Category Archives: granada

Granada Day 2 – 26/03/2013

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Our second day in Granada we had one objective: see the Alhambra. La Alhambra is a fortress built by the Moorish dynasty when the Arabs occupied the south of Spain for nearly 800 years until Isabel and Fernando kicked them out. Nevertheless, the fortress was incredibly amazing. We had a view of it from our condo’s window and we couldn’t wait to get there.

On the map it said it would take about 3-4 hours to see the whole fortress, and it took exactly that amount of time. We had already bought our tickets beforehand, which we were lucky because they were sold out of tickets when we got there. We entered the palace and went straight to Palacio Nazaries. In this section of the fortress we saw multiple gardens and beautifully built rooms. There was a lot of detail in everything, on all the walls, and columns, and everywhere in the palace. In fact this section of the fortress took 30 years to build because of the details in the cravings.

After we went to the Azacabar, which is another section of the fortress. Lastly we went to Generalife, which was the part of the fortress with the most incredible gardens and flowerbeds. We took pictures at the famous part of the fortress, which had the mini waterfall in the corner, and the springs of water.

When we left Alhambra, we walked to the center of the city and had another go at Spanish food at a tapas restaurant called Casa López and the food was definitely better and our daughter told us that this is how Spanish food is supposed to taste like, not what we had in Barcelona. The rest of the day we walked around Granada and did some shopping. Since its Semana Santa in Spain, we bumped into a parade, which blocked off any access to buses, taxis or cars going through for the rest of the day. Eventually we got tired and decided to go back to the apartment but had to go on a manhunt to find any available taxis. We dropped our things back at the apartment and luckily we were within walking distance to the Albyzacin, which is a plaza that has a panoramic view of Granada. Then we packed up our things and got ready for the next four days in Sevilla and Cordoba.

Granada Day 2 Image Gallery

Barcelona Day 4 & Granada Day 1 – 25/03/2013

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It’s our last day in Barcelona and we got up bright and early before our train to Granada at 1pm to go to FC Barcelona’s soccer stadium. Being the first ones in line we got to see everything very quickly and still make it back in time for the train. The stadium tour consisted of seeing a museum dedicated to the teams past best players, best coaches and all the trophy winning achievements that they’ve won since the team started in 1889.

We saw all the recent trophies of the Copa del Rey, El Clásico and Super Copa winnings. We did a walk through of the team’s most memorable moments on the field with legendary players such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Luis Figo and Messi. After the museum we took a family picture holding up a replica of the most recent cup they won and I took a group picture with the team. We bought the pictures and hurried back to the apartment, as our check out time was noon. When we got to the train station we were on our way to Granada and leaving Barcelona.

Barcelona was the beginning of our vacation and it was a great memory. It was a beautiful city and I’m so glad that I had the opportunity in my lifetime to see this beautiful city. I hope one day when the Sagrada Familia is finished, my daughter will be able to go back to Barcelona and see the church in its finished product.

The rest of the day we were stuck on the train and arrived in Granada at 10pm. When we arrived to the apartment we booked in Granada we were very impressed by the home. In fact it wasn’t really an apartment it was more like a condo. It was very well kept and a beautiful home. But of course not everything is as good as it seems, and the condo had problems with the electricity. It had a timer and a max amount of watts it could use and every time it hit that maximum amount the power would go out. So we had to turn off all the heaters that night and it was freezing, and function that way. To us, living in California and Canada for 18 years, problems with electricity were uncalled for and we forgot what it felt like. Nevertheless we made the most of it and called it an early night for La Alhambra the next day.

Barcelona Day 4 Image Gallery