October 26
Granada
Is it further to Granada than by bus?
[The next stop . . . ]
[But before we left for Granada we had to wake up in Madrid . . . ]
[Then go up to the rooftop to view the sunrise . . . ]
[A final look down on our neighborhood. Rush hour begins early in Madrid . . . ]
[Then we boarded a bus for our 4 1/2 ride to Granada – 420 km (260 miles) straight south . . . ]
[Unknown obelisk in the middle of somewhere along the highway . . . ]
[Unknown fire in the middle of somewhere along the highway . . . ]
[Olives! With the Sierra Morena mountain range as a backdrop . . . ]
[Olive trees are, literally, everywhere. Spain has over 300 million olive trees and produces 40 per cent of the world’s olive oil. Andalucia is the largest olive growing area on the planet . . . ]
[No olive trees was a rare sight . . . ]
[Settled in for the long ride . . . ]
[As we near Granada, a small village tucked amidst the olive trees . . . ]
[Granada, we are here! Specifically, checking in at the Hotel Melia . . . ]
[Bags to the room, freshen up, and hit the streets just outside our hotel . . . ]
[Along a block-long colonnade . . . ]
[Where we burst upon a multi-street intersection. This is the Hotel NH Victoria in the historical center of Granada . . . ]
[Equestrian sculpture on the roof, Ayuntamiento, Barrio San Matias-Realejo, Plaza del Carmen . . . ]
[Three visages from the same original – a new record!]
[This is Granada. Spanish is the native tongue here. English is the money maker! The cigarette butt in the lower right corner offers a hint of authenticity . . . ]
[I don’t remember the place, but looking at these photos again it was one of my favorite meals on the whole trip . . . ]
[The food, the portions, the beverages, the ambience – everything seemed good!]
[Again, my favorite aspect of Old Europe . . . ]
[Plaza de Mariana Pineda – Mariana de Pineda y Muñoz, generally known as Mariana Pineda, (1 September 1804 in Granada – 26 May 1831 in Granada) was a Spanish liberalist heroine . . . ]
[A continuation through the Mariana Pineda plaza . . . ]
[Bill points out the finer points . . . ]
[A major book sale was in the offing. What better place to hold one but on the plaza of a liberalist . . . ]
[Book sales stands abounded . . . ]
[Yes, we actually were going in seach of books . . . ]
[The weather and/or the time of day or day of the week may have been affecting attendance . . . ]
[The Super and the young man were admiring the size the statue’s . . . feet?]
[And end of the first evening in Granada with a gelato . . . ]
How lazily the sun goes down in Granada, it hides beneath the water, it conceals in the Alhambra! ~ Ernest Hemingway
Up Next: Maybe basketball
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