After three nights in our beloved Spanish farmhouse, we checked out just after 11:00 on Monday to begin our drive to Granada, home of the Alhambra, one of Europe’s best-regarded attractions. Considered the last and greatest Moorish palace in Europe, the sprawling complex features buildings with ornate engravings, numerous water features, and photo-worthy gardens.
The girls grabbed some sleep on the drive from Ronda to Granada.
While tourists likely could fill a full day of exploration at the complex, the combination of traveling with three kids and extremely hot weather meant we had to limit our focus. As soon as we had parked and scanned our tickets, we beelined to the entry line for the Nasrid Palaces, which we could enter only during the specific window of time assigned to our ticket purchase.
The self-guided tour took us through a wide variety of halls, courtyards, fountains within the palaces. Even with high expectations, I was extremely impressed by the intricate carvings, tiles, and designs contained within.
Noah had to turn his bag around while inside the palaces.
Intricate ceiling design.
Our afternoon visit took an unfortunate turn while visiting the outdoor gardens which were the final stop within the Nasrid Palaces tour. Eilidh threw up most of her tube of food, christening the Alhambra with a yellowish, liquidy substance.
Eilidh happy, if hot, pre-food.
Eilidh waits by Amanda in the shade for a new shirt.
We didn’t have a backup outfit packed, so I took the older kids to the nearest souvenir shop in search of a replacement outfit. The selection of Alhambra t-shirts was regrettably small, but I think I picked the best of the worst, a red t-shirt with a design featuring the signature Arabic writing found throughout the Alhambra complex.
During the downtime, Noah sampled new the new pink lemonade flavor of Mentos during our visit. The consensus rating was roughly 7.5/10.
Given the heat, temporary outfit, and general tiredness from a busy start to our trip, we made the nearby Alcazaba fortress, one of the oldest parts of the Alhambra complex. Built in the 13th century after Muslims conquered the region, the fortress was used well beyond the Moorish rule of Granada, repurposed as a state prison when occupied by France in the 19th century.
Eilidh and I hurried back to the car to get some much-needed air-conditioning.
We drove by a shopping center on our way to the Alhambra, so decided to make it our dinner stop, seeing a few familiar fast food restaurant logos on the outside of the building. After a somewhat complicated process to get our car to the parking ramp, we entered the large Nevada-branded shopping complex and made it to the impressive food court pretty quickly.
Five Guys was near the entrance to the food court and immediately jumped out to Noah, who loves their hamburgers in the states. Emmie and Gee Gee also voted for Five Guys dinner, so that order was placed while Amanda walked down to KFC and I decided to dig into the Taco Bell menu items unavailable in the states. The biggest discovery from our dinner? Noah likes cheeseburgers! In fact, he prefers them to regular hamburgers, at least based on his Five Guys experience.
Emmie holds the last bite of her hamburger, plus the Taquito Lupita dessert from Taco Bell.
I pose with the Chocmarsh and Chocodilla (left to right), neither of which I’ve seen in the United States.
Post-food, returning to the car.
When dinner was finished, we made the 100-minute drive to Málaga, where we are staying for one night before tomorrow’s flights to Porto Santo, representing a much-anticipated return to our favorite spot from last year’s vacation. Late during our planning, we swapped two hotel rooms for a well-rated Airbnb townhome which was much closer to the airport. Finding the spot was difficult, but, after a phone call, the proprietor met us at a nearby park so we could follow him to his place.
As a final activity for the evening, we ranked the flavors of Lacasticos, Spain’s popular M&M-like candy. The adults and Emmie decided the original were the best; the brand-new “Gold” caramel variety received top marks from Noah; no one loved the white chocolate variety.
Neat!