Ron and Sally Jo Blog

We spent our last day in Spain in Granada, a city at the foot of the Alhambra and the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.   Its history includes the Romans, the Moors, the Jews, and the Catholics.  Architecture in the city is reminiscent of all these cultures.  We spent most of our time in the Albayzín  section of the city, with its narrow streets, Arabic influence, and small shops.  (Ron was constantly intrigued with the various patterns in both Granada and the Alhambra.)  We were entertained at several spots with musicians and a flamenco dancer.

We also partook of the ever-present tapas and traditional hot chocolate and churros.  We all decided that this is a spot we would like to return to some day!

We spent a fascinating afternoon in The Alhambra, a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid-14^th century by Moorish rulers.  After the re-conquest by Catholic monarchs some parts were used by Christian rulers.  It sits on top of a hill overlooking the city of Granada.

After falling into disrepair for centuries, the Alhambra was re-discovered in the 19^th century by European scholars and travelers.  The decorations are mostly of foliage, Arabic inscriptions, and geometrical patterns.  Painted tiles are used on the walls.  The Alhambra is made up of gardens, fountains, streams, palace, and a mosque within fortress walls.  The Alhambra has influenced architecture, music, literature, and mathematics.

Thanksgiving Day we headed to the coast, passing through the little town of Restebal.  At the edge of the town was a plaza looking down to a large lake.  The plaza itself was interesting with curious tops to the pillars, large decorated, cement chairs, and small walls made with cement and broken pottery.

In Salobreña we climbed UP STEEP streets to the 10^th century Moorish castle.  Below were the white-washed houses, sugarcane fields, and the Mediterranean Sea.  On the beach we found a small restaurant offering an inexpensive 3-course meal.  Our Thanksgiving dinner was salad, paella, and fried fish.  It was delicious and we were thankful!

We climbed out on the rocky promontory to look back at the castle and city.  We spent some time on the pebbly beach—Lucy’s favorite spot of the whole trip.

Dúrcal is a small town about 45 minutes from Albuñuelas or about 30 minutes from Granada.  We wanted to go to the open air market held on Wednesdays.  All sort of fresh vegetables and fruits as well as everything else one might find at a market.  One stall had all kinds of spices available.  Another stall had many kinds of fresh olives.  We asked for the most typical of that area and bought a kilo of olives.  Do you have any idea how many that is?  A lot—but we ate them all in the next 3 days!  They were quite inexpensive according to U.S. prices.

The setting of the town was beautiful—with mountains in the background.  The town plaza was busy.

In the afternoon we took a 5 km hike through the area hills to the small village of Conchar.  Beautiful scenery reminded us of areas in Arizona that we have hiked but with snow-capped mountains in the distance.

We traveled recently to southern Spain for a short vacation and to reconnect with our now 10 ½ – month old granddaughter. Our itinerary included a connecting flight in Cairo, but due to a 3-hour late departure from Uganda we missed the connection and were rerouted through Vienna. That made for a very long day, arriving at our hotel in Madrid at 1 am, 26 hours after leaving our house in Kampala! After a few hours of sleep we were up bright and early to meet Jessica, Christy, and granddaughter Lucy who arrived from Philadelphia at 8 am. It was a joyous and emotional reunion!

From Madrid we drove 5 ½ hours, including a lunch stop, south to Albuñuelas located at the end of a small road in the mountains between Granada and the Mediterranean coast.  On the way we passed through plains, mountains, and what seemed like endless olive trees. Our rental house in Albuñuelas had a wonderful view of snow-capped mountains in the Sierra Nevada range. The quiet streets of Albuñuelas were a perfect place to relax, and the location was a good jumping off point for day trips to the coast and other nearby communities.