Granada, Spain

My final trip of the year was to Granada, Spain, to visit some old friends who used to go to my church with me in Spokane. They are a young couple with a little two-year-old son, and they are the most wonderful family ever! They are such generous and fun people, and I love every chance I get to hang out with them.

I got to the airport in Málaga on Monday afternoon and took a bus for about two hours to get to Granada. Javi and Christie met me there and brought me to walk around the city. It's a good size...not too big and not too small. It's a beautiful city, and it was so nice to be back in Spain.

Famous church...can't remember, but I think maaaybe the Granada Cathedral??

We decided that it would be nice to visit a teahouse, so we went to one owned by their friends. They were very nice, and before we could get our drinks, they invited us to go out for dinner with them. They had friends visiting as well, so besides me, there were three families with young kids. We went to get some tapas, and it was nice talking with them all.

Streets of Granada

After that, we split up, and Javi and Christie brought me to get more tapas at a lot of different places. It was really fun, and each place had a different atmosphere, so that was really nice. Things are really cheap in Granada (and in Spain in general, I think -- the economy isn't super great there right now), and tapas come free with your drink, which is like 2 euros. It's such a good deal...I loved it!

View of the Alhambra as we walked around the city

The next day, we woke up really early to go to the Alhambra. It's an amazing place. It's quite a large area and very well-preserved. I loved seeing the Islamic influence on the architecture and art; it reminded me a lot of the Aljafería in Zaragoza. Lots of geometric shapes and beautiful patterns. Interesting fact -- apparently their inscriptions usually either have to do with religious texts or with math.

Gardens in the Alhambra

On top of the Alhambra

After the Alhambra, we caught a bus back to Málaga, where we spent the whole day at the beach after going to a Brazilian steakhouse for lunch (unlimited meat...yum!!!!). It was super super hot, so we swam and played in the water a lot. The beach there was really nice! I also played in the sand with little Asher, and it was a lot of fun! For dinner, we ate outside, and I shared some delicious paella with Christie. I also love how they are very kid friendly in Spain. Asher couldn't decide what to eat at first, so the waiter personally accompanied him to the chef so that he could tell him in person what he wanted to eat. So cute! We then went to get some piña coladas and enjoyed our last night together outside -- even at night, it's still warm!

The next morning, I woke up super early to catch a cab to the airport. They woke up early to say goodbye to me, but I know it's not really goodbye because we'll see each other again someday somewhere! After all, we ran into each other at the British Museum in January accidentally...if that's not fate, I don't know what is, haha.

Hanging out on the Alhambra

Also, I forgot my phone charger this trip, and my phone had already died halfway through the first day in, so that's why I don't have many pictures!