October 3rd- Alfarnate, Alhambra, Granada
Here we are in Alfarnate overlooking the landscape which is full of agriculture. They grow things from garbanzo beans to olive trees. We had a tour of the SMALL olive oil factory then headed an hour and 15 minutes northeast to Granada.
The Alhambra is the last great Moorish palace which they were able to hold onto until 1492.
I don't know if you can tell in the pictures, but Charles the V's Christian Renaissance palace looks very out of place in front of the palace of Nazaries.
This is the outside wall of Charles V's palace. It was HUGE!
The view from on top of the fortress was beautiful.
Here we are inside the palacio Nazaries. The Moorish carvings were beautiful.
The picture below is one of the patios for the women to enjoy nature b/c they were not allowed to go outside the palace.
We were fortunate to be at the palace while the sun was setting. It was beautiful.
Earlier in the day we walked into Granada for lunch. After a nice lunch of paella and salad we walked to the Royal Chapel. This is where Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand chose to be buried as a symbol of the Christian conquest over the Moors.
We were unable to go inside and see the King's and Queen's tombs, but we did see a wedding in one of the side churches. This was one of our crazy moments of our trip. Emilio saw no problem with us inviting ourselves into this private wedding!!
After we left the church inside the Royal Cathedral, Daniel saw a car trying to back out of a small garage inside this square. So Daniel helped him back out safely. The man rolled down his window and it was the Bishop of Granada (a very important person!). Of course, Emilio wanted him to get out of his car so we could take a picture with him!
We had a very full day. We drove back to Alfarnate and Emilio's mom made us dinner. We talked for several hours and then went to bed.
The Alhambra is the last great Moorish palace which they were able to hold onto until 1492.
I don't know if you can tell in the pictures, but Charles the V's Christian Renaissance palace looks very out of place in front of the palace of Nazaries.
This is the outside wall of Charles V's palace. It was HUGE!
The view from on top of the fortress was beautiful.
Here we are inside the palacio Nazaries. The Moorish carvings were beautiful.
The picture below is one of the patios for the women to enjoy nature b/c they were not allowed to go outside the palace.
We were fortunate to be at the palace while the sun was setting. It was beautiful.
Earlier in the day we walked into Granada for lunch. After a nice lunch of paella and salad we walked to the Royal Chapel. This is where Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand chose to be buried as a symbol of the Christian conquest over the Moors.
We were unable to go inside and see the King's and Queen's tombs, but we did see a wedding in one of the side churches. This was one of our crazy moments of our trip. Emilio saw no problem with us inviting ourselves into this private wedding!!
After we left the church inside the Royal Cathedral, Daniel saw a car trying to back out of a small garage inside this square. So Daniel helped him back out safely. The man rolled down his window and it was the Bishop of Granada (a very important person!). Of course, Emilio wanted him to get out of his car so we could take a picture with him!
We had a very full day. We drove back to Alfarnate and Emilio's mom made us dinner. We talked for several hours and then went to bed.
Here is what I wrote in a journal I wrote while in Spain:
October 3rd-We arrived yesterday afternoon. We met Emilio Garcia Pascual- his grandmother, Maria Jamie Arrebala and Daniel's grandmother Antonia Garcia Ledesma are cousins. At this point in my journal I was writing on a very windy road from Alfarnate to Granada that was originally built by the Moors, but more recently paved around 1820.
Yesterday, on October 2, we had a great lunch in Madrid after renting the car. Our first "menu del dia" was a yummy soup, sopa de puchero, and a very thin large piece of fish, maybe hake, known as merluza. Then we drove to Alfarnate and spoke with Emilio and his mom Mari (Maria Josepha -Pepa). While we were talking his mother kept insisting that we go get something to eat b/c the bars would be closing. When we finally left to get dinner, of course everyplace was closed (it was midnight!) So we had tapas at the only bar that was open. It was quite an experience. We had anchovies, blood sausage, cheese, and salami. The cheese was good, but dried out. The salami was alright and the anchovies were VERY SALTY. I couldn't eat it. I had anchovies with eyes and all on my mission, but now I could not handle it. I guess I am getting too old. Also, the blood sausage was too much for me. It really did not taste that bad, just the thought of it made me not want to eat it. I felt bad and wished I could have eaten more. I hope Emilio did not feel too bad. We finally went to bed around 1:30am. Emilio found us a private house to rent. It was very nice.
This morning we woke up at 9:30am. Emilio came and picked us up. We went to his house and had churros con chocolate. The churros are similar to our churros, but much thinner and drier, and no sugar. The chocolate drink was like warm, thin pudding. I liked it, but it seemed more like a dessert than breakfast. We met Emilio's dad. He came to talk to us while Emilio was doing something. His dad, Cipriano, shared some apples (most of which had worms in them), which were good, and some almonds. He grows almond trees, olive trees, and cereals. After breakfast we went to the olive oil factory and got a tour. It was a very small tour. The factory is about 1000 square feet. We were able to buy some oil, but also get some small bottles as gifts.
Emilio knows so much history of his country and his family. It has been interesting to hear all the facts he knows.
October 3rd-We arrived yesterday afternoon. We met Emilio Garcia Pascual- his grandmother, Maria Jamie Arrebala and Daniel's grandmother Antonia Garcia Ledesma are cousins. At this point in my journal I was writing on a very windy road from Alfarnate to Granada that was originally built by the Moors, but more recently paved around 1820.
Yesterday, on October 2, we had a great lunch in Madrid after renting the car. Our first "menu del dia" was a yummy soup, sopa de puchero, and a very thin large piece of fish, maybe hake, known as merluza. Then we drove to Alfarnate and spoke with Emilio and his mom Mari (Maria Josepha -Pepa). While we were talking his mother kept insisting that we go get something to eat b/c the bars would be closing. When we finally left to get dinner, of course everyplace was closed (it was midnight!) So we had tapas at the only bar that was open. It was quite an experience. We had anchovies, blood sausage, cheese, and salami. The cheese was good, but dried out. The salami was alright and the anchovies were VERY SALTY. I couldn't eat it. I had anchovies with eyes and all on my mission, but now I could not handle it. I guess I am getting too old. Also, the blood sausage was too much for me. It really did not taste that bad, just the thought of it made me not want to eat it. I felt bad and wished I could have eaten more. I hope Emilio did not feel too bad. We finally went to bed around 1:30am. Emilio found us a private house to rent. It was very nice.
This morning we woke up at 9:30am. Emilio came and picked us up. We went to his house and had churros con chocolate. The churros are similar to our churros, but much thinner and drier, and no sugar. The chocolate drink was like warm, thin pudding. I liked it, but it seemed more like a dessert than breakfast. We met Emilio's dad. He came to talk to us while Emilio was doing something. His dad, Cipriano, shared some apples (most of which had worms in them), which were good, and some almonds. He grows almond trees, olive trees, and cereals. After breakfast we went to the olive oil factory and got a tour. It was a very small tour. The factory is about 1000 square feet. We were able to buy some oil, but also get some small bottles as gifts.
Emilio knows so much history of his country and his family. It has been interesting to hear all the facts he knows.
