Aventuras en Espana, Parte Dos

Free tapas in Granada when you buy a drink! Awesome!

Granada: It had a different vibe from Madrid. Whereas Madrid felt young and down-to-earth, Granada felt sophisticated and cultured. People looked like they were dressed up and more worldly perhaps? It was just Mom and me in Granada because Stacy and Kamal had left for Barcelona. We had dinner out in the city and went to bed fairly early because we had to be in line for Alhambra at 730am. If you don’t have tickets, you have to line up before they open (8am) and hope you get one of the few remaining day-of tickets. We got in! (For future reference, everyone stands in the cash-only line but ticket machines accepting credit cards are there for use as well. Be smarter than us and go for those!) 

Palacio de Generalife - Alhambra

As for Alhambra, kingdom complete with a royal palace and fortress, it is something else… beautiful buildings, gardens, and views with a photo opportunity at the turn of every corner. I took several hundred pictures while Mom and I explored the complex. The Palacios Nazaries are the best part, well worth paying for. I’m glad we went to see it though it left us both hot and exhausted – it was more than 100 degrees that day!

Palacios Nazaries - Alhambra

Seville: From Granada, Mom and I took a bus to Seville, stored our stuff at the bus station, and set off wandering. We saw the highlights of Seville fairly quickly: Cathedral of Seville, La Giralda, Real Alcazar, Plaza de Espana, etc. We were pretty sick of food in Spain at this point and so took a moment to rest and recuperate with-(un)fortunately-McDonald’s. Mom wanted it too after having had nothing but Spanish food the last few days. I don’t have much of an opinion on Seville itself – I guess it’s a nice city that is easily seen in a day and skip-able when short on time. I remember there being very strong wind and lots of my loud sneezing :)

Scenes from Seville

Painted at many of Barcelona's crosswalks.... Message received: Don't jaywalk!

Barcelona: I think Barcelona might be my favorite of the Spanish cities we visited on our trip. It’s probably mostly due to eating very well there and really enjoying the beach after not having been in quite a while. The weather wasn’t great though and the beach vendors were really rather annoying. I really didn’t feel like a massage, henna, or a slice of coconut, but I kept getting asked. Really, I just wanted to be left alone and so when one of the guys sat down to talk to me, I was in no mood for it. I felt bad for being a jerk, but the second there was a lull in the conversation, I started reading my book with avid interest until he left. Mostly I  spent the last days in Spain getting used to being alone again… sleeping in, walking every which way for hours and hours, and budget eating – ham and cheese sandwiches :)

Las Ramblas y La Boqueria

Mom was with me for the first two days in Barcelona as we explored the entirety of Las Ramblas, Barri Gotic (Ciutat Vella), Gaudi’s legacy (Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, and La Pedrera/Casa Milo), and Montjuic. Just off Las Ramblas is La Boqueria, a great public market where Mom and I had fresh fruit juice and then bought cherries, blood oranges, and clementines. If we had had our own kitchen, we might have been tempted by all the fresh seafood for sale too! 

Gaudi: Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera, & Park Guell

Gaudi I have to say was not a high priority for us and certainly not worth the 18.15 Euro price tag to enter, for example, Casa Batllo. Ridiculous! Mom and I enjoyed his works from the outside or at Park Guell, like good budget tourists. 

Montjuic

We splurged on the cable car for Montjuic for the nice views of course, but mostly to save Mom’s feet. I made her walk a lot with me the last two weeks so her feet were starting to swell and her little toe was turning blue (or so she thought…). Poor Mom :) One of my favorite things we saw was the musical fountain in the Placa de Espanya:

The water doesn’t quite dance like it does at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, but the fountain lights up with really pretty colors! The two of us had our last meal together in the Placa Reial – a fancy marisqueria where when you ask for agua del grifo (tap water) they just say “No.” The food was just average – better to eat on Passeig de Joan de Borbo near the beach in Barceloneta for good, cheap seafood.

Being tourists in Barcelona :)

I put Mom on the Aerobus so she could catch her flight back to LAX. I stood waving at the bus even though I couldn’t see her, hoping she could see me. I got back a little while later to our empty room and felt super sad all of a sudden; I even started to cry a little. I always feel this deep sadness when people leave and it was no different with Mom. (When Stacy and Kamal left I still had Mom with me… We were also rushing when we said our goodbyes so there was no time for tears.) So even though she snores like an angry bear and is a lot more of a princess traveler than I am, I miss Mom a lot. 

Up Next: Portugal! (Backtracking a bit to cover the quick trip Mom and I took to Lisbon from Seville!)