We were sad to leave Marrakesh after an exciting few days, but happy to be back in Spain. Leaving Morocco went pretty smoothly, except the song "I will always love you" by Whitney Houston played repeatedly for about 45 minutes while we waited to check in. We landed in Madrid, and immediately took an overnight bus to Granada, in southern Spain. We found our hostel, and after struggling to speak in broken English and Spanish, we discovered that the hostel manager was fluent in French! So much easier to communicate!
The city, which looked more like a quaint village, was really beautiful. The people were so friendly and sweet, pointing and shouting in Spanish to help us find our way. We couldn´t understand them, but it was helpful. The mountains surrounded the town, and we climbed up to the top to see the Alhambra, a Moorish (Islamic) Palace built in 1338-1390, and which just happens to be another wonder on our list! The grounds were really beautiful. There were many ponds, orange trees, flowers and hedges surrounding the Palace. Inside we viewed room after room lavishly decorated in Islamic art. There were also several towers you could climb for a stunning view of the city. Almost all the houses looked the same, painted in a very bright white. A nice contrast from the lush green trees surrounding them. It was much better than we expected and we were continually overwhelmed with the ornate carvings and art of each room.
We spent the rest of the day walking around the city, enjoying lunch in the Plaza Espagne and watching the city go by. Very peaceful and quiet. We walked through the tourist areas and noticed a large quantity of Moroccan products being sold at a marked up price! We found the cathedral and walked up another mountain to our hostel stopping at a local hangout to watch the sunset.
The next day we took a day trip to Cordoba, to see the Mezquita de Cordoba which to this day still operates as a church AND a mosque. The architecture of the mosque is so unique. Great big arches and pillars of red and white stripes line the ceiling. It is so unique though with the center of the Mosque being run as a Cathedral, dating back to the early 16th century. You can definitely tell which part is which. Many elaborate statues and art adorn the interior. It is the biggest church\mosque that I have ever been in.We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting the tiny Synagogue, the beautiful orange gardens surrounding the Mezquita, the old bridge and the Arab baths. Really interesting descriptions and pictures still remain within the baths. You can almost imagine yourself as being part of the empire. It was really interesting to hear all about the rich and powerful who subsequently also were murdered in the baths for being just that!
We headed back to Granada via bus and roamed around the city eating delicious schwarma for dinner. We somehow ended up in the hippy district with dread locks and drunken looking youths. We spent a quiet evening and then walked 40 minutes, with all of our luggage (like crazy people, which people said we were!) to the train station to catch our overnight bus to Madrid. Nina met a girl from Morocco who she spoke French with into the early hours of the morning. She gave me some insight on how Moroccan's live, and some of the issues that need to be worked on in order to become more modern. She said that the people beg for money only because the tourists actually give it to them! That they figure it's and easy way to make some cash. Unfortunately, the children 10 years and up, have started using that money to get high on gas. She said it was a big problem, and that she would never give them any money.
Once in Madrid we found our beautiful hostel and got ourselves situated. We walked down into the Gothic quarter and enjoyed a lovely day of shopping. Great to be here for the winter sales!! We enjoyed the architecture and the Spanish flair that surrounded the city. Actually it reminded us very much of Vancouver with the long narrow streets and XXX stores. It looked just like Granville Street.
We relaxed in the Plaza de Mayo which had surprisingly beautiful buildings with color nice style. We relaxed in the sun while musicians played and people in costume waited to take your money. We also saw two female police officers on duty with the tightest spandex pants. I can imagine not too many men resisting arrest!! We have really enjoyed the beauty of Spain and will definitely return one day.
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