Granada

Hola! We have now been in Granada, Spain for two wonderful days. Today we saw the main Granadan attraction, the Alhambra, an old Muslim complex that was taken over by the Christians during the Reconquistador...it was soooo cool. The first part we visited was called Generalife, the most beautiful gardens you could imagine...lines of trimmed shrubs surrounded by blossoming flowers. The second part we visited was the main palace of the former Muslim Sultan...so different from any other Italian or Spanish palaces we have experienced. The Eastern style was characterized by detail, and lots of it, beautiful tile-work, amazing carved ceilings, fountains galore. The third part of the premise, Alcazaba, was a huge fortress. After walking through the old baths and storage areas, we climbed the bell-tower for the most amazing, full-round view of Granada.

We were pretty tired after the Alhambra so we headed back to the hostal, making our own lunch from groceries we got along the way. Then we lived it up true Spanish style...Siesta. This mid-day break usally means all business ceases in the middle of the day from about 2 to 5...we slept until 6:30 pm. Tonight we ate at a Lebanese restaurant, enjoying the sumptuous couscous, hummus, and chicken kabob...yummmmmy. We ended our cullinary experience with a few scoops of traditional Italian Gelato from the local Gelateria. Later we are planning to taste the nightlife here, and taking advantage of southern Spain's traditional free-tapas-with a drink-special. Tomorrow we head off for Sevilla, and we'll make sure to update soon enough.

In case anyone needs to get a hold of us, here is our contact information:

Nicole ngkatz@gmail.com 011.34.667.320.356
Amanda aehasten@art.wustl.edu 011.34.662.245.717

Hasta Luego,
Amanda and Nicole

Vamos a Viajar!

Hola to everyone! The Fabulous FAND blog was created for the travels of four beautiful cousins: Franki, Amanda, Nicole, and Denise! As of now, only Amanda and Nicole are traveling so we have entries from only AN right now, but F&D will be joining us shortly...

After a ´delay´ in Madrid which consisted of taking advantage of the Spanish nightlife with Tomas and friends and then seeing the Museum of Reina Sofia (mostly known for Picasso´s Guernica), Amanda and I have started our journey through the South of Spain. We are currently in Granada, a precious city with muslim influences, enjoying the breezy weather interesting culture. Activating our eurail passes was simple and we´re excited to be using the railways until it expires on June 28th. Here´s where we plan to be... key word: plan, as our plans have changed numerously and we´ve only made it to destination 1.

may 31 granada
june 1-2 sevilla
3-4 cádiz
5-6 San Sebastian
7 half day in barcelona for sleeper train to france
8-9 toulouse
9-11 Marseille with day trip to Aix
11-14 Nice with day trips to Cannes and Monaco
15 Milan (lake como)
16 catch night train from milan to Vienna
17 in Vienna to meet denise and franki

So far I´ve been using my spanish (quite successfully) and Amanda seems to be picking up on it too and getting by with her superb itailian (similar languages.) Our hostal is one of 4 buildings on a tucked away street, but is inviting and charming, we both really like it. We´ve already climbed our way up the windy streets of the Alabacín (the only Moorish neighborhood to outlest the Reconquista.) The neighborhood mostly looks like the shuks in Israel (small streets lined with shops selling beaded jewlery, purses, hookas, and more) We also went to the church where Isabel and Fernando are burried, but it was closed (of course.) Tomorrow we have tickets to go see the Alhambra (huge palace in Granada) and I can´t wait! For now, we´re off to taste the North African cuisine of this small(er) town...mmmmm