Granada and Almería

This weekend I encountered what I would place in my top ten worst story starters:

"Ohh that reminds me, when I was in fourth grade, I was in the spelling bee, and I was doing SO EFFING good....." The story ended with, "I would have won that s***!" You can only guess how interesting the middle part was...

Also this weekend, I got an Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) look-alike comment from the professor on our trip. I've gotten Alyson Hannigan ("and one time, at band camp") several times in the past, as well as Amanda Bynes, but this one was new. Maybe it's just the Spanish perspective. I'll never look as much like a famous person, though, as my dad looks like Ryan Stiles.

I remember being on the ice at practice one day, around the squirt level, and my dad walked into the rink. My defense partner skated over to me and said, "Oh my gosh, is that Ryan Stiles?!"

"No, that's my dad," I responded.

"Your dad is Ryan Stiles??!!!!"

Actually, my dad called me earlier this winter, telling me that there was some character on the show Two and a Half Men that the guys at work were telling him he looked like. He'd google-imaged the show, and couldn't figure out who it was. I felt bad informing him that once again, he was being compared to Ryan Stiles. My mom, in the background, said, "Awww, I was hoping they were talking about the one with the dark hair. He's at least kind of attractive."

(Don't worry, Pop, she didn't mean it. At 6'2", 180lbs, with a full head of dark hair, you're doing well. No one believes you're over fifty. And you can still beat your kids on the ski hill, with lung capacity AND skill.)

Last Wednesday, we visited the Catedral in Sevilla, which is where Cristobal Colon is buried. I didn't even know that until we were in the church. It's the third largest cathedral in the world. We climbed up the huge tower to look out over the city. Instead of stairs, the floor just slants up so that horses can go up it.

Here's Katie McLean, checking out the view.

She is one of the girls I'm going to go to Ireland with at the end of the trip. (As of today--just bought that ticket.)

This past weekend, we went to Granada, which is a very cool place. It's south of Sevilla, but look at this picture:

That's right, snow, coldness. I guess it just has a higher elevation than Sevilla. I should have brought my skis.

When we got there, we had an hour or two to eat. Liz and I walked across the street to Corte Ingles and bought cereal and milk and vodka for lunch. Just kidding, Mom. The vodka wasn't for lunch.

We toured the Alhambra, a moorish castle and fortress. It was huge and beautiful.

It had a nice view of Granada.

Then we hiked up another area to watch the sun set.

There was a band playing, and lots of people.

After the sun set, the moon rose behind us, resting over the rooftops.

The next day, we woke up to the most wonderful breakfast buffet. We all stuffed ourselves with cheese and cold cuts and cereal and toast and pastries and eggs, etc etc.

We then saw the cathedral in Granada, where Ferdinand and Isabella are buried.

Here's a restaurant in Granada:

Then, we drove to Almería for more sightseeing.

The Alcazaba is an old fortress that was partly destroyed by an earthquake in 1522. When the city was attacked, all of the people would go behind the walls of the stronghold. The streets from the ocean to the citadel were winding, difficult to navigate, and with dead ends, like a labyrinth. Our guide told us that when the enemy finally got up to the walls, the soldiers would through down excrement and burning oil and other pleasant things to deter them.

Sloppy

Much better.