Granada Proper.

 After my adventure on the mountain I headed to Granada. I originally was going to stay for one night but I extended my stay by two more nights! I absolutely loved Granada. From the stunning Alhambra hovering over the city, to the Albaicin and its pretty buildings, to the gypsy caves looming on the hill top and the the Arabic influence resonating through the city. It was all amazing. To top it off, if you buy a drink anywhere you get free tapas!! FREE TAPAS!!! As if the bright, patterned textiles lining the streets weren't enough to put me in my happy place, I was also being given free food. Yes, I was in heaven!

   My first afternoon, I was indulging in some afternoon FREE tapas and some vino blanco out on the patio in the main plaza (pronounced platha) when I heard a familiar North American accent behind me. I discovered two gals from the US were sitting behind me so I turned around and started chatting with them. We ended up spending a couple hours chatting and it was a wonderful experience! I think I should make a promise to myself to talk to random strangers more often in the future.

   Back at the hostel, I met some wonderful new friends from the USA and Australia who I spent the next day with. We discovered crazy Spanish pop music videos, more free tapas and wonderful kebabs and shawarma together. I also went with two to the gals to an authentic flamenco show in a random cave like bar.

All in all, I had a great time in Granada and I hope to return soon. Very soon but probably not on this trip.

 Buddy basking in the sun on the windowsill at the hostel.

 Beautifully decorated buildings all around the Albaicin area.

 View of the Alhambra.

 The river... it was maybe 6 inches deep... But beautiful all the same!

 Stunning detail inside the palace at the Alhambra. See even more photos on my Flickr HERE.

The upper gardens at the Alhambra.

I heart Spain!

   Sorry I have been gone so long! I have been wonderfully busy, not to mention I was out of a decent connection area for a couple weeks.


   I am back to civilization now but from February 14th- 28th I was at my first Workaway, on the side of a mountain, MILES away from anything. The closest town was La Peza which was about 20 minutes away. It was a tiny village of approximately 500-1000 people. Myself, 2 Irish brothers and a French gal joined an English couple, John and Sarah, at their cortijo to help with some work around the property. We pruned and picked olive trees, gardened, ate insane amounts of delicious food, cracked almonds and walnuts, planted veggies,  gathered fire wood and had giant bonfires with the olive prunings. It sounds like more play then work and it really was! I could not have asked for a better first Workaway experience. Instead of going on and on about it I will share some pictures.

 This is the view from the front door of our apartment each morning.

 The veggie garden.

 A lot of the rocks are a shiny silver color. Very pretty in the sunshine!

The moon was absolutely stunning!

Just for you Daddy-o! Some Spanish loggers on the road to the cortijo. They cut down the trees and then just leave them on the side of the road. They just clear the forests a bit. They don't actually use them for anything.

Cracking walnuts in our apartment. It snowed/rained so we were stuck inside the first couple days. Then it cleared up and it was sunny with highs of 15 - 20 degrees most of the remaining days! 

Where we ate lunch most days.

 Hanging out in an olive tree.

 Picking some olives that were left over from the harvest earlier in the season.

One of our many bonfires at the end of the work day. 

 Taking a moment to read while overlooking the stunning view.

Working on the overgrown strawberry bed.

I dominated those weeds and dead heads!

 View of the Sierra Nevada from Guadix on one of our day trips.

Me with the Irish lads and Sarah in front of La Alhambra. Just John and Amandene are missing. 

   After we finished at the cortijo, we spent a couple days at John and Sarahs home in the El Fargue area of Granada for our days off. One night we walked down into Granada proper for dinner at this wonderful hole in the wall restaurant that was just locals. There was no sign or evidence from the outside that it was a restaurant. It is run by a single woman who makes all of the food by herself. There were no waiters so drinks were on a help yourself honours system. The only help was the owners son who brought food from the kitchen to the table. It was great! Afterwards I headed out for a night on the town with the Irish lads. I chatted with some wonderful people that night including the cab driver who got a good laugh out of my Spanish/English/French gibber gabber I used to communicate with him. I got home at 5am and was not able to work the key to the property gate so I ended up climbing over a 10 or 11 foot steel gate with a hill on the opposite side. I don't know how I managed that but if I can do it in an intoxicated state anyone can!

   All in all I very much enjoyed my stay with John and Sarah! I can only hope that all of my future Workaways create as many wonderful memories as my time with them did! I parted ways with them on Monday and I am now at my second Workaway but I will do another post tomorrow to bring you up to date.

XO

A friend in need is a friend in deed!

   Marbella is beautiful! I spent the last two days just relaxing and lazing around. I read in the the park, on the beach, in Orange square while drinking coffee, while eating tapas, in seaside restaurants. You name it and I have probably been there, read there. I've been eating a lot too. Mostly ham on bread, ham on bread with cheese, serrano ham on bread, iberica ham chorizo grilled.... ham ham ham. So much ham that I just want to eat a salad! Of course aside from the ham I also had the best calamari of my life yesterday. Big, thick tender slices of calamari with a perfectly crispy, light coating drizzled with lemon juice. Not those rubber little loonie sized rings hidden amongst batter you find in most Canadian restaurants. This calamari was sublime. 

   Today I went on a big walk today. I spent about an hour and a half walking down the seawall and back. It wasn't as warm and sunny as yesterday but it was still warm. We just seem to be getting hitting with crazy wind so it cooled things down a bit. I took a break from the tapas at lunch and had Italian food... in Spain. It was so, so. The actual pasta its self, as in the pappardella noodles, were wonderful and fresh tasting. They were just prepared in a way that was lacking excitement. Plain old under seasoned cream sauce with such thinly sliced mushrooms they almost didn't exist. Some more salt and pepper and maybe some basil with perfectly sauteed, tender slices of mushrooms would have made me a little more enthusiastic about the meal. I think if you combined Pagliaccis pasta preparation with the fresh, tender noodles from this place then you would have a match made in heaven. Side note: Yes, I do love Pagliaccis but I really think they should take a step in the right direction and start using fresh pasta instead of the boring, chewy dried stuff you can buy at any supermarket. I expect more from a place with bread that good!

 Remians of an Arabic castle.

 My favorite blue.

 Paradise. Windy paradise today...

 My dream home. A one room casa on the beach. Of course the yard needs some work before its ready for me.

The seawall walkway.

  When I arrived back to my guest house today there was a new person chatting with the ower. Turns out its another gal from Canada so we are going to grab some dinner together tonight. It will be nice to have someone to chat with since the last couple days have been just me, myself and I! The one and only thing I really miss about Canada are all of my friends and family. I have realized that because I have so many different friend groups that I really have certain friends for certain occasions. I have friends that I see live music with, friends I laugh like an idiot with, friends I catch up with after extended periods of time apart, friends I eat indulgently with, friends I party with, friends I beach with, friends I cook dinner with... You all know where you fit in and I miss you all!


   Anyways, I had better prepare myself to brave the weather tonight. It started to rain about an hour or so ago. After two weeks of sunshine and warmth I have been completely spoiled. I can no longer bare the idea of wet shoes and wet hair! Wish me luck! xo.