Blogs from Andalusia, Spain, Europe - page 285

We are getting ready to leave Granada, again facing a bit of a transition from a very settled and comfortable existence with a fair bit of regularity (shopping at our neighborhood market where Koby was given treats by the kindly and elderly owner, chocolate chip cake from our neighborhood panaderia, walking the once confusing but now very familiar winding streets, viewing the impressive Alahambra in all the lights of day and night, lunches of jamon and cheese and tomatoes all soaked in olive oil, special trips to Café Futbol for chocolate and churros (basically melted chocolate in a cup to dip fried dough in), time at home for schoolwork, studying Spanish, playing soccer squash, and watching our favorite Spanish TV shows, home cooking, …). It is a bit hard to fathom how the on the ... read more

I guess this was never sent to the web. Seems a bit old now, but it is a lot on our time in Granada. Part 4 October 26 Granada A spectacular day--probably about as good as it gets in terms of biking and a glorious way to end the cycling part of the trip. Perfect weather, roads, terrain, and time together. Without a cloud in the sky, it was downright chilly when we started out, dropping into the foggy valley of Guadix, then climbing in the sun to warm up through the small ceramic selling town of . Dropping down through town, we turned left towards Granada and for the next 2 hours we didn't see a car as we climbed through the rocky, red cliffs of the lower Sierra, stunning in contrast against the clear ... read more

We seem to have adjusted to life off the bike after some initial trepidation about how things would work out here in Granada. Although we had found a great apartment for a few days until Spanish school started, its location, near the very youthful Calle Elvira, was less than inspiring. Nothing against younger folk, but this street (which we have learned has really cleaned up in the past decade) seems home to an extraordinary number of dredlocked and pierced (and seemingly unemlpoyed) 20 somethings--and a lot of colorful graffiti. Not that it felt unsafe, but it wasn´t exactly inviting to walk around there, and after weeks on the road and mostly in the country where we are more comfortable, the city life and its crowds and tourists (and dog poop in the streets) wasn´t immediately ... read more

Yes, we made it to Granada safe and sound, having the most spectacular final day of cycling with perfect weather, cloudless deep blue skies, quiet roads (we saw only 10 cars before lunch!), and beautiful scenery as we rode through the Sierra Nevada mountains and got a taste of autumn colors with bright yellow Aspens back lit by the sun. And after climbing the first 20 or so kilometers (to a surprising 1297 meters), we descended on swooping curves in biking about as good as it gets. A nice finish to the trip--2600 km in total and all healthy and safe. Granada is taking a bit of getting used to. It is a bit hard to adjust to not being outside all day and more active, and the city has a bit more tourists and ... read more

Some photos today for you. The shopkeeper here has given us the 10 minute warning, so not much time for me to write. We are in Seville, but this morning in Granada Sherry and I toured the Alhambra Palace and it was absolutely amazing! Pictures to come soon. Apologies for butchering yet another language. I think I titled the last entry Buenas Dias, but that´s not right. Dia, or day, even though it ends in a vowel, is a masculine noun and so the correct phrase is 'Buenos Dias', or good day. More soon, -Cory... read more