Solo Trip to Granada (and the Alhambra)

I took a two day trip by train to Granada.  We decided that I should go alone, since the boys sat through a five hour train ride just last weekend back and forth to Tarifa.  We didn’t want to ask them to do that again so soon (although Owen said he was up for it!).  As it turns out, it was good that they stayed in Madrid with Dave – there was a lot of walking up and down on cobbled streets.  That’s something I enjoy, but not so much for Owen and Sam.

The town of Granada, which is set against the Sierra Nevada Mountains, has a strong Islamic influence.  It’s a bustling, lively place with all kinds of interesting people from all over.

I wanted to visit mostly to go see the Alhambra, the famous red palace and fortress that sits on top of a hill overlooking Granada.   To get there, I walked through a stone arch which led out of the noise of the town and into a cypress and elm forest, where the sound of water and birds are everywhere.  The forest, called the Bosque Alhambra, surrounds the Alhambra on all sides. 

The Alhambra is magnificent with gorgeous Islamic architecture, tiles, and elaborate engravings.  There are also many beautiful gardens with fountains, orange trees and all kinds of flowers.  My overall thought while I was there was that a lot of consideration had been put into the visitor’s senses, from the sounds of water and the scent of flowers, to the layout and colors of the buildings.  There is a subtleness and careful balance to all of it that is delightful.

On the second day of my trip, during a late lunch in town, my itouch (with all my pictures) was stolen off my table by a gypsy.  She needed it more than I did, I’m sure.  And the only real loss for me is the pictures, not only of this trip, but of our time in Spain.  Even so, Dave still has a lot of pictures on his camera.

The one picture that I do have from the trip (that I emailed to Dave while I was there) is the view from my hotel room, which was right beside the Alhambra gardens:

The rest of the pictures I have here, represent my strongest memories of the Alhambra and they are borrowed from Google images.

View of Granada from the hilltop

The Alhambra

Orange trees everywhere

Beautiful tiles

Gorgeous engravings

Forces of Nature in Tarifa

We took a trip to the southern most coast of Spain last weekend to a town called Tarifa where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic.  It is located on the Cota de la Luz (coast of light), across the Straits of Gibraltar facing Morocco.  We could easily see Morocco from the shoreline. 

The moon, which was full and looked huge, was a perigee full moon (closest to the earth since 2008).  Because of this, the tides in Tarifa were very high. 

People were celebrating Carnival, which is a three day party before Lent, when everyone dresses up (including the kids) and stays up all night with lots of music and revelry.

The place is very windy and is known for its windsurfing and bird watching.  Dave says it’s one of the top three places in the world for seeing migration (spring migration is full swing).  Because of the strong winds, there are many windmills in Tarifa.  Dave is doing research on how the windmills might affect the bird populations in the area.  He spent much of his time there talking shop and watching hawks and eagles with his friend Luis, who is collaborating with him on the project.

We all enjoyed the beach and the beautiful Moorish old parts of Tarifa.  I hope to make at least one more visit before it’s time to come home.

El Rasto (Madrid's enormous flea market)

Every Sunday, there's a huge flea market, called el Rastro, a short distance from our apartment.  It's Europe’s largest flea market and it'd been around since the middle ages.  There's a mishmash of everything imaginable amongst the madness.

Owen would rather be riding a train.

Stuff for sale...

Street performer playing wine glasses, beautifully

An olive market on the street - Yum! 

Sam

The boys afterwards having a merienda (snack).  I gave them all haircuts the day before - can you tell?

We Went to France!

Bonjour!  We spent last weekend in Toulouse, France with the students.  Owen and Sam did remarkably well on the nine hour bus ride there and back (we left last Thursday and came back on Sunday).

The city, which is known for its aerospace industry, is located in southwest  France on the banks of the Garonne River, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.  The city has canals that were built to connect the ocean to the sea and it has a long history of flooding.

We all went to the space museum there.  David took Owen to the airbus factory while Sam and I strolled around looking at the gardens and the beautiful muted colors of the city walls.   Toulouse is known as the Ville Rose ("Pink City") for its distinctive brick architecture.

Here are some pictures:

Toulouse has many places where you can rent a bike for as long as you like

This is the Capitole de Toulouse in the main city square

Beautiful gardens all around with primrose, poppies and pansies

Check out this old merry-go-round we happened upon in a city park!

The boys at the space museum

Street View

Market

The Garrone River

More views of the city

The boys in front of a paper store on our tour around the city

Street band

Owen having fun

Flea markets everywhere

By the way, the croissants in France really are that goodJ

Spring Hiking and Fútbol

Signs of spring are all around and so, lately, we’ve been feeling like getting out of the city.  This past weekend we headed to the mountains two days in a row to my new favorite place, Manzanares el Real.  This sweet little village is located at the source of the Manzanares River that runs through Madrid.  The river looks quite different at its headwaters – clear and pristine with many fly fishermen along the banks.  The town is on the edge of the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares, a national park, with impressive rock formations called Pedrizas.  Manzanares el Real also has a medieval castle that we had fun exploring.

The Castillo

Check out the snowy mountains in the background

Headwaters of the Manzanares River

The Hikers

Las Pedrizas (if you look closely at the picture above, you'll see the rock climbers)

Dave went to a fútbol (soccer) game in Madrid with his students.  They went to see the Atletico team, which has their stadium near our apartment.  We can hear the cheers and songs every time they play.