Me Gusta Espana 2011 - Part Three: Granada

     Easily the most anticipated city on our trip was Granada.  Another Moorish-influenced town in Andalucia, Granada, is home to the last Moorish fortress/palace standing before the Spanish reclaimed the region as its own - La Alhambra!!  It's a crazy-busy hotspot year-round and unfortunately we didn't think to reserve tickets ahead of time.  Marisa had to call the ticket office a few times, dusting off the ol' Spanish language skills to try to book an entrance time over the phone.  Even more unfortunately, her phone lost the connection while she was giving the guy our card number, so we had to go for "Plan B" - waking up around 4:30am to drive the two hours to Granada to stand in line at 7:00am for the "first come-first served" tickets released each day.  I'm telling you, even on a Thursday during October there were still hundreds of people in line to make sure that they go into this thing - it kind of reminded me of our visit to Versailles this summer.  Loco!!

     The pictures from La Alhambra are below and speak for themselves, but it was a really cool pad.  We also came across a legit, local tapas bar for lunch, which was a trip highlight and we meandered through a Moorish neighborhood to a spectacular view of La Alhambra in its entirety.

After standing in line in the cold morning air for at least an hour, we finally got our tickets for La Alhambra!!

Marisa is in a fantastic mood as she waits for our entry time into the palace.

One thing I noticed in Spain was the tremendous amount of stray cats running around.  Not sure if they're down with the "spay and neuter" policy.  However, some of them were cute from a distance and I couldn't help but picture them talking to me in an Antonio Banderas voice and walking around on two legs.

Those Moors love them some reflecting pools and I must say that I do as well.  I mean, if the Lincoln Memorial can have one then why not a private one in your palace?

As mentioned previously, with this style of architecture you get colorful geometric shapes.........

......and quotes in Arabic from the Qur'an - neither of which tempts you to follow idols..........unless you're a Geometry teacher or something like that.

Very pretty lettering carved into plaster along the interior of many of the rooms.  This close-up shows one of the most commonly occurring words - the one that looks like a "W" with a nose on the left side which means "Allah".

It was supposedly in this very room on this very floor that Columbus came and spoke with Ferdinand and Isabel about his proposed voyage.  I can imagine him with the flip charts going over his projected annual increases in the number of Spanish-speaking Catholics in the world.

View of Granada from La Alhambra

Anybody a fan of M.C. Escher?  He visited La Alhambra and was inspired by the maze of geometric shapes and went on to come up with oodles of cool sketches of patterns and endless staircases and waterfalls that never reach the bottom. 

Marisa is checking out the palace of Charles V, which was built within the fortress in 1527 during his reign as the Holy Roman Emperor.

La Alhambra - reconquered from the Moors in 1492.

Another famous guest was Washington Irving who spent a year here in 1829 and penned "Tales of the Alhambra".  He's also the guy who gave us "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle".

Tapas bar - complete with shanks of Iberian ham hanging around with little juice cups inserted so as not to drip on the bar.  It was organized chaos as tons of locals came in, stood at the bar, drank a beer, killed some tapas and threw their napkins on the floor - somewhat like dropping your plastic cups in a stadium or throwing peanut shells on the ground at Roadhouse.

Here we have (clockwise from top left): house specialty stuffed eggplant w/asparagus, Spanish tortilla which is like a quiche made from egg and potato, and sliced iberian ham (from the legs hanging on the ceiling).  It tasted as good as it looks, and the best part about it is that when you order a drink...........they give you a free portion of paella (yellow rice cooked w/peppers and sausage or seafood).

Old Moorish-style market.  Today filled with tons of cheap touristy stuff - not quite like walking through markets with burlap sacks full of spices and whatnot.

After taking a power-nap on some benches we mustered up the strength to hike up this hill opposite the Alhambra and were rewarded with this fantastic view.

If you're going to Andalucia you cannot leave out Granada.  It was a fabulous city with lots of interesting sites.  On an unrelated note, this marks the 200th blog post of "Rockin' it Out" since our beginning in August of 2009.  We're thankful for all that indulge in our travel pics and random cooking bits that Marisa throws out there because without an audience..............well I suppose it'd just be a journal.  So "thanks" for reading.

--Justin

Me Gusta Espana 2011 - Part Two: Sevilla

The next trip took about 2.5 hours of driving through windy mountainous roads to land us in the beautiful city of Sevilla (sometimes spelled "Seville" by the British).  Sevilla is known for its popular bullfighting ring, it's huge cathedral built on the site of a former mosque during the Reconquering, and a Moorish palace called "Alcazar".  As it turns out, it's also the home of the original "Don Juan", who's commemorated in a statue shown below.  We had a beautiful day walking around and taking in the delightful blend of Moorish and Spanish architecture.

Sevilla Cathedral - Guinness World Record largest church by area; third largest in Europe after St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City and St. Paul's in London

Entrance to cathedral

Columbus' Tomb - he was tied to much of this region of Spain and his body was moved from the Caribbean and supposedly rests now under the guard of these gentlemen.

Columbus' Tomb - recall that he was from Genoa, Italy, but since it was King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel that spotted him a few pesos to sail to the "New World"

Crown from the cathedral treasury - I think it was a crown worn by Isabel, but I could be wrong.  Either way it was loaded with some 10,000 precious stones and featuring this angel with a body made out of the largest pearl in the world.

View from the top of the tower in the cathedral - notice the famous bullfighting ring on the right.

Cathedral Tower

View from Cathedral Tower

Marisa posed in the orangerie in the cathedral...........

.......complete with an old irrigation system put in place by the Moors

Moorish style entrance to the orangerie

Backside view of cathedral with funky lamppost

Here he is ladies........the original Don Juan from Sevilla.  I don't know about you, but I thought he'd be a little taller.

Alcazar - we really enjoyed walking through this old Moorish palace.  Some common trends that you'll notice in Moorish architecture are:  reflecting pools...........

........arched doorways and walkways..........

......decorative tiles in geometric patterns (since decorations featuring people or animals were frowned upon for being possible idols) ........

......tapestries featuring the Mediterranean as the center of the world........

.........colorful pottery.......

......and plenty of natural beauty such as these immaculate gardens.

Marisa enjoyed the return trip to Sevilla and it was nice spending a beautiful day there.

--Justin

Me Gusta Espana 2011 - Part One: Gibraltar

     While it might seem odd to kick off a blog series on our Fall Break in Spain with a territory claimed by the United Kingdom, you're absolutely correct.  In order to keep our trip together, however, I have no choice but to lead off with it.  So without further adieu.......
     Marisa and I loved our time in Portugal last Fall so much that we vowed to return to a similar latitude this year.  She had studied abroad up in Salamanca back in 2005, during which she was able to take an excursion down to the Andalucia region that sweeps across the southern portion of Spain and visit great places such as Sevilla and Granada.  Since I'd been to Madrid and Barcelona, but never down south, we decided to spend our time there.  In hindsight we made an excellent decision, as Andalucia had much to offer in October.
     We flew into Malaga and drove to Marbella to stay in a nice little apartment that we rented for the week.  I would liken Marbella to the Florida of Spain, in that it's a very developed beach-front location in the Costa del Sol region along the Mediterranean with a very high tourist-to-local ratio.  It also appeared to be a hot spot for retirees from the U.K. and Germany.  Exchange those people with Canadians and Michiganites and you have the wonderful State of Florida!
     We planned out our time with a few beach days in Marbella, separated by a couple of day-trips to surrounding cities of interest.  Our first goal was to visit Gibraltar, about one hour to the West, at the southern tip of Spain.  All we knew was that there would be a big rock there with monkeys and a spot where you could look across to Africa.  That was reason enough for me.
     Gibraltar is an overseas territory of the U.K. that has been fought over historically because of its strategic military location - at the Strait of Gibralter where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea.  It also has a massive rock that provides some protection from the rest of the continent.  So it's a funny little piece of land approximately 3 miles by 1 mile and nearly 30,000 inhabitants - mostly British expats that love the weather - who have no intention of rejoining Spain (much to Spain's disappointment).  The city is a bit worn down and not a place to stay overnight, but perfect for a day trip.

View of the Rock of Gibraltar from the Spanish side.

the Gibraltar Pound - the currency in Gibraltar, which seems a little unnecessary with only 30,000 people around.  While they do accept the Euro, you get jacked on the rate.   

Europa Point - We trekked out to the southernmost tip of the peninsula where you can literally see Africa (Morocco) across the strait, a mere 15 miles away. 

I couldn't resist the opportunity to be the "King of the World" at this playground at Europa Point.

the crest of Gibraltar - featuring a lion and a unicorn, which I personally feel is a bit of an exaggeration. While they do have a nice collection of Macaques on the Rock of Gibraltar, the lions and unicorns have recently become extinct.

Upon entering Gibraltar the first thing that you pass, after the tax-free cigarette and booze stand and the line of Spaniards getting the hook-up, is this air strip that extends past the width of the peninsula.  They have to shut the road down a few times per day while planes land and take-off.  The British ex-pats are crazy about their Cadbury's and P.G. Tips, so they keep it coming.

We took a cable car up to the top of "the Rock", which overlooks Spain in the background.  While it was no Stone Mountain, it did offer some spectacular wildlife....

Barbary Macaques are characteristic of the Rock and are believed to have been brought over from North Africa years ago.  Now they're free to roam, but are fed and taken care of by the locals.  They are tons of fun to watch - mainly doing normal stuff like taking turns picking through each other's fur and eating bugs out of it.  This joker kept slapping the other one in the head and neck trying to knock the bugs loose or something. 

Of course with a tight-nit population of around 200 apes, you're bound to find that special someone.  We were lucky to catch this view of a baby nursing with the dad waiting on deck. 

Profile of the mother and baby. 

Of course the adolescents were also entertaining, running around playing grab-ass in the trees. 

Chillin'.  This species has a heavy brow that makes them all look pissed off all the time. 

Marisa likes this one the best because she's sure that the mom is kissing the dad on the cheek.  I think there's a strong chance that she was swooping in for a bug in his neckline, but who knows? 

This joker dreams of running off to Spain to pursue an acting career, but it all seems so far away. 

One last family portrait.

The ol' fort and key are found on the flag and seem to be the preferred symbol of Gibraltar. 

While my Latin is a bit rusty, this cannon has the motto of Gibraltar which translates to "Conquerable by no enemy".  

     And that's pretty much all I had to say about that.  Gibraltar was an interesting place to visit for a day if you find yourself in southern Spain with an extra day on your hands.  

--Justin