Granada, Spain

From Barcelona we drove about 7 hours south to the Andalucia region of Spain, our destination, Granada.  The drive was breathtaking.  It took us through limitless acres of orange orchards around Valencia.  Through scrub deserts and hills, and finally up the snow laden peaks of the original Siera Nevada mountains. I didn't really know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by it all.  The town of Granada, itself, was equally surprising.  Looming above the town were giant snow covered mountains, yet the streets were lined with orange trees and the hills were covered in cacti.  

Granada was were King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella lived when Columbus made his plea for a new spice route.  A statue commemorates him in the major town square.  Miguel Cervantes, author of the fantastic tale of Don Quixote also was a citizen of Granada.  Just above the town was a whole neighborhood of cave dwellings.  We took the afternoon to go explore and found a museum where we pretty much had free reign.  The kids loved it because unlike most museums that they had been to, this one they could touch everything.  Not sure if that is what the curators had in mind, but it really enhance our experience.

One great thing about many European cities that we've visited so far are the public 

water fountains.  You can use them to fill up your water bottle, or just to fill up.  

We loved Granada.  The main walkway into the old historic district had a giant 

red carpet probably close to a half a kilometer long.  Not sure why, but it only 

added to Granada's colorful and classy character.  

A little hard to see, but in the foreground you see an orange

and a palm tree, and in the background just above the tree line 

you can see the white peaked mountains.  Crazy contrast!

Just outside our apartment was a couple of wonderful playgrounds and we

loved having a place to get out some wiggles and soak in some sunshine.  

Maggie even found a big grasshopper, and of course, she caught it.