Spain for the Short of Attention Span – Part 7 – Granada

Granada is very photogenic, as evidenced by the fact that I took about six bazillion photos there.  (You are getting a brutally edited version, partly because I don’t want to bore you with all my holiday snaps and partly because I do not have the patience to wait for them all to upload.)

Spain for the Short of Attention Span – Part 6 – Ronda

And right next to Tarifa on the list of places I’d never heard of but am really glad I went anyway is Ronda. Like with everywhere else in Spain, apparently, Ronda has a beautiful old town. What sets it apart though, is the massive canyon running through the centre of town.

Spain for the Short of Attention Span – Part 5 – Tarifa

(Part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 if you want to read these in order.)

Have you ever even heard of Tarifa? I shall assume that like me before I went on this trip, you have not. It never ceases to amaze me when I discover something lovely or great or special that I have never even heard of. It’s a big world out there, I guess.

Spain for the Short of Attention Span – Part 4 – Cadiz

(Here are part 1, part 2 and part 3, if you missed them.)

What can I tell you about Cadiz? Well, it is very old. Europe’s oldest city, actually. When we were leaving Seville and deciding where to go next, we asked the desk person at our hotel and he recommended it: “Cadiz is quiet and small, but is very very charm.” With a review like that, how could we not go?

Spain for the Short of Attention Span Part 3 – Seville

You can read part 1 here and part 2 here.

Well. Seville. Seville is significant to me for being the only place I’ve ever been where someone put a ball of vanilla ice cream in my gazpacho. Because of this alone, I will always have a soft spot for Seville. However, this city has much more to offer than creative uses of dairy products.

Spain for the Short of Attention Span – Part 2 – Cordoba

(You can read Part 1 here.)

If you enter Cordoba by train, do not let the walk into town fool you. We did this. We left the train station and headed in the direction that the information people said was centre. There is a very nice park that you follow to get there, but otherwise, the city — while pretty — is not the most inspiring thing you will hope to see in Spain. And after coming from Toledo, we were a little let down.  But folks, stick with Cordoba, because in the middle of this city is the old city and the old city is gorgeous!  (I’m sure there is an excellent moral here about first impressions, but I don’t think I’ll pursue it.)

Spain for the Short of Attention Span – Part 1 – Toledo

Here’s the thing about going to Europe when you’re from the “new world”: it’s culture overload.  You are coming from a place where anything over a hundred years old has a heritage plaque on it and suddenly find yourself in this alternate universe where they talk about renovations that happened in the 15th century.

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Best Menu Translation Ever

At El Deseo restaurant in Granada, which you should visit if you ever get the chance, as the food is divine:

Risotto “Lorca” – A genius telling a fairy tale about the impossible love between the crawfish and the artichoke.

Doesnt (sorry – cant find apostrophe on European keyboard) that make you want to run out and write a menu?

Having a ball, folks.  Back soon.

Updated – In case you thought I was making this up:

(Hmm.  There’s something a little off in the description of the Berenjena Total as well, now that I read it again.  It makes sense, and I’d bet that it’s really good, but it sounds somehow a bit disgusting.)

So Close I Can Taste It.

Oh, I’m excited!

One week.  In one week, I will be in Spain.  I love Spain.  I went when I was twenty-one and again when I was twenty-two.  My memories of this country are all in glowing sepia.  I love the people, I love the language, I love the architecture, I love the food and the warm weather.  I love the smaller towns, with their winding streets and their unending charm.  I love that this time, I will understand what people are saying to me.

So now then….

We have (finally) moved.  It was not my most favourite of experiences, (in fact, it ranks extremely low on that list) but now it is over and we have all the things in their places and there are tulips on the coffee table in the area we have designated as our living room.  It’s all very pretty, really.

My brain has not quite got used to the idea of this as home yet though.  I keep catching myself thinking that I’m staying at a bed and breakfast.  Although, as it was pointed out to me, it would be a pretty crappy bed and breakfast, as we had to both bring our own bed and make our own breakfast.  And it has quirks, this place.  Like a weird stair that goes up and then down between the kitchen and the living area.  And a ridiculously low ceiling in the shower.  (Compared to an apartment without walls, they aren’t big quirks.)