After being in Madrid and landing in Granada, we were admittedly feeling a little unsure about our decision. We had visited Granada three years ago and had decided to live here for a year, but as Nicole and I fell asleep on our first night, we were suddenly wondering what it was we really loved about this city so much. Well, the morning after we arrived, I went to drop off the rental car on the other side of the city and walked about 30 minutes back to our spot, and by the time I arrived, I had remembered why: Granada is awesome.

On the walk home, there were several streets with decorations leftover from Valentines day, just a few days before, and the hearts hanging between the buildings seemed to fill my own heart with warmth and joy as I meandered across town. When I left the apartment that morning, I was full of doubts, and when I arrived back, I had none. The beautiful buildings, cobblestone streets, and pedestrian-centric infrastructure (people walk EVERYWHERE here!) all together make up a very charming and laid-back culture. 

Because we spent our first month and a half in a very different climate, we had arranged to ship a bag to ourselves in Spain before we left. We spent most of our first day waiting around for FedEx to show up with our bag, which was mostly fine, since both kids were still sick and laid up in bed. We were stoked when the bag finally arrived (at 7:30pm). Inside, we had pants, jackets, longsleeve shirts, and other warm clothes that would've made us sweat just looking at them a week prior. We also had power adapters, math workbooks, and various other items we'd need for the European leg of our trip. I don't think we've written about our friend (and my colleague) Scott, who is staying at our home in Golden while we're away (maybe we'll do a separate entry just for him), but we are so incredibly grateful and appreciative for him. He's staying in our house, taking care of (and loving on) our dog, our chickens, and so much more. Scott is an accomplished seamster, and he had snuck four super cool, hand-made travel wallets in our bag before sending it off (see pictures). We've been totally vibing on them. Thanks, Scott!

Our little apartment has been fantastic for our needs while we base-camp here for the month. There are some quirks, for sure (we're learning a lot about communicating our needs and being considerate of others by sharing a bathroom and small spaces a lot on this trip :)), but it is serving our needs well. As I mentioned before, I think the best part about it is the location. We can walk just about anywhere in Centro Granada in about 20-30 minutes, and most places we want/ need to go are within 5-15 minutes. I've included lots of pictures of the little cobblestone streets/ calles in and around our neighborhood just because I think it's so cool. Within 5 minutes, there are three grocery stores of varying sizes and there are literally bakeries/ patisseries every twenty feet. We go out and get fresh fruit from a woman at a little fruteria most mornings, and love the white strawberries or "pineberries" - like pretty much everything we get from her, they are always incredibly flavorful. There are also little tapas bars and cafes every block or so as you wander through the alleyways. I just love the vibe. 

One of the quirks of our place is that it's just upstairs from two tapas bars. The culture here is wild and we still haven't totally figured out what the routines are; it seems like the city is basically asleep until around 10am and by 10:30, there are people sitting outside nearly every establishment (even though it's in the 50s), drinking a beer, glass of wine, eating tapas, and socializing away. Most stores and merchants then close by 1pm and don't re-open until around 4 or 5, with many restaurants not opening again until 8pm. I seriously don't get it. What this means for us, though, is that the tapas bars below our apartment are bustling with people outside chatting away until well past midnight - sometimes with small children along with them. We've grown accustomed to it (I personally sleep with earplugs), but it's still just a wild schedule to understand. 

I mentioned earlier that a big goal for our time in Granada was to get into some routine, catch our breath, buckle down on homework, and also to plan the rest of our trip (we really didn't have much planned at all beyond arriving here in mid-February). So far, we've been meeting those goals. The kids have been doing great with schoolwork, overall. Miles has written an excellent literary analysis essay and is now working on a narrative essay while also doing Algebra, Anatomy & Physiology, and other projects (and, of course, he is drawing constantly). Carter has been fervently staying on top of his Algebra class while studying geography and working on a "how-to" essay. In order to break things up a bit, we often try to leave the house to find a library or cafe to do some work. At first, this was pretty challenging as cafes in Spain are not like cafes in the US. Back home, I feel like we could pick any "coffee house" or cafe and plan to go there to do some work. There might be some subtle background music playing, maybe a gas fireplace, but most people there would also have their computers out and would be working or studying, too. People don't do that in Spain. Cafes here are LOUD! People here are super social, and they go to cafes to hang out and talk to each other (imagine that! We later noticed that this is true of pubs/ tapas bars/ restaurants as well- none of them have TVs or other distractions, and everyone is talking to each other). After striking out at a couple of places, we did a little online searching and honed in on two places that are more like what we're used to at home. One of them, of course, is Starbucks (lol). The other place is a local cafe, but, of course, closes for four hours in the middle of the day...

During our first week here, Nicole's friend from college, Bonna, came through to visit. Bonna studied abroad in Granada during college, is currently living in China, and is the CEO of a Netherlands-based solar car company (she's a complete and utter badass, complete with a PhD and a post-doc at MIT to prove it). It was awesome to see her, Nicole got some brief time away from the family (which we all need periodically), Bonna was able to help Carter with some math, and we all got to wander around together up into the Albaycin and around town. 

Most mornings, Nicole and I have been going for walk/runs along a canal relatively close to our place before the kids get up, and Carter and Nicole have been getting to a local gym here and there to work out, but I had been jonesing to rent a bike and go explore the hills surrounding the city. I've done some research and Granada isn't necessarily a biking hotspot (seriously, people seem to walk everywhere), but there is a strong presence of cyclists here and there, and there are some trails in the hills and there are definitely people enjoying them. I finally rented an e-MTB last week and had a grin on my face for the four straight hours I had it. I've never been on an e-MTB before and it was a great way to explore the area. I got lost, I rode some amazing trails, I got lost some more, I never stopped pedaling, and I never stopped smiling. It was great to get out of the "canyon city" a bit and to see some horizons from the hilltops. It really is a beautiful town from above as well. 

What else? There are orange trees everywhere lining the streets of Granada. It's really cool. Apparently, they're not the best oranges, and it's supposed to be illegal to pick them since they belong to the city, but I think people do pick them (apparently, they're very bitter and are used primarily for cleaning). We looked it up online and there was a blurb from the City of Granada about the oranges being dangerous, and then went on to say that many people have reported being hit on the head by them, lol. Oh- and the swine! Spain is the pig-eating-est place I've ever experienced! Seriously- there is pork on everything, and next to every patisserie and tapas bar (which are everywhere) is a jamoneria/ carneceria with these HUGE wrapped, cured pig legs. There are even stuffed pig-leg pillows for sale at the souvenir shops. It's hilarious, and has made traveling with three people who don't eat pork (one of them a vegetarian) a little interesting. 

Okay- I think that's it for now. We have another week and a half in Granada (which might include a short trip to Barcelona and Valencia), then head back out for about 4-5 weeks of bouncing around from place to place, starting with a trip to Morocco, then about four weeks before we settle again for 2.5 weeks in Peebles along the Scottish borders, where we've secured a house/ pet-sitting gig in May. We love hearing from you all and how you're doing back home, as well, so holler if you get a chance.

Our last week and a half in Granada continued to be pretty fantastic, but it unfortunately rained probably seven of those ten or eleven days. We had hopes and dreams of getting out for some adventures and exploring more of the areas around Granada, but we curtailed several of those due to the weather. Still, we made the most of it, in part, by buckling down even more on homework and adulting work, and still got out for some adventures here and there. When we were in Granada in 2021, we had visited the Alhambra, but didn't take a tour, and a large part of the fortress was closed for renovations, so we made a point to get back. Tickets can be hard to come by as people book pretty far in advance, and local tour companies buy up tons of the tickets, but we lucked out and scored a great deal with an awesome guide. It was fascinating to hear more about the history of this amazing fortress/ palace/ monument of Islamic architecture from the early 13th century. The intricacies of the design and decorative work is just stunning. While many of the stained glass windows and the like still have their coloring, unfortunately, many of the walls and ceilings have lost their vibrancy due to cleaning agents and, of course, age. Our guide shared some renderings of what the rooms would've looked like in their prime, and they were even more stunning, which was hard to believe. 

We also did a walking tour of Granada proper, which was really cool. We've done walking tours in several other places, but we had lived in Granada for over three weeks when we did this one and it was super cool to learn more about the history of the town itself, the Albaycin, and many of the areas we had been walking around and living among for weeks. With both the Alhambra and all throughout town, there were so many relics of the Islamic rule of southern Spain, which lasted around 700 years! Aside from the Alhambra, many of the cathedrals and churches we had seen in Spain were originally mosques that were then taken over and converted to churches after the Christians eventually conquered and took over the region in the 15th century. All of this would only be punctuated more when we would make our way to Morocco a couple of weeks later.

During our last few days in Granada, the weather finally cleared and we rented a car to explore a little further afield. We went for a super fun hike along the Cahorros de Monachil, following the Monachil river through a canyon with waterfalls, huge canyon walls, caves, and suspension bridges. There were several crazy places where the trail basically cut under overhangs of the rock walls and they had steel handles pounded into the rocks to help you navigate around. Overall, it was a very fun day.

Other highlights: Lots of Euchre, gelato (the symbol of Granada is a pomegranate, and we had some excellent "Granada" gelato), chickens at a cool little farm down by the river where Nicole and I hope to retire :), vending machine pizza (no joke- and it was pretty good!), and some much needed down time before we launched back into a fury of travel, starting with... MOROCCO!