Grenada, Spain - 26 November

We didn’t have to gather in the lobby of the hotel until 8:45 for our tour of Alhambra Palace so we dithered over breakfast (we had to battle Japanese tourists this time). At the appointed time we discovered that the bus driver was still eating breakfast and didn’t have the bus available for another ½ hour. It was a weird situation since the entrance to Alhambra was directly across the road but we had a participant in the group who had mobility issues and needed the bus.

We finally got everything sorted out and plans were made to get the gentleman to the top of the hill where the palace is located. One of the students who speaks fluent Spanish volunteered to help him navigate both the walk and the language. She has been on other trips with me and is such a sweetheart. I love spending time with students like her.

Our group arrived at the top of the hill and had a few moments to enjoy the view at the top. It was such a beautiful day that we could see far off into the distance. It was so beautiful. Our tour guide for the day led us into the palace and the architecture was stunning. It was a palace built by the Islamic leaders. Their philosophy of their architecture is to build a humble exterior and a beautiful interior. As a result, the outside of the palace is rather unremarkable but the inside just takes your breath away. The tiles are amazing (more quilt ideas, Mum) and the woodwork on the ceilings and doors is gorgeous (project ideas, Dad).

At the center of the palace was a courtyard with a reflecting pool. The tour guide asked us if we had seen the Taj Mahal and we all said yes. We were so smug about it too. Apparently, the concept of the reflecting pool at the Taj is based on the pool at Alhambra. It was so beautiful (I’m running out of adjectives).

When we had exhausted ourselves with the palace we went outside to the garden and enjoyed the sun, the views and the landscape. It was a well-maintained area and some of the flowers were still blooming. It was an idyllic time spent out there.

By the time we had explored all of Alhambra, the morning was gone and it was getting close to lunch time again. We were given an hour of free time so Mike, Suzanne and I went across the road to an olive grove and spent the time enjoying the day. It was a nice way to spend the time rather than the shopping expeditions that others were doing (don’t tell Eileen I said that!).

After lunch where we were serenaded by Spanish troubadours (it gave me heartburn) we were back on the bus for a four+ hour ride to Cadiz. This time I actually stayed awake – for most of it at least – and enjoyed the scenery. We arrived in Cadiz around 6:30 and spent a couple of hours unpacking and decompressing. At 8:30, Mike and Suzanne and I met up again for dinner in the city. We had absolutely no desire to have dinner on the ship when the gastronomic joys of the city were waiting for us.

We found a small restaurant that was open (restaurants in the city are usually closed on Sunday and Monday). The atmosphere of the place was perfect with hams hanging from the ceiling and bottles of wine artfully displayed around the room. The food was excellent too. I had an appetizer of dates wrapped with bacon that was unbelievably good. I need to find a recipe for this one and make it for my family at Christmas! They will be in my debt forevermore when they taste it. I also ordered a plate of jamon which is a local specialty. I had visions of a substantial piece of ham but I received a plate of paper-thin slices that resembled prosciutto. It was so delicious and so expensive! Definitely something that I will only order once although I certainly enjoyed it. After our evening of gluttony, we wended our way back through the streets of the old city towards our ship. It was about midnight by then but we were in no rush to get back to the ship. We were having such a wonderful time just enjoying the night and the atmosphere of the city. It had been a marvelous day!