Submarine made of wood.

Christopher Columbus at the top of this pole, pointing in the direction of North America. The crazy part of this statue is the Native American that’s kneeling at the feet of a Friar who has his hand adoringly on the Native’s head. It’s a slightly different perspective than the one I have from back home.

Marbella was beautiful and I can’t wait to return. Barcelona, however, is a whole different experience. On the personal side, it’s been great for getting Porter onto a regular napping and sleep schedule, albeit a Spanish one that involves a 10:30pm bedtime. On the tourist level, it’s been absolutely wonderful staying on La Rambla. I haven’t had to go beyond a few blocks to find new places, people and experiences. On the other hand, I’ve been a bad tourist and not gone to see the famous Barcelona spots or taken many photos. Not yet anyway. It’s just too easy to be swept up in the current of people and to disappear down the small side streets.

Today we took Porter to the aquarium, which he loved, and then Luke found us the best Chocolate and Churros in Barcelona. And it was! All of Barcelona was there waiting in line. I also went with my dad to set up our booth at the EACTS trade show, which is why we’re in Spain to begin with. That trip ended with the purchase of a beautiful new leather bag from the beautiful leather bag shop. Despite Spain’s current economic “crisis” I have found the people friendly and the culture vibrant. Come to Spain, it’s awesome.

Family portrait at La Xina (China) dinner. Porter is the lovey-est boy I know.

We did hugs and kisses for at least 5 minutes.

Mini honus, the size of a silver dollar, for sale on La Rambla.

I got video of this experience, it’s really cute. I’ll post it (and more) tomorrow, I promise.

Walking down La Rambla Friday night. It’s this busy all the time. Except at  7am. I really need to do a fashion post, because people here are into it and I’ve got a really good idea now that I’m an expert people watcher.

The booth, pre game.

Blowing up the mannequin.

Me and my new friend.

Line for chocolate and churros.

Granja Xocolateria only moments from our hotel!!

Pile ‘o churros bathing in sugar.

Before

Churro spa treatment in whipped cream

Beneath the huge pile of cream is the pudding like dark chocolate.

Heaven

oh my god, yes

It’s super thick. My husband loves me, and I know this because he brings me to chocolate and churros. It was the only thing I wanted to do in Spain. Now I can go home happy. Maybe I’ll have more before we leave first.

Being green goes way back. Respecteu els animals i les plantes. “Respect the animals and the plants.”

I had a request for more videos, so here they are. I’ll try to do more in our future trips. Do you want videos of places or Porter? Probably both, right?

 

Today Luke and I took a trip, with our friendly tour guide Peter of Indigo Travel & Events, to the lovely city of Granada, home of the Alhambra. And no, it’s not bottled water. Granada is a lovely city, with marble sidewalks and a vibrant student community of the young and fashionable. It’s also home to the Alhambra, which is what I would compare the the Getty Museum in LA, only a thousand years older. Get ready for pictures, cause this is a photo worthy location. There are many photos of all our travels that haven’t made it onto blogs, so when we return and I have use of our regular computer I plan on a follow up post with those and accompanying videos.

I finally got my hands on some churros!

Walking through the city.

Shout out to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain! You know, of the Columbus days?  Laid for their eternal rest in this very church.

Spices and dried fruits

Herbs to cure what ails you.

Amazing dried fruit, mmm fresas.

Peter and Luke at the entrance of the park below the Alhambra.

On of 36 look out towers.

The ground.

More ground designs.

The ceiling. Individual pieces of wood held together with tension and no glue, and this was just the first room.

Floor holds up after 1,000 years.

Hand cut tile. Like there was any other way back then, I suppose.

Some of the scripture, in Arabic, was poured into casts and adhered to the walls.

These photos do NO JUSTICE to the absolutely amazing details on every surface of this place.

Wanna see the emperor? Clean your feet first.

View of old Granada.

The Arabic fountains are so much more elegant, and quiet, than the more modern European fountains.

My  next kitchen back splash perhaps?

Wood puzzle ceiling.

In most museums you can’t touch anything, here you can touch EVERYTHING.

My most favorite part is the ceiling in the emperor’s seating room that looks like stars (again made of thousands of hand cut pieces of wood). I repeat, this photo does it no justice whatsoever. You’ll just have to visit for yourself to truly understand the magnificence.

It’s a lion fountain!

This is where they would hang out and look good.

Garden view from the room of one of the emperor’s many wives.

Skylights

The ground here is made of smooth pebbles, like all the other photos of the ground design. And it’s only for walking on.

Pomegranates, the fruit of Granada. Get it??

The most literal translation they could have come up with.

Welcome to the gardens, where the ground is designed in the shapes of flowers, of course.

Water, from 6 km away in the original Sierra Nevada mountain range, rushing down the hand rail of the steps.

If I had the time and correct camera there could be a thousand photos of the Alhambra. It’s an amazing place to visit, and if you’re ever in the south of Spain, take the time to go there and see it for yourself. The details and artwork are breathtaking and very very old. It’s age makes it that much more beautiful. So incredibly beautiful.

Today Luke and my parents took a trip to Cordoba while Porter and I had a day at the beach. There aren’t a whole lot of photos since I was playing with Porter at the beach, taking naps and watching Donald Duck. It was a perfect day together. Tomorrow Granada!

Alrighty. I’m writing this post after an amazing meal of Argentinian barbacoa and many glasses of wine with an after dinner drink of Bailey’s, so bear with me. Today we went to visit the English owned peninsula of Gibraltar. What is the rock of Gibraltar you may ask? Well, it’s a giant rock that has holes drilled in it, with cannons in the holes. It’s essentially a fortress owned by the Brits on Spanish land. It’s one of those rare tax free places that people go to purchase vast amounts of alcohol and tobacco. That was not our goal today however. Luke is a history buff and this was another great opportunity to visit a landmark of historical importance. We went to the top of the rock and had an amazing view of Spain, Africa and the straight of water connecting the two. If they were so inclined, the British military could easily blow anyone out of the water, or off the shore of Africa. Luckily, they are civilized and would rather make the place into a tourist destination. The highlight of my day was having a giant wild monkey (yeah, monkey) jump on my shoulder and try to get into my purse. It scared the crap out of me and I screamed like a girl. Effing monkey. It was otherwise a lovely day. I love Andelucia, Spain.