Alhambra

Today was a bigger adventure as we headed to see the Alhambra - the most visited site in Spain. A walled city built by the Moors/Muslims before the time of Columbus sailing to America, it was eventually surrendered to King Charles V of Spain. The exquisite and intricate patterns on the walls and ceilings were fascinating considering when it was built. It was also easy to see why the fortress was built up in the mountains where it would be very difficult for an invasion to succeed.

Also fascinating was looking beyond the fortress walls to see the cave dwellings that are still occupied today! They have fronts that appear to be homes but these fronts lead into caves that are occupied by locals.

It's always interesting to drive through the countryside of a country to see how people live. Homes built into the side of a mountain, run down, ramshackle houses along the road but then apparently planned towns with pristine white walls with all of the homes built within close proximity to one another. It appears that most people in the poor countryside homes are farming their land for the fruit or olives that grow here.

Interestingly, we were told that the highway (which wound through tunneled mountains) was just built within the last year. It must have been quite a process to drive from the Costa del sol area to Granada area prior to the road being built.

Some other things we learned today:

- you're never too old to wear a speedo
- The Europeans don't have a body image problem
- It isn't so bad falling asleep to the sound of the crashing waves
- Ketchup isn't so common
- Peanut butter is non-existent
- The kids are great travelers
- My initial impression of feeling out of place seems to have been my own insecurity
- We are addicted to wifiRead more