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Published: June 25th 2009
Ding, ding. Phase 2 of our European adventure began last Sunday as the Sparta group took off for home. We spent the rest of that day with Sarah, Vanessa and Whitney in Madrid. We discovered the perfect Sunday morning activity.... row boating in el parque del buen retiro (like Central park of Madrid). There is this huge pond in the middle of the park and you can rent a row boat, so we did. Team Beckstrom boat beat Team Aquafest boat in a race around the pond. The rest of the day included paella for lunch in the plaza mayor and of course ice cream!
Sunday night we took a train down to Sarah´s Spanish hometown of Granada and have been here since. Granada is absolutely beautiful! It is tucked right in the Sierra Nevada mountains and has a very small town feel to it, even though it is huge. The first night here we were introduced to her entire extended host family, who are wonderful people. They were very welcoming and friendly. Sarah´s host Mom, Mama Che, has got to be one of the most energetic people we´ve met. Talking a mile a minute and clearly loves "mi Sarah!"
It was neat for us to get to know them.
One great thing about Granada is they truly honor the Spanish siesta. The town literally shuts down from 2-5ish for lunch and siesta. We took the siesta part to a new level by actually sleeping the entire 3 hours! Another great aspect of Granada is their tapas (appetizers). This is a great concept. By a drink, get a snack for free, repeat. The tapas were delicious... salmorejo, chicken bread things, ham pickle bread things, more things...and the presentation of the tapas was very impressive. We´ve learned Granada preserves some of the great traditions of Spain and for that we are very happy.
Some highlights of our time here include hiking to the top of Sacromonte in 105 degree heat to see a complete view of the city, mountains and Alhambra. Also sampled olive oil at a place straight off of Samantha Brown. But mostly we enjoyed a little more relaxation and hanging out with Sarah and her friends and host family. Good thing Sarah´s host family didn´t have an extra room or we may have just stayed! Today we say adios to Sarah and Granada and fly up
to Barcelona. Nos vemos!
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mrs. sands
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Love the pic of SJ pruning the flowers! We are loving your blog now that we have the addy for it. We'll be checking up on you kids!!!