Walls

...'cuz street art doesn't always gotta be gangsta.

Granola

Breakfast at Cafe Fanny. I saw this place on a Food Network show. Their granola was featured in the "Best Thing I Ever Ate...In A Bowl." It's probably not the best thing I've ever eaten in a bowl, but it was pretty damn good.

Anochecer

Storm passing, brisk air, sun setting in Berkeley, California.

Quick Road Trip

Today we leave a sunny and warm Los Angeles to drive to cold and rainy Berkeley. A brotha needs help moving out of his college apartment, so away we go to help. Not a big of of the Northern California weather, but I do love me a road trip!

Granada

Last I left off, the husband and I had just jumped on a bus from Málaga to our next destination. A couple hours later we arrived in a much warmer and drier Granada. First things first: we had to find our hostel. We took the first (very crowded) city bus towards the center of town. Of course we missed our stop, so we ended up exiting the bus late and having to walk an extra half a mile.

No biggie, except that when we found the street that we should have gotten off of we still had to walk another mile to find the hostel. Uphill. In the heat! Granada was the hilliest city that we visited, for sure. But I guess that's part of its character. We eventually found the small alley where the hostel was located.

After some freshening up, we set out to roam the streets.

One of the features that we especially loved about Granada was its labyrinthine alleyways of the Albaicin district. We got lost for a good while exploring the alleys, rummaging through the North African-inspired shops.

When we got tired, we stopped for tea at a teteria.

And when we got hungry, we ate couscous at Restaurante Arrayanes.

Granada was a special city. It felt like we were not in Spain for a few days. It was almost like we had been transported to an old Moorish empire instead. The people, food, scents, energy - it was all so different from the other Spanish cities that we visited.

It was absolutely beautiful.

On our second day in Granada, we woke up early to make the trek to visit La Alhambra and Generalife. We had tickets for early morning admission, so we had to line up by 8:30am. I was impressed by how organized the entrance procedure was. First, they highly recommend that you buy tickets ahead of time. When you do buy them you are assigned an entrance time for your group not only for La Alhambra, but for some of its special features. I guess that helps to avoid massive crowds and lines.

So. This place was magic. Hands-down, one of our favorite moments from our entire trip. I'm definitely glad to have crossed this off my life list. I really wish the pictures that we took could do it justice, but they don't.

Palacio de Carlos V

Entrance to La Alcazaba

La Alcazaba

Patio de Los Arrayanes

The architecture was simply stunning.

After a couple hours exploring La Alhambra, we continued on to the Palacio del Generalife - the "summer resort" of the Nasrid Kings, located just a quick walk from La Alhambra.

Patio de los Cipreses. El Generalife was full of secret gardens like these.

El Generalife was equally breathtaking, although a bit more green and lush than La Alhambra. We spent the good part of a day exploring Granada's hilltop fortress. There was just something about this place that made it really magical.

The next couple of days that we spent in Granada were really relaxing. We wandered the streets for the most part, filling our bellies with couscous and sipping tinto de verano in the plazas.

Our hostel had a pretty sweet outdoor patio overlooking the city. Perfect for a midday nap.

Before we visited Granada, I had heard about its restaurants being popular for free tapas. I didn't believe it until we experienced it. Bars and local restaurants were indeed very generous! Not just that, but food in Granada was very delicious. Some of our favorite meals were had here. It must have been all of the Moorish influence that forms part of Granada's history; it also manifested itself in the traditional cuisine of the city.

We really enjoyed our little getaway in Granada, and I wish we could have stayed longer. We had a whole other adventure in store for us, though. Up next: Barcelona!

New Favorite Place?

Buzz: a wine and beer bar scheduled to open in Downtown very soon (this month it sounds like?). Tastings, wine lockers, local delivery, educational events, walking distance! Can't wait!

June

Happy June! To me, the "J" months officially mark the start of summertime (even though the real first day is on June 21st). That can probably be traced back to my good ol' school days when summer vacation began in June. At any rate, I'm ready for summer, play time in the sun, and a fun month!