Sharon said we needed a quiet day today to prepare ourselves for the long afternoon in the sun of the Alhambra tomorrow. So we took a leisurely 8 km walk around the town and then a lazy 15 km on Elena’s electric bike tour up and down the many hills of the city.
Elena, our tour guide, is a fit and cheerful old lady of 90 years. You can see a photo of her with Sharon. She suggested we drink, as she always did, from the waters of the spring that was said to hold the fountain of youth. Perhaps it was because it was at the top of a very steep hill or we had other ideas in mind, but we both guzzled till our bellies were full. I immediately felt the youthful feeling flowing through my body first to my stomach then my lower parts. Perhaps this fountain of youth was the elixir I needed. Then I had to pee.
It’s the first ride on the road for Sharon since her op and she had no troubles. Electric bikes! Now they could make you lazy! We tried the Segways, but thought we’d stick to something we know.
Granada is an interesting city with a mix of cultures. There is a large gypsy neighbourhood where the squatters have made homes by tunnelling into the hillsides, then building facades to make their caves appear as houses typical of the town. We entered a gypsy shop on our ride and walked into the cave and it was 15 degrees cooler than outside.
Later, we pedalled through the Arab neighbourhood, an old area with tight winding cobblestone streets ala Morocco with a lot more hills thrown in. An Arab market here sells many goods of the type we saw on sale in Marrakech, but for three times the price. I guess you pay a premium here not to be hassled to buy by every shopkeeper we pass. I spied boomerangs for sale, stamped Granada, probably made in China.
The food is good. Stop in for a beer and tapa is served for free. We had a lovely tuna and orange salad with one drink, a plate of prawns for another and a large plate of shell fish, cockles perhaps, for another top up. We shared an excellent seafood tapa in a lively bar doing a roaring trade last night and enjoyed it so much we might do the same again tonight.
It’s warmish here. 38 degrees today, like it was yesterday. No one wears a hat, just us.
Come on Bill, the truth, wouldn’t you rather be at home teaching?
PS. give me a Segway any day.
Teaching? Is that what I used to do? I can hardly remember.
Is that Elena with the baguette? She’s doing alright for 90.
You’ve got some good photos from this trip already Dad. How many GB’s are you at so far? Can’t wait to see them all.
Just 81gb, , Sam though took a million at the Alhambra today to add to that.
Nice! I keep meaning to tell you about Flickr’s new deal. They relaunched offering 1TB of free storage. Would be a good spot for showing off your photos and at high res, or even using it as a cloud backup. Check it out.