Granada, Spain {June 2}

The first week of June we went to Spain. For an entire week. A week!! It was heavenly.

We stayed in Malaga at an old people resort ... well, really it was just a normal resort that lots of old people stayed at. But, it felt like an old people resort. And our bathroom smelled like sewage. But, we had an awesome patio ... so that made up for it. Plus, we were in Southern Spain. 

A little fact about Brad ... he speaks fluent Spanish. He served his mission in Uruguay. And he loves speaking Spanish so, I knew that we pretty much had no limitations during this trip. No language barrier!!!! It was pretty fun listening to him speak to all the locals and he was definitely in heaven getting to talk to everyone. I probably had a blank, confused stare on my face for about 87% of the trip. I was clueless. Okay, I would catch maybe, every fifth word but, not enough to know what was going on! Thank heavens for my little translator ... 

Sunday morning we headed up to Granada, Spain. First we hit up church. This was probably one of the highlights for Brad, he has missed being able to attend church in Spanish ... apparently English isn't good enough for him. Anyway: it was fast & testimony meeting and even though I didn't understand anything that was going on, it was an awesome experience. Brad got to bear his testimony and I'm pretty sure he was on cloud 9. I was overwhelmed by the hospitality and love these people had for us. I have never felt so welcomed in a ward as I did in this Spanish branch. Brad talked to several families for quite awhile and I was able to talk to some of the missionaries from America, that spoke English. I had a sweet old Spanish lady come up and give my very first faire la bise (where they kiss both your cheeks, although, I'm not sure the term for it in Spanish, that is the French term), I felt so European! We had a (very) broken conversation and she was so adorable, I wished I could understand her more!

The whole church experience was so wonderful. 

After church we headed into the city and found a place to eat in a beautiful plaza. This fountain was amazing! The Spanish have a very relaxed way of living, they are never in a hurry to get anywhere and when you're visiting, you can't help but enjoy that custom. Not once during our time in Spain did we feel rushed and feel like we were running out of time. It was fantastic!

The Alcaiceria is the old shopping district of Granada ... you can find anything there - jewelry, skirts, sunglasses, bowls, everything ... it was there I fell in love with the Moroccon tiles and the mosaic artwork. They know how to do it down there!

These LAMPS!!! If they hadn't been 220 Volt I most likely would have come home with one - they were BEAUTIFUL!!! 

Spices and incense are very popular in Spain as well, almost every shop had some incense burning ... 

The Cathedral was pretty impressive, it used to be a Moorish Mosque but it was conquered by some Christians who built their cathedral on top of the mosque. You can see parts of Mosque sticking up in the middle (not in the picture). I was a little disappointed the church wasn't open.

The main thing to see in Granada is The Alhambra. It was (is?) a Moorish palace and it was AMAZING. The details were so ornate and beautiful. The crazy part, is it was built during the Dark Ages, while the rest of Europe was in a slumber, the Moors were experiencing the complete opposite and it definitely showed in the palace decor. 

The Alhambra was up on a hill overlooking the city and the views were beautiful ... views like this will probably never get old! On the way up the hill they had little streams running down the side of the path and Kason had a blast playing in them!

Just like every other palace in Europe, the gardens were incredible. 

Charles V built a palace right next to the Alhambra ... Rick Steves told us that in the center of the courtyard there were perfect acoustics. So...naturally Brad and I had to try them out. We sang and harmonized a little and afterwards, we got a round of applause from the tourists. Apparently we're pretty awesome ... either that or the acoustics really are that good. 

Aren't the details fantastic!? 

And the VIEWS!!!

Inside the Alhambra I was blown away by all the work and details they put into it. Each area was originally covered in paint - reds, blues, yellows, greens - a lot of the paint had been worn off after all these years. I could only imagine how it looked when all the walls were freshly painted. 

The ceramic tiles were my favorite!

The Courtyard of the Myrtles: 

The Moorish women were rarely allowed to go outside of the palace walls so, the palace was scattered with a lot of courtyards under the sun for them to enjoy. 

The Grand Hall is where the sultan hung out ... his throne would sit in the middle archway. In this very room, Christopher Columbus 'made one of his final pitches to Isabel and Ferndinand to finance a sea voyage to the Orient.' (Rick Steves) Christopher Columbus stood in this very room!!! 

These 'W' shaped characters stand for "Allah" - they could be found throughout the palace. 

Some of the original tile ... 

This was the Patio de los Leones ... or the Courtyard of the Lions. The middle fountain had 12 lions circling it and it used to function as a clock with a different lion spouting water on the hour. 

This was part of the Sultan's living room. He wanted to prevent someone named Boabdil from getting the throne so he killed nearly all of Boabdil's family, assuming it would allow the son of his new wife to be given the throne. He stacked 36 heads in the pool of his living room!!! Unfortunately for the sultan, his plan failed and Boabdil ultimately gained the throne after all ... what a waste of 36 perfectly good heads! 

How did I not get a picture of the "head fountain"!? 

Oh, just look at that view! I could definitely get used to living in a palace like this one! Just as long as they let me outside the palace walls on occasion.

This room was so much fun ... you could stand in one corner of the room and whisper into the wall and the person on the opposite corner could hear you perfectly. We had a blast with this room!

The gardens were huge but, by the time we got through the whole palace, we were pretty ready to head home so we didn't spend much time enjoying them. 

After the palace, we grabbed dinner and headed back to our resort in Malaga!