Day 9 - Granada

Our last day! We got up early and went to the bus station since that is the best way to travel between Malaga and Granada. I was a little apprehensive, since I know the American bus system is not really much to brag about. Not so for the Spanish. The bus was very clean, comfortable, and well air conditioned. The tickets were also pretty inexpensive. No complaints at all! After about a two hour ride, we made it to Granada.

The whole reason for us going to Granada was to visit the Alhambra, the last palace of the Arab leaders before they were run out of Spain in 1492. When I was getting my Master's degree, I wrote a paper on the painted ceilings in the Hall of the Kings, and it was really difficult to find good images of them. I was really excited to get to see them in person and perhaps take some good pictures of them to pass on to my former art history professor.

When we arrived in Granada, we headed straight for this little tourist desk in the middle of the bus station. We asked the girl there how to get to the Alhambra. She asked, "Do you already have tickets?" Um, no. "Then you have a lot of work to do today! Here is the website (she handed us a little brochure with a map), and there is an internet cafe. You have to check and see if they still have tickets available for today. Probably not. I think it's better if you stay the night here in Granada and try to go tomorrow. Today you can ride the tourist bus and see the monuments of Granada." Panic immediately set in. What?!? We had to buy tickets in advance?!? We can't stay until tomorrow! We have to get on a plane to Texas tomorrow! This is our LAST CHANCE!

We went into the internet cafe and paid for 10 minutes (50 euro cents). I went to the website on the brochure, and sure enough, it said they were sold out for that day. We were sitting there, disappointment beginning to overwhelm us, when the guy next to us said, "You don't need advance tickets. I was there yesterday. You just walk up and they let you in. You should go try to get in." That's really all the encouragement we needed, so we took a cab up there. It was an expensive ride. If you go to Granada, I recommend you take the city bus to get around. It's way more economical.

There was a bit of a line, but I was encouraged that there WAS a line. It's not like they were turning people away. There was a little sign that said you could only gain admittance to the Nasrid palace (that's the oldest part) at the time written on your ticket. As we got closer to the front of the line, I saw a sign that said "Cash only" and began to panic again. We had just blown half our cash on the cab fare up here, and there weren't any ATMs in sight. Luckily, the combined cost of tickets was 24 euros, and y'all, we had 25 euros!!! Phew! Plus, I discovered later that there totally was an ATM nearby, it was just in the advance ticket retrieval office, so we would have been fine. I was so excited about getting in that every tiny obstacle seemed like a huge hurdle I had to overcome.

So, tickets bought, they let us in! We were on our way! Here I come, Hall of the Kings! We showed up at the Nasrid palace when we were supposed to and began to make our way there. We passed through all the famous rooms - the Mexuar palace, the Hall of the Ambassadors, the Courtyard of the Myrtles. I started to go crazy with the camera taking pictures of all the beautiful details on the walls when I noticed the "Low Battery" light coming on. Nooooooo! Luckily, we had brought a backup camera. I asked Jonathan about it, and he said, "We left the other camera back at the hotel." What?!? Why didn't I think to bring it? Panic, panic, panic. So, I kind of stopped taking pictures so that I would be sure to be able to get a photo of my ceiling paintings.

We finally got to the Courtyard of the Lions - probably the most photographed part of the palace - only to discover that the famous lion fountain AND my paintings were under restoration and were NOT ON DISPLAY. AAAAAAAAAAAH! I cried. Jonathan was so sweet to me, too. He was like, "Well, next time we come..." And this was his second time to visit the Alhambra. I said, "You don't want to come again! You're just being nice!" But he kept saying stuff like, "When we come back, we'll do this part first..." and "After we buy our apartment in Spain, you can come here with your friends..." It really did make me feel better. After all, it was 12 years in between visits for him. There's hope for me to see it again. Maybe by then they'll be done with the restoration. Ha!

Here's a picture of the pavilion where the paintings usually are. As you can see, it's covered in scaffolding and there are all kinds of ropes and big pieces of plywood denying you access. Boooooooo! Although I will say, I'm glad they are being restored. I do want them to be preserved for future generations. I just wish it hadn't been on my time, you know?

Eventually, I sucked it up and decided to enjoy the rest of the day despite my crushing disappointment. After living in Paris, I knew that this just happens sometimes. You travel all the way across an ocean to see something, and then the museum workers decide to strike on the day you want to see the Mona Lisa or whatever. Denied. Or you can't go to the top of the Eiffel Tower because it's too windy. Seriously.

Happily, there's plenty to see at the Alhambra besides that fountain and those paintings, and we had a really fun rest of the day together, walking around and laughing. A great way to tie up our vacation! Now, where are we going next?

Day 8 - Malaga

We slept until after 11:00, and it was fabulous! After breakfast, I went upstairs and took a nap which was also fabulous. Then we started walking around the city.

First of all, let me say, Malaga is beautiful. I had been to Spain twice before and really liked it both times, but for some reason, I have always still thought of it as somehow less than the rest of Western Europe. I don't really know why. After being in Malaga, though, I will never think that again. Spain is gorgeous and fun to visit. Maybe if we never have kids, we'll get an apartment there. For serious. I love it.

So, we just kind of wandered around, loosely following a walking tour we found online. Malaga is the birthplace of Picasso, so they have a Picasso museum there which was really the only thing I knew about to do there. We did go, and it's a very different collection of his work than I have ever seen. Most of the works were donated by Picasso's family members, so there are a lot of sketches and studies for other paintings as well as a lot of his later work. Jonathan and I both really loved one particular painting called "Minotaur with Glass," but alas! it was not available in the gift shop and I've been looking for it online, too, and it's not there either! So, we settled for buying a poster of another painting we both liked called "Bather."

Just like I thought I knew how I felt about Spain, I also thought I knew I wasn't a big Picasso fan. But after we bought this poster, I realized I now have three Picasso posters for my house. I guess I have to realize that I am actually a fan. I think the problem is that when I go to a museum, I get a little sensory overload and don't appreciate everything I'm seeing. But when I go to a small museum or exhibit that is dedicated to one artist or style of painting, I can absorb it. That's when I've found these posters I like. With Picasso, there is almost always one that really makes me think and that I know I won't getting tired of looking at.

From the museum, we went to a little bar called "El Pimpi" that seriously had the best sangria I've ever tasted for less than 2 euros a glass. And apparently Antonio Banderas goes there a lot (he's also from Malaga). He had autographed one of the wine barrels and they had his picture up. Sounds silly, but it wasn't really over the top. If you ever go to Malaga, I suggest you stop by and taste their delicious sangria. So good!

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Alcazaba which is the fortress built by the Arab rulers and seeing some of the Roman ruins. Beautiful!

For dinner, I had migas which are completely different in Spain than here (they're better here), and Jonathan had monkfish which looks totally crazy. I had a dream about it last night. Here's a photo. He, of course, did not eat that whole thing.

Day 7 - Trains, Boats, and Automobiles

We got up super early to catch our train to Tangier and said our goodbyes to Ali and Tasneem. Thanks, you two, for being such fun and gracious hosts. We appreciate everything you did to make our trip so comfortable and enjoyable. Now we have to plan our trip to India! Or France! We'll definitely plan a trip to Boston once you get back. We loved all the long talks and playing with Zahra. You're so fun to be friends with! Thanks for having us.

Once we got to Tangier, we took a cab straight to the ferry port so we knew what time our boat left for Spain. It turns out we only had about an hour, so we didn't really have a chance to explore Tangier. It seemed like a nice enough city. We only got one picture, though, because they didn't allow photographs at the port. I guess they don't want people to be able to take pictures and figure out how to smuggle stuff in/out of the country? So, we took a photo from the ferry as we were sailing away.

The ferry ride was just over an hour long, and we passed right by the Rock of Gibraltar. Jonathan was disappointed that they didn't have a giant British flag painted on the hillside or whatever. I told him we should try to go over there and see if they would let us in, and if they asked us why, we could tell them we wanted to see the monkeys. I have since discovered that people do that ALL the time, and now I kind of wish we'd done it. Ah, well. Next time.

We arrived in Algeciras and had a few options: walk with all our suitcases to the bus station, get a ticket to Malaga, then walk to our hotel there; take a cab to the bus station; hop in a car with some stranger who offered to drive us to Malaga for half the cab fare; or just take a cab all the way to Malaga. Jonathan was very tempted by the mysterious stranger. I was not. I was like, "No way am I getting in a car with some strange Spanish man with my suitcase, passport, and credit cards. I don't care how good a deal it is." In the end, we decided we were tired and travel-weary, and we just paid a cab to take us right to our hotel's doorstep in Malaga.

We got in the cab, and the difference from Moroccan cabs was amazing. Moroccan cabs are the oldest, cheapest cars they can find - usually an old Mercedes or Fiat with no air conditioning, no seat belts, and dirty interiors. Plus, the drivers don't always know where they're going. They know neighborhoods, but you have to kind of tell them where to go once you're in the general area. The Spanish cab was a brand new air-conditioned Audi with a leather interior. When the driver asked for the address, I gave it to him and asked if he knew the neighborhood. He said, "No, but I've got a GPS," and he proceeded to use it. The drive was about two hours, and cost a pretty penny, but it may be some of the best money I've ever spent. No regrets.

Our hotel in Malaga was very nice and right within walking distance of everything. We left off exploring for the next day, but did go out for dinner that night and found this hilarious turkey hand sculpture. So weird!

Day 6 - Volubilis and Moulay Idriss

We got up super early to go see a nearby Roman outpost called Oualili in Arabic. The Romans mutated the name into Volubilis. Apparently the town was inhabited until the 18th century, but since then it has been damaged by an earthquake and also scavenged for building materials for other nearby towns. It was still pretty neat, though. You can really see the layout of the town: where the roads are, where the houses were, how big they were, etc. There are quite a few immaculately preserved floor mosaics as well.

After Volubilis, we drove over to Moulay Idriss which is a tiny little town with a very large shrine and mausoleum to Idriss I, an 8th century ruler and the founder of Fes. It was a very pretty town with very few tourists. Of course, we were not allowed into the shrine, since it is one of the holiest places for Moroccan Muslims. Apparently, 5 trips to Moulay Idriss counts as one haj (trip to Mecca). That's how important of a religious site it is.

I was willing to walk around the town a bit since we were there, but of course some guy walks up to us and offers to take us up to a terrasse where there was a good view. I was immediately against it. Why? 1) Because our cab driver had already taken us up to a hillside where we got an excellent view of the city, and I didn't believe this new view was going to be significantly better. 2) I didn't want to pay this guy to take us on a walk when I was perfectly capable of walking by myself. 3) I was tired of being ripped off and I just knew this guy wasn't going to charge us a fair price. But, Ali and Jonathan said yes before I could really voice my objections, and off we went. And, y'all, it was far. Every time we turned a corner, and we were still going uphill, I stopped and glared at my companions and voiced a complaint. So, yes, I was grumpy and not a good sport at all. We finally made it to the top of the hill, and the view was nice, but I think I still would rather have walked around by myself for free.

Anywho, here's a list of some interesting things we saw:

Donkeys walking up and down the streets in a caravan with no one leading them. They were laden with bags of sand or something, and they knew their route so well they didn't need anyone to tell them where to go. Pretty cool.

Bakers baking bread by hand. They have a particular kind of bread that you see everywhere, and we saw them actually making it which was neat-o.

Two kids spinning thread. One kid was at one end of the street holding the threads up as high above his head as he could get them. Another kid had a little hand held machine that wove the threads together. They took up the whole side of the street. It was pretty neat to see that, too.

So, despite my complaining, it was a very charming town and I'm glad we went. We cut the day kind of short and took the train back to Fes. Our last night in Morocco! We ate pizza and watched more movies. Good times!