A Gorgeous Day in the Country

About 3 weeks ago, my good friends Armando and Esther invited me out to spend the day with them and their family at their house in el campo (countryside).  It was an absolutely beautiful day and very relaxing.  As always, Armando and Esther made me feel so extremely welcome and as part of their family.

Elena and me.  Elena is the daughter of Armando and Esther.  Isn't she muy guapa (very pretty)???

Armando and Elena.

This little guy is Pablo, the nephew of Armando and Esther.  Pablo's dad, Sebas, is Esther's brother-in-law.  I give him and Esther private English conversation classes, and I also help Armando with his bilingual English class at my school.  One big happy English-studying family! :)

Elena and Ines.  Ines is Pablo's sister.  So cute.

Ir de paseo, going for a stroll/walk.  We went on a couple long walks throughout the day.  Very peaceful.

Juan, Armando and Esther's son, LOVES los caballos (horses)!  He was riding his bike and stopped immediately to stand and look at this horse.  So cute.

Here is Pablo on the shoulders of his mother, Inma. 

Beautiful sunset in the countryside...

I introduced the American dessert CARROT CAKE to Spain!!!  Although I will never be able to make my mom's delectable carrot cake recipe like she does, I gave it my best shot!!  It was a big hit!  Everyone was a little skeptical at first, wondering how a cake with carrots would taste....but then it was the ultimate compliment when all the ladies asked for the recipe.  I think I did you proud, Mom!!! :)

Esther and Armando show their approval with a thumbs up!  This means a lot, given Armando has told me he is not a man of sweets!!

Cordoba with the fam

On our way from Granada to Madrid, we made a quick stop on the train in Cordoba.  We had about 4 hours to explore, and here are a couple pics outside of La Mesquita, the well-known mosque in Cordoba.  When Cordoba was conquered by the Christians way back when, they decided it was too beautiful of a building to destroy, so they built a cathedral inside the mosque.

Almagro

So I'm still catching up with some pictures....

About 3 weeks ago, I went to the small little town of Almagro with some friends from work.  It's in Castilla La Mancha, so only about an hour away or so.  My friends are so generous---they took me out to lunch at a very nice restaurant, and then we went to a comedy theater show at Corral de Comedias, the oldest open air theater in Spain.

This was before Semana Santa, so here is a display with the traditional religious dress and traditional pastries for this time of year.

The main square of Almagro.

Doors are no joke here in Spain. 

My girl Natalia and me!

In front of the stage in the theater.

Granada with fam (from last month...catching up!)

Though I have not been to every city in Spain, of course, I think Granada is one of my favorite places.  (This is where I went skiing some time ago at Sierra Nevada). 

Our hotel was awesome.  It was off from the center of things, but very close.  Here is the view from the nice terrace of the hotel.

Here begins the pictures from our day tour of La Alhambra, which is the Arabian palace (conquered by Christians in 1492---Granada was the last city to be conquered).  I have more history written in a previous blog from my first trip to Granada if you are interested :)

Basically, this place is amazing.  Enormous.  Breathtaking.  Incredible.  Pictures can only show so much.

Of course my brother would find a skull knife in the Alhambra gift shop.  Of course my brother would seriously consider buying a skull knife in the Alhambra gift shop.

This part is called Alcazaba, which includes the main watch towers, dungeons, and Arabian communal baths.

Geometric mosaic tiles are found all over the palaces of La Alhambra.  There are so many elaborate designs.  It's also amazing to think that they spent so much time melting down certain metals (ex:copper and cobalt) to get these specific colors.

I'm sitting in one of the many Arabian communal bath foundations.

The tour is very long because there is so much to see.  La Alhambra "campus" is made up of 4 main parts: Alcazaba (the watch tower front part); the palaces; the gardens of the palaces; and Generalife, which is an amazing lush area of gardens that is a short walk away from the main palace area.  This is where the Sultan spent his summers. 
A much needed and deserved cerveza break in between tour sections!!! :)

Dungeon anyone?

 

More communal baths.

My brother, the photographer, took over 1000 pictures in Spain. :)

Walking up through the winding staircase to the watch tower, there were many of these little nooks to peek through.  Zach decided to perch in one.  Good job, Zach.

La Alhambra tour: 1
Zach: 0