One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Spain was to experience Andalucía in the Southern part of the country. For whatever reason I felt drawn to the culture and landscape. Past lives? Who knows? But after experiencing Barcelona we took the train to Cordoba before taking another train to Granada. The highlight there, at least in my opinion, is the Alhambra. This palace and former fortress is considered to be one of the most famous examples of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world. Plus, it contains notable examples of Spanish Renaissance design. Sitting boldly on a hill overlooking Granada, it is a must see when visiting. And I purposely selected a vacation rental that provided a view.
Because I knew that the property was very large with incredible history we hired a private guide for the experience. Miriam Figueroa first took us through the Nasrid Palaces which are indeed incredible. Sorry but the photos just don’t do them justice.
The Islamic/Moorish culture is evident throughout. Although the detail and construction appear to be mostly plain and beige, Miriam explained that most of the walls were painted in bright colors.
After visiting the palaces (us and several hundred other people!) we were able to tour the amazing gardens. Visiting in the springtime is great because most of the flowers (roses) were blooming.
As for the food, Thom was incredibly happy because Spain is known for tapas (small plates of all sorts of food). While it was all good (and so was the wine!) nothing stood out enough for me to capture in a photo. Instead a sweet memory for me was the ancient little Tapa Bar we visited one evening. Built into one of the walls next to the Alhambra, we walked up to take a look at it and ended up sitting and enjoying a glass of wine (or two) along with some free tapas.
And last but not least, one of the standout moments of our trip is similar to last week because it involves music and dancing. Walking through a plaza near our apartment filled with restaurants and shops we can across a young man and woman who were dancing flamenco. Their enthusiasm and passion was evident and the crowd was enthralled. The woman was good but this young man was exceptional.
So that’s our journey so far. I hope you enjoy following along.
Beautiful pictures and the flamenco dancer was awesome. I smile the whole time I read about your travels. Y’all look like you are having a great time!!
Keep sending pics and commentary…more tapas to enjoy…
Thanks Gary! I’m working on one and so far we’ve done tapas every single day!!! ~Kathy
I’ve never been to Spain so seeing your pictures, videos and reading your comments about it are very enlightening for me. So glad you and Thom are having fun and experiencing so much history and culture.
You’re there for the same reason we’re going to Portugal. To check it out for an extended stay and what better way than immersing yourself in it for a while? I really look forward to hearing more about your adventures and discoveries.
Keep living in the moment and enjoying your trip, Kathy and Thom!!
Hi Debbie! Glad you are enjoying our journey. I’m really holding myself back from posting too many photos…I do that on FB…but still enjoying the challenge. And yes to checking out Portugal. So far I am liking Spain more than Thom so don’t see us coming back for a long period of time in the future. Still??? So glad we’ve made it and experienced it, and happy to share it with my friends! ~Kathy
You’ve set a high standard. Your travel posts have been fabulous. You have definitely made me want to be there!
Hi Donna! Talk about a high standard! I just saw your first post from your new Caminio walk and it looks gorgeous. So nice to see you and Richard back to doing something you love. I look forward to seeing MORE! ~Kathy
You know as well as I do it’s more important to be mindful of the journey than anything else. We don’t need to document it with cute videos or spectacular selfies. Just live it! And that, my friend, is exactly what you’re doing. Bless you, always.
Looks like fun … I love the Flamenco!
Hi Tom! Thanks. He really had the moves didn’t he. We haven’t decided to go see a professional show yet or not. Thom isn’t sure he can take over an hour of it at a time. If yes, I’ll be reporting at a later time! ~Kathy
What a fantastic trip so far! Thank you for taking the time to share this with us. It is wonderful to experience the trip along with you as you go. Shortly, Richard and I will be on our hiking adventure. I still haven’t decided how to share photos/details of that trip. Stay tuned!
Hi Donna! Of course…and you know I will be following along on your Camino in Canada. Can’t wait to see how you share it with all of us…you’re WAY better at it than I am. Isn’t it nice to have travel to look forward to??? It makes such a difference. Enjoy! ~Kathy
Hi Cathy, I can’t recall that we had many memorable meals in Spain, but we did love the Cava bars and Tapas. Thanks for sharing a picture of you and Thom with the roses. As I recall, there were everywhere, much like the orange trees in Valencia. Not to jump ahead too far, but would you be willing to share a bit of your upcoming itinerary? I am curious about where your journey will take you. Don’t you just love train travel?
Hi Suzanne. Yes, Thom was thrilled in the beginning with Tapas for every meal but after nearly three weeks of seeing so much of the same items on menus we are ready for some variety. Of course last night we had a great dinner with salad and pork cheeks…you never know. And yes, roses are everywhere but they are starting to fade a bit in the heat.
As far as our trip, we are going to be here in Spain until next Friday but then we head to southern Italy for nearly a month. After that we leave for Portugal for nearly a month. If you want exact details, send me an email and I’ll give you a list of all our exact locations. We are moving a bit more than I wanted but there is SO-O-O much to see! And our long-term goal was to see if there were any place where we would like to be for an extended period of time. And yes I DO love train travel although our next couple of hops will be a plane and a rental car. ~Kathy
Kathy, thanks for the blueprint. We have been to Portugal a few times and we love it. I will be anxious to see what you think. A month sounds like heaven.
Ah, wonderful memories of similar experiences.
Keep enjoying and sending updates
Joanne
Hi Joanne. Glad you’re enjoying my short commentary. LOTS more photos on FB of course and it’s REALLY hard to pick which ones to put in a short post….but I appreciate the encouragement. Lots more to come. ~Kathy
Thank you for taking a moment out of your travels to share an update and a few photos. I’m enjoying being able to see Spain through your eyes.
Hi Janis. I really think you and Paul would like Spain too. It is definitely different from Mexico in some ways but I really appreciate all the Spanish I am getting to use and the history here is incredible. Of course we are only scratching the surface of the country but I’m enjoying it very much. Looking forward to getting together and sharing ideas in person. Oh and the wine is awesome! ~Kathy
Yea I enjoy armchair travelling. I enjoyed Rick
Steve’s Alhambra program. Good to see you are enjoying the trip.
Hi Annb! Yes Rick Steves is an inspiration. We watched a ton of his videos before coming so we had ideas about where to go and what to see. Thanks for following! ~Kathy
I’m living virtually through you so thanks for the trip. Looks beautiful and magical! Glad you got to go. Such a blessing!
All the best, my friend,
Cathy
Hi Cathy! Glad you’re enjoying my reports. I so appreciate how different travel bloggers do it so well…I’m just having too much fun and am absorbed in the experience that I forget to take the “right” photos for commentary. But maybe by the end of our journey I’ll get the hang of it. But again, thanks for the encouragement. ~Kathy