    Following our self guided tour of Alhambra we returned to our apartment for a cocktail and our own tapa………..and then went for supper to a restaurant recommended by our air bnb host and Trip Advisor.   We were not disappointed and turned in early as we have another full day here tomorrow.

……from Alhambra!

…….at Alhambra, Grenada.

……is Spain’s third largest city and is known for its exuberant outdoor living and nightlife, paella and Valencia oranges all of which we were looking forward to!   In March of each year it also stages one of Spain’s most spectacular festivals known as Las Fallas. We were fortunate enough to be here for the beginning of that but were also glad to leave before it got too crowded.  The festival is known as the great fire festival and huge papier-mâché monuments, known as Fallas are erected in the crossroads and squares of Valencia around the 15th of March and  are set alight on the 19th of March.   Each cost thousands of euros and depicts satirical scenes.  During the festival each day at 2pm there is a gathering in the main square for what they refer to in English as the big ‘bang-bang’……..and what a noisemaker it is!  It lasts for about five minutes and everyone in the city, it seems, comes to witness the noise and firecrackers which gets louder with each passing day.  It is also worth mentioning that it marks the beginning of the bullfighting season, an event we will not be partaking in.

In Valencia we toured the city three times.  The first was by foot as we wandered off to the market and to the main square and spent three hours exploring that part of the city, with a few cappuccino thrown in for energy.   Then we decided to get on the hop on, hop off bus for a more detailed tour of the historical area but we almost froze  to death as the weather really cooled off and we were sitting in the open air area of the bus.  We decided not to finish the tour but instead to go for an earlier supper than planned and because Valencia is known for its paella it was a no-brainer, or so,  we thought.   We asked for a recommendation and once we got there at 7:30 we were told that it didn’t open until 8pm…no big deal as we decided we would wander around for a little bit and look at what the merchants were selling.   It didn’t take long for a half hour to pass so back we went to our recommended restaurant for paella to find out it didn’t open until 9pm.       These people do eat late and so we found another place which was just OK and not nearly as good as my sister’s paella…….thanks Biz! Anyway we ate it, enjoyed each other’s company and crashed early as we had an early departure time for the morning.  And that’s when things kind of went crazy for us folks who do not consider ourselves to be hooked on technology.

After our supper we returned to our apartment to find that the Internet was down and also to find that our SIM card was not working.   We wanted to make an air bnb reservation for the next night and also plan our get-away from the city on the GPS…….not going to happen.   In the morning nothing changed so Jim and I set off on foot for our three minute walk to the parking garage to pick up the car and we did not plan on it taking us 45 mins to return by car to pick up Marilyn and our luggage.    Valencia is a very difficult city to drive in, we think, and very confusing because of the one way streets and the frequent changes of street names………..not to mention our terrible Spanish!   So, after many appeals for help from several citizens, we finally found our way back in the pouring rain and were looking forward to leaving what is really a magnificent city!    But let me tell you that without a GPS, and no place open to figure out the problem,it wasn’t easy and this became our third unscheduled tour  of the city as we wandered around for almost two hours trying to get out…….and cursing our internet/SIM card GPS.   Finally, with the help of a few Spanish citizens who were willing to listen to our horrendous Spanish, Jim got us out of there.   Our plan was to head towards Gandia  and to hike the  ‘route of the monasteries’ for a couple of hours.  However even the best laid plans go awry and because we really didn’t have any, ours really went off the rails.   By now it was cold, starting to rain and we couldn’t find what had been described as the ‘well marked trails’!   So after wandering around for over an hour we decided to forget that part of the plan and head towards Granada and crash somewhere for the evening.   That brought us to Caravaca de la Cruz, an interesting little place with a population of 26,000 and a couple of hotels and, more importantly, The Phone House, where we were able to buy a new SIM card to replace the one that seemed to be defective……..or so they thought.  Not much to tell you about Caravaca except we were able to settle in and rejuvenate for our next much anticated stop, Grenada.

……are we there yet?   The area to Jim’s right is like many areas/streets in Valencia during the festival in that they have been blocked off and are full of covered up papier mâché sculptures.   They all will be uncovered later in the week and then set on fire symbolizing burning the old in order to make way for the new.      All of these blocked off areas only made our exit from the city that much more difficult……..but heh, we made it!