Friday, October 19, 2007

Paseo de los Tristes




This is the Paseo de los Tristes. It means Promenade of the Sad... It gets this name because they used to carry dead bodies through here up to the cemetery.
There isn't anything sad about it as you walk through it in present day. In fact it is a beautiful area filled with shops and cafes that you can see in the above pictures. As well you get a beautiful view of the Alhambra from down here.
Tomorrow I will post more detailed pictures of the shops and the merchandise they sell.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Natural Habitat

So other than the desert... this is where cactus can live! If you look on the right side of the picture, those are real life cacti. I still can't believe it. Didn't really go to Spain expecting that. Palm trees - yes, Cactus - no.
This is also that Chinese lane that I was talking about the other day... It goes up the hill and around the Alhambra. Quite a nice view from up here.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Taking a dip


That's me taking a dip in a stream near the Alahambra... VERY hot afternoon in Granada.
It was after climbing a long road which I believe was called something among the lines of Chinese lane... I'll put up pictures of the lane itself tomorrow. It was my first experience in seeing cacti in their natural habitat.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Churros and Fresh OJ


Here is a traditional Spanish breakfast - Churros with fresh orange juice and of course coffee!
Fine... churros are not really healthy... essentially they are like donuts. BUT you can eat them in the name of following the land's culture and therefore feel way less guilty about it.
MUST try them at least once if you are in Spain!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Beautiful Gardens


This is part of the gardens of the Alhambra "Generalife". I absolutely love the pink flowers that are overflowing from the side of the wall.
One of my favourite things about Spain is that they value water so much. Granada is not near any body of water... it is more or less in the centre of Spain. However, despite this you can see fountains almost everywhere.
Tomorrow I'll post more of fountains - and me - taking a dip to stay cool!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Alhambra #1


A ceiling from the Alhambra. This was a large location that was the home of the Muslim kings in Granada, Spain. They let about 2000 tourists in each day to visit the area... this means that if you want to get in you have to line up no later than 7:30 am. We lined up at around 7:00 and got tickets at about 10:00 am to go in after 2:00pm. Although - trust me - after 3 hours of waiting in line in the freezing cold morning and the overheated afternoon - FULLY WORTH IT!
I would recommend clicking on the picture so you can see it in large view. The carvings on the walls are really amazing.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Hello From Spain


I know I've been away forever... I'm BACK though! I have absolutely no excuses... school got really busy and then I went to Spain and somehow this blog was what got neglected.

From today onwards I'm going to keep you updated - from Spain!