Eating at Abeula´s house

We found this fan in the Alhambra gardens...at least a 15 euro value!

Hola...

The tourist version of Granada is limited to a few big things: the biggest is the Alhambra palace, of which I will write more later. Also, there is the Albayzin, the best preserved Moorish quarter in Spain. It´s full of winding, cobbled streets, little whitewashed homes and buildings, morning glorys growing in mats over the stone walls, and crazy little red buses that go like mad through the tiny lanes. Not exactly clear on the bus system, we walked last night through the quarter, trying to find a little square that we´d read about in Rick that promised locals hanging out: grandmas gossiping, kids playing soccer, and great food. After some amount of confusion and stumbling up hills in the early evening heat, we managed to find the plaza we were looking for. Sometimes during a trip like this reality falls far short of what you´ve been imagining, often it´s even better, and sometimes, like last night, it´s just exactly right.

We sat down at the outside table of a little restaraunt whose sign promised sangria and gazpacho, our new favorite thing, and were greeted warmly by an older woman. As we ordered (the two things already mentioned, plus arroz con pollo and papas a la pobre), it became clear that her two little granddaughters were playing in the square right in front of us, being watched quite lovingly by their older brother. The food took a long time (I saw her go and get the raw potatoes for our potato dish), so we had ample time to soak in the atmosphere. It was quite a lovely evening.

Alas, there are no pictures from Abuela´s restaurant, but I´m attaching some photos we took at the Alhambra today. (oops...this computer only let me attach one!) It is a truly amazing place....a beautiful, highly decorated Moorish palace, but the gardens were my favorite part. They are huge, full of lovely plants, but best of all was the water....wherever you go you can hear it, burbling, trickling, and sometimes even roaring down little waterfalls.

Madrid mañana...

E