A quiet day today. I went for a run in the Albayzin neighborhood of Granada this morning and got lost in its maze of streets and alleys. I was looking for the Alhambra over look, but it took me 25 minutes to find it. It was actually a lot of fun as it was me, the cats, and a few locals at that time of the morning. Our flight to Barcelona was not until 15:20 (Europe likes their military time) so we had a couple of hours left to kick around in Granada. Nothin...

Today is Luke's birthday, and all day he felt he should get as much orange Fanta (which tastes a lot better than the American version) and ice cream as he wanted whenever he wanted. We all had to get up early (7:00 AM!). Our tickets for the Alhambra were for 8:30 AM and we wanted to eat before we started. Caught a cab up the hill and entered the complex. It is huge! We started in the Nasrid Palace, which was the palace of the Sultan and later of Queen Isabel...

After the craziness of yesterday it was nice to have a somewhat relaxing day. Had our churros and chocolate for breakfast and then made our way to Algiceras (the town across the bay from the Rock of Gibralter) by bus and to Granada by train. It was a nice and comfortable 4 hour ride. Arrived in Granada, got situated and then walked around. We went to the burial chapel of Ferdinand and Isabella (the monarchs who kicked the Moors out of Spain and sent Columbu...

We left Seville today for Tarifa and the coast. We caught a 9:30 bus for the 3 hour ride to Tarifa. Saw a lot of hills, cows, and sunflowers on the way. Arrived in Tarifa, which has a small, walled, old city with winding narrow streets and white-washed walls. Our hotel has a lot of character, our room has its own court yard. We then set off to explore the beach and the harbor. Tarifa is the southernmost tip of Europe and is the point where the Mediterranean...

We were all set to get going early to Cordova, but when 8 am rolled around we decided we were too tired. There was a 12:30 train so we opted for that. Instead I ran along the riverfront and across the river and everybody else slept in. Had a nice breakfast/ lunch and caught the train. It was the first time the kids were on a train so they were excited. The trip was only 45 minutes and they were a little disappointed. Andalusia (the region we are in) is full...