Growing tall in our little Corner: El Viaje: España [parte dos]

[It's taken me a while to finish writing about the trip we took in April-May...whoops. Life gets busy.]

Friday night we arrived on the 11pm flight to Madrid and caught one of the last trains to Alcalá. Hollis met us at the station so we could get to their apartment, which was fairly near Carrefour.

Saturday, April 28th: Madrid, Atocha train station

We got up and caught the train to Toledo. We got to wander for a little while in the station before it was time to catch our train.

My cute and expectant sister.

Turtles in the pond in the tropical atrium in the train station.

My wonderful husband with me.

On the train and excited to take Simon to Toledo.

TOLEDO

It was, like England, surprisingly cold.....and rainy.

A Marzapan model of the entrance to Toledo.

I love stain glass windows!

Beautiful archways!

One of the more original paintings in the Catedral

I love the ceilings and the beauty everywhere.

This cathedral even had statuettes (I use that word because to the eye they appear smaller than life, at that distance, although likely they are larger) surrounding the wall paintings near the ceiling near the front alter.

The cherub faces on either side of Mary are candle-like and appear to be 'melting'.

In the tesoro were many artifacts including this bible from nearly 1000 years ago. I can't believe the detailed work the monks did by hand.

Such fun archways. Simon most liked in how different each city was one from another.

When we returned from Toledo we went to El Prado, which is free each night from 6-8 and spent a couple hours looking at artwork--Simon's first real art museum. The four of us then went to a Thai restaurant, that I'd found with some of my friends when we lived in Alcalá.

I had to show Simon the jamón. Ham legs hang in store windows and you'll even see stores full of jamón.

We went to church with Michelle and Hollis and it was fun to see the ward I attended 3 years ago, although no one remembered me--too many students. Sunday afternoon Simon and I went to Madrid to El Parque de Buen Retiro and el Plaza Mayor. Sadly it was a bit miserable in the rain. We decided to not go see the temple because it was a little too chilly and we were wet and cold and it would've added another 2 hours to our time being out and putting us back to Michelle and Hollis' house a bit late.

Street performers near Sol.

Plaza Mayor with King Phillip III statue

Street performers blowing giant bubbles.

El Parque--el palacio cristal

Monday morning we got up and visited Blanca, which was so fun. Simon said she was exactly as I described her: she fed us churros con chocolate and insisted we eat more, and she told us to be careful when we traveled--"ten cuidado". Blanca is so expressive that even if you don't fluently speak Spanish you can tell what she is saying.

We caught the train to Madrid and missed our bus to Granada and the next bus with available seats was one was 6 hours later. We took the time in Madrid to go see the temple and then to wander El Parque de Buen Retiro again...and it rained, although not as hard as the night before.

On the bus ride southward we saw windmills and the scenery gradually change and as always countless groves of olive trees, planted in every possible and available space.

We arrived in Granada between 10-11 pm. After catching a bus to the city center we wandered the winding streets for an hour to find our hostel. We had to call them and finally got some added directions from a kind person on the street. Simon was surprised by how busy the streets were with people, at such a late hour.

Our hostel: "Nest Style Granada"--nice and very modern looking.

Since we only had one night in Granada we made the walk from our residence to the Albacín after we stopped somewhere and ate at 11:30 PM.

It was about a half hour walk to get there. I knew if we followed streets going upward, eventually we'd get the view we desired. The Alhambra bobbed in and out of view behind the houses as we worked our way across and upward.

Although I was tired and just wanted to sleep, I'm so glad we went, or I'd've made Simon go back at some point, just to see the Alhambra by night. It is so beautiful!

The next morning we woke up for our time slot to get into the Alhambra (8 AM entry). Waking up was hard, having got in at 1:30 am, and having to leave by 7:30 to walk from the city center up to the hill on which the Alhambra is situated.

We first went to the Alcazaba, the fortress section, and had great views of the city. Below is pictured the Cathedral and buttressed against its side is la Capilla Real (where Ferdinand and Isabel are buried).

The view toward the Sierra Nevadas ("snowy range") was incredible with the light filtering through the mists.

Inside the royal living quarters, the Nasarid palace, were all the carvings and arches. We really enjoyed seeing everything. The only thing we'd do differently if we went back would be to get an audio tour.

The Court of Lions are being restored. Three years ago I couldn't see them at all they'd been removed. They are replacing them as they get cleaned and how the water is circulated is being redone, to prevent further internal corrosion inside the lions. I guess we'll have to go back someday to see them as a fountain!

Michelle pointed out to me that they were carved in such a way the stone's natural lines actually align is such a way they appear to be the lions' muscle and sinew.

My sweetheart and I on our adventure called life!

Palacio de Generalife

After walking till we felt like we'd collapse on our feet we went to the bus station to catch our bus to Málaga, where we were flying out from the next day. Uneventful bus ride. The next morning we got up and walked to the beach. The water was colder than I expected. Much colder than it had been in Valencia in March 2009. We waded into the Mediterranean Sea up to about our ankles.

Málaga