Day 9: The Alhambra and YOLO

We began our day in Granada with the fabulous and large Alhambra. The Alhambra is an old Muslim palace and fort in the middle of the city. And it's very old. That's your history lesson for the day.

We actually spent a good amount of time walking around the complex and I'm very glad I took my mom's advice and we got tickets in advance because it was crowded! You've heard me expound on the intricate details in the molding and tiles and well, the Alhambra was no different. I seriously cannot get enough of this stuff (so I took lots of pictures)!

Looking at the Palaces from the gardens, the details! and a lovely fountain in the garden

The garden was a beauty

I love the star shaped holes that brough light into the bath houses, Eric inside the Palace of Carlos V, and me with the flags

The Barracks of the Alcazar, looking from the Alcazar to the palaces, Eric and Carissa at one of the gates

Hope you don't mind, we may have converted into little Muslim men, a view of the town, playing with the windows

Stained glass--this was a good find by Eric, and looking into a courtyard

Inside the intricate rooms, a fountain in another courtyard

Lovely courtyard, I love the columns!

Panorama of Grenada from the Alhambra

After that we hit the road to do some scenic drives on our way to the apartment we're staying at this evening that's just outside Cartegena. Our scenic route added 3 hours to the drive but was totally worth it! When else am I going to feel like I'm going to die because Eric is whipping around curves on a mountain thats 2000m high? YOLO.

Pics from the top(ish)

After the mountain pass (which makes me think of LotR), we took the coastal scenic route. There was still a lot of whipping around curves but now we would plunge into the ocean instead of 2000m down the mountainside. At one point Carissa turns around to say something and I have tears in my eyes about to spill over and she thinks it's because of Eric's driving... In actuality it's because I was reading a book that was sad.

Gorgeous ocean views at Cabo de Gata!

However, I did hit my head pretty hard when we went over a speed bump at seriously 50 mph (SERIOUSLY). Eric was distracted looking at what he thought was a pyramid (don't ask questions) and Carissa sees it coming and is like "Brace yourself!" and bam! Over the speed bump we go and I leave the seat and actually hit my head (yes, hit my head! and I was wearing my seat belt!) on the ceiling of the car. That's a good 5 inches. So in a nut shell, that was our drive.

Somehow, we made it to the apartment and it has a fantastic view of the ocean and now we can all relax. It's the opposite of our Granada apartment which was, how shall I put it, a little sketchy. Then Eric cooked us dinner as he downed three beers--apparently living life on the edge (literally) makes you thirsty.

Our view for the night :)

Here's hoping that Carissa drives tomorrow to Valencia where we will return the rental car and catch the ferry to Ibiza!!!