Granada.... the city and the fruit!

So girls weekend in Granada was a HIT! I absolutely had a blast...

We got up Friday morning for a relaxing afternoon at the pool while Ana was still in school. I helped Uncle David in the shop for a few hours doing some work on remodeling a 1910 house in Seville. He had taken down the decorative beams from the outside of this three story antique and salvaged all the hand carvings. We then remade all of the parts that were rotting away from scratch. Lots of table saws, nail guns and saw dust. Fun! Then Aunt Carmen prepared us another delicious lunch (spaghetti and the works) and we were off to the train station to pick up Aunt Carmen's sister for girls' weekend.

Luckily for me, my cousin Ana had read the first three Twilight books in English and let me borrow the first one for the 3 hour drive... I managed to finish it over the weekend and now I have to read the other ones. I heard poor reviews on the movie though..

The first night in Granada, we settled in at my Aunt's sister's apartment and went out for gourmet pizza at a little Italian restaurant. Then called it a night!

Saturday was an all day affair starting with the Catedral de Granada and shopping in old town Granada in Alcaiceria. I found all kinds of neat things to tote around with me the whole rest of the day! Then lunch in at a cute tapas restaurant near Plaza Mayor where I tried duck pate, pavia, and huevo relleno. My favorite was the pavia- a fried fish with a red pepper sauce. Fantastic!

The hi-light of the day was most definitely Alhambra, the most visited tourist attraction in Spain featuring traditional Islamic architecture and art. It was breath-taking! We had to take a bus up to the hill where it's located and the view was amazing. We spent 3 hours walking the palace, the gardens, and the newer palace of Charles V. Pictures, again, are worth a thousand words.

We finished the afternoon with a walk along Rio Darro which runs along the base of the mountain where the Alhambra is. We passed a burro for rent- I guess for the hike up to the Alhambra? Ha! I would have loved to do that! The evening ended with a look from the Mirador, a look out at the same level as the Alhambra but on the other side of the river and the sun was setting just right... I also found a very unique artist who does engravings of scenes from Granada, and of course I had to add to my growing art collection. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before! Then we found this lady who made the neatest jewelry out of metal wire and buttons and beads. I'm going to learn to do this over the summer, but I had to buy one to support of course.... STAY TUNED!

Dinner followed: shrimp, calamari and Alhambra beer. What more could you want? And a ton of cherries for dessert. They are so cheap here!

We headed back home this morning and met Uncle David and Victor for lunch at their favorite Chinese restaurant (treat by Dad!). It was a buffet for all practical purposes because we ordered family style. :) At home, I started reading Kati's original book she brought on the trip and layed by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. (after an extensive packing session, of course) Oh yeah, did I mention Uncle David helped me sneak into a giant field of sunflowers so I could take pictures? Dinner followed with a fantastic "tortilla" or rather spanish omelet made of potatoes, onion, and peppers with assorted cheeses and cured ham. The tortilla was sort of like a quiche? Ice cream rounded off the evening and I've spent the rest of my night sad that I'm leaving Uncle David and the family.

It really has been a one-of-a-kind experience. What else can I say? Now I have to get up in less than 2 hours for my flight back home. I'm banking on the fact that I'll have PLENTY of time to sleep on the plane :)

Back to Texas... I come home at 7:30 tomorrow night to the "Big D" and then its back to Aggieland for a while. Love love!