Europe 2008 - Day 7

Hello Everyone,

This is just a quick one since we are leaving in about 15 minutes to run to catch the overnight - hotel train to Valencia. We arrive at 5 am and will spend one night there.

To recap yesterday, we woke up really early and ran to the Alhambra (major tourist attraction) to see if we would be able to get in without a ticket. We actually ran up the hill, thinking we would beat the crowd, arrived breathless to saw a huge line up. Not wanting to waste our day in line, especially with the possibility of not getting in, we decided to ditch the idea. We walked along the river at the base of the mountain the palace is on, had a really nice breakfast and did some hiking. We decided to do ´some hiking up the mountain, took some great pictures of view and valley, and actually passed by some caves wehre gypsies still live. We actually saw one with a clock hanging on the wall outside. After that, we walked around, ´did a little shopping - picked up some gifts.

That night we ate dinner at this Arabic restaurant called Kasbah and enjoyed some falafel, samosa, and cous cous...delicious. We are still enjoying the pastries of course.

This morning we went to an Arabic bath-spa thing. For an hour and a half we bathed and had massage with nice tea. This place was the typical architecture with arches, brick columns, marble flooring - amazing. Definitely my favorite spa so far. After that we bought our train ticket for tonight, browsed around some more shops, and tried to plan more of the trip, hanging out at the hostel.

Overall, Granada was not our favorite, but it was still really nice. Not as much green space, but a lot of culture. With morocco being so close, the atmosphere, food, clothing, etc is very ornate.

Like I mentioned before, we are taking a sleeper train to Valencia for one night and then we head to Barcelona for two nights. After that we are heading to a village outside of Avignon for three nights and staying in a locally owned rustic cottage. The pictures remind me of scenes from the Russell crowe movie its a beautiful life. We are planning on´renting bikes, seeing a winery, and viewing the countryside. ´Madrid and SEvilla have been major cities, so we are hoping this village in France will be a little more off the beaten path and definitely less touristy.

I think that is it. In Valencia we plan on checking out a science center and relaxing at the beach. Weather continues to be amazing. I have tan lines. I would put an exclamation mark there but I cant figure this keyboard out entirely.

We plan on calling both moms tomorrow for an update.

Love you all,
Jenna and Chris

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