Hola,
When we left you last time we were heading to Granada to wrap up our Spanish adventure. And ‘adventure’ would certainly be a way to describe Granada. First of all, our accommodation booked through Air BnB appeared to be a super funky sex den, complete with erotic imagery on the walls but with an inconvenient location right next door to a boistrous Spanish bar. So while the apartment imagery certainly helped get daddy in the passionate Spanish mood (then again most things do – apart from the sound of Michael Clarke’s voice – that kills any mood) I think Krys was keener to take the imagery down. But having Spaniards sing their version of Wonderwall till 3.30am took the edge off any comfortable post coital sleep.
But it was quite an adjustment being back in a big city after the coziness of Ronda. And Granada is a bit more difficult with kids – very narrow and slippery laneways with scooters and bikes ripping up them just feet away from pedestrians. I’d be curious to see the daily pedestrian accident count – might even go close to my daily ham and cheese croquetta count. Actually we may need to expand the accident stats to Europe wide to equal my consumption of those cheesy treats. And I wonder why my pants appear to be shrinking?.
And the weather in Granada was brutally cold – and given I consider this a summer vacation I refused to betray the summery imagery in my mind and stepped out on an 8 deg day in a light fleece and sleeveless puffer jacket. While some people can master their mind and walk on hot coals, my attempts at mind control over external temperatures ended with me wimpering to Krys about not being able to feel my extremities. Her look conveyed simultaneously incredulity for my clothes selection, and doubt over the claim that i have something that could be referred to as an ‘extremity’.
Granada itself was interesting. And not in a ‘shes unattractive but has a great personality’ kind of interesting. We did a walking tour of Granada which was fascinating for a couple of aspects. First of all the looks we got from people taking 2 small kids on a 2hr, hilly walking tour over cobblestone roads was a mix of surprise, disdain and sympathy. Watching me carry a daughter in a stroller for large parts of it also gave them some entertainment value.
Secondly, the commentary around the history of Granada including the invasion by the Moors and subsequent Arabic influence was fascinating and had Krys engrossed. So engrossed she did not appreciate me trying to correct the tour guide in saying that the invaders were called Moops, not Moors. Obviously Seinfeld and the Bubble Boy episode wasn’t that big in Granada or with my wife?…. Personally I thought I was hilarious.
The Arabic influence extends to the most famous landmark in Granada which is the Arabic castle of Alhambra. Apparently it is the most visited site in Europe and people travel from all over the world just to see it (not sure if this is true or just an unsubstantiated claim like Hogs Breath claiming their steaks are ‘the best a steak can get’ – if the Hogs Breath claim was true I reckon we’d see many more vegetarians). But it was one of those site visits that didn’t exactly go to plan. Firstly we had electronic tickets to the palaces on my phone. And I promptly decided to restart my phone just before we entered – and couldn’t remember the PIN required to reactivate it. Cue loving and understanding look from Krys….. After finding a workaround (Krys accessing Gmail through her phone while muttering ‘moron’ under her breath – I can only assume the word ‘moron’ is a Spanish word that translates into ‘my husband is smart and sexy and my hunger for him knows no bounds?’) Emelia then lost it just as we found the entrance. She loudly and persistently proclaimed that ‘this is boring’. Hey Emelia, spending large parts of our European days pretending I’m a monster that has to chase you around suburban parks then play dead on demand while you throw grass in my face vs previous trips revolving around eating, drinking, swimming and laying on your mum isn’t exactly the ideal setup for me either. But we all make compromises.
Then as we hit the outside areas if Alhambra it started to rain. So after 30mins of what was a recommended 3hr visit, we were pulling the pin and catching a cab out of there.
We have since had our wonderful trip to get out of Granada, and had some special time in Tuscany, including an attractive lady wearing a bra for a top being surrounded by swarms of eager Italian schoolboys. But more on that later.
Adios
Trent, Krystal, Emelia, Olivia and some Moops
smallthoughts 