There may only be a part one as we are only here for 3 days.  But wow, just wow. Seville or Seh-vee-ya as it is pronounced here, is just amazing.  Stunning architecture and picturesque vistas along the Guadalquivir river that runs through the city and where Columbus initially sailed from to go to America.  It’s Spain’s 4th largest city and like Cordoba it is spread out and dotted with cultural relics from Roman, Moorish, and medieval Christian times.  And like any place here with relics (not us I just want to be clear), there are a LOT of people wandering about.  Our airBnB host told us that it’s the start…

Yesterday was Good Friday and being a very important holiday here, most things were closed.  This is important to note, especially if you are living day to day like we are.  Often things are closed in this country on Mondays.  Often things are closed in general everyday from 1:30pm until 5 or 6.  Sometimes, things are just closed.  Proper planning is required.  Unlike North America where shopping 24/7, 364 days of the year is a religion, the pace here, as I’ve mentioned, is a little different.  Lack of planning means getting to the grocery store Friday morning, like we did, and saying ‘Oh S***T’!  Change of dinner plans, drinking plans,…

Yes, this blog is coming in parts.  Unlike the hordes, which seem to come as one whole enchilada wherever we go.  Granada to be fair is about a third the size of Cordoba, so this city can absorb the tourists a little easier, and most of those are taking in the sights of the old Moorish/Roman area.  I won’t however, be complaining about the weather for a change.  It was, when we arrived here, wait for it….29 degrees.  Nice! The bus ride here from Granada was easy.  Two and a half-hours up the winding road through terrain that could have been a duplicate for BC’s interior.  Dry, with scrawny plants…

    The weather has improved!  Yes!  We had a couple of nice days, then it went back to cold and rainy.  But I think it’s turned a corner and it was nice yesterday and today.  Hot actually.  Too bad we’re leaving.  It’s been relatively quiet here after the Alhambra.  We’ve walked around town a few times, checked out the cathedrals, some monuments, and trekked up to the Sacromonte, the old (16th century) gypsy community that sits on the side of a steep hill, amid pines and cactus, overlooking the Alhambra.  Some pretty spectacular views from here.  Granada and surrounds are very pretty (when the sun is out) with a…

So today we are taking a break from the ‘touristo’ activity and I’m going to write a little about living here in general.  We thought it might be interesting and informative.  We can yak ad nauseam about the castles, churches, and graveyards, (and the hordes) but the point of the trek to elsewhere was to see what it was like to live as a local here.  Or at least try to.  We will always have one foot in both camps until we rent/buy in someplace, but we can try to be local as much as possible.     Anyone can come here on vacation, spend some money, eat out a…

    Let me get this out of the way first.  Yes, there were hordes and yes there was weather.  Cold weather as in really, really cold.  Like it snowed later, I kid you not.  And the Alhambra is an outdoor attraction. It was worth it though.  A truly amazing place; it is immense.  The palaces, terraces, and gardens built in the 1200 and 1300’s by the founder of the Nasrid dynasty, the Alhambra, literally meaning ‘red castle’, is a stunning architectural masterpiece sitting atop a hill overlooking Granada.  That the initial castle/fortress, the  Alcazaba, was built 400 years before the palaces is even more impressive.  That’s like, 1200 years…

Let’s talk about the tourists.  After I complain about the weather.  Again.  My weather app says it’s going to snow. I sound like a whiner:  Oh, it’s cold here.  Oh, it’s raining here. Oh, there are too many tourists here.  So yes I am.  Some of our friends will tell you that.  Ok, maybe all of our friends will tell you that.  Whatever.  My POINT is,  I wanted desperately to p**s off the people back home with great photos of sitting on a terrace, eating and drinking, feet up with a backdrop of endless sunny blue sky.  Not. Happening. In. Granada.  Enough about the weather for a paragraph or two….

So, we said bye bye Barcelona and hello to Granada, or more accurately, bye bye 20 degree sunshine and hello 9 degree rain and sleet.  It’s COLD here!  You would think heading 800km south would jack the temperature up a bit…maybe being next to the southern most ski resort in Europe explains a few things.  We’ve been told that it is unseasonably cold this year.  Not great planning but it gives us a chance to rest a bit, not walk 10km a day, and maybe spend time doing tax preparation.  Always my favorite thing.  Granada, from what little we’ve seen so far, is a pleasant city steeped in Moorish history. …

  Montserrat, I mean, sorry.  I was going to title this entry ‘The Hordes’ but hey, who doesn’t like a smug little play on words.  And in this case either title is appropriate.  Don’t get me wrong, as Montserrat is very high on the list of things to do when you are in Barcelona, but OMG!  Maybe we timed it badly, low season and all, but really, ‘European school day vacation, Montserrat’.  All that was missing were the Griswolds! So, Montserrat is  well known as the site of the Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat, which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary.  It’s a spectacular place built high up on…

  That should be part deux, but Homer says it better….doh!, here’s the stuff you expected! The most iconic face of Barcelona pictured above. Not some friggin’ graveyard! This is what you do here. Visit Gaudi’s most famous work, the Sagrada Familia. Unbelievably awesome doesn’t do it justice. You really need to see this! So today that’s what we did along with Casa Batllo and Casa Mila, Gaudi’s other city landmarks. We didn’t make it to some of the others but these 3 were enough (another 10km) for one day. It can be a bit of sensory overload. And it’s not just Gaudi you want to see. Barcelona is an…