Grenada, Spain

Rafa and Elena not only hooked us up with a sweet place in Seville, they also got us in contact with a couple in Grenada, Mercy and Karl, who offered to house us in their awesome apartment (with a swimming pool)!

Grenada appeared to be a really livable little city with a college town feel. Besides the throngs of tourists at the Alhambra, it was easy to escape into the rhythm of the city and lose yourself.   

After we arrived and hit up their pool for some afternoon swimming, we met up with Mercy's fiancé Karl (and American frisbee player from Wisconsin) to watch the USA game against

 Germany. Actually, we didn't watch much of the USA game because only one station was playing the World Cup and they were almost entirely playing the Portugal- Ghana game since that was really the one that mattered. Karl went back to work and Mercy took us on a walking tour of Grenada. 

Including the Cathedral, which we hit just in time to hear the afternoon call to mass. 

Then she took us on a walk up the valley to view the Alhambra at sunset. Stunning. 

Mike was still reppin' his USA gear from the game, and we came across another USA fan from California on the hill. USA, USA! 

Caracoles! We have seen snails everywhere but finally ordered them with Karl and Mercy. Down the hatch! I wouldn't say they were delicious, but neither were they bad. Mostly just spicy because of the broth they were cooked in and not nearly as slimy as I imagined. 

Tapas are different in Grenada because in many places you go to a bar and only order beer (for ~2 Euro) and they bring you tapas without asking. You don't get to pick what you get, but it was always delicious. The tapas ranged form bar snacks like peanuts, crackers, or candies to legit tapas ranging in from small to huge. So it's possible to get dinner and drinks for 6-8 Euro (~$10 USD) which is by far the most affordable dining we've come across so far. In the first bar we had one of our favorites which is fried eggplant with honey drizzled over it. Mas tapas y mas cervezas, repeat. On the late walk home, we stopped at one of Mercy's favorite places and got a true late night tapas experience. Huge plates of food with our beers in a standing room only restaurant.  

In the morning, Mike played hero of the trip when he got up early to go stand in line for tickets to Alhambra, the infamous castle/palace of Grenada. Tickets obtained [swoon], he came back and took a cat nap before we went to a gym we had seen the day before to get some lifting in. 

Then we hiked up the mountain to the Alhambra. 

Mike in front of one of the entrances. Another keyhole arch! 

One of the most common pics in Alhambra, but a bit of a different take.

You can tell that this section of the palace was designated for the women because of the shades at the bottom of the windows. This arrangement allowed the women in the palace to look down into the courtyard without being seen by the people down below. (Ugh!)

More cool Mooring architecture and detailed plaster/tile work into courtyards. 

View of Grenada from a palace balcony. 

The Alhambra had really extensive and beautiful gardens. 

The view of the mountains surrounding Grenada from the Alhambra. 

Mercy recommended a place to get churros and chocolate, so that obviously happened. Churros are just fried tubes of bread, and the chocolate sauce is like a warm chocolate pudding that you dip the churro in. Reminded me a bit of chocolate gravy (Arkansas family specialty), but not as good.

Time to hit the big city of Barcelona!