Granada and Madrid in One

I was so surprised...we are exhausted. (Uhh, were exhausted. I started this post our last night in Madrid...haha)

I left off last time with us thinking about going out and seeing the cathedral in Granada, and, well, it didn't happen. I'm pretty sure we both had food poisoning--Malaga strikes again!--so we spent most of our first day in Granada in the hotel room reading. It was actually a very nice day, considering. Haha

The next day, we were scheduled to see the Alhambra in the morning, so we sucked it up and went. And it was awesome! The palaces were so ornate, with such detail in everything---it was gorgeous. We loved it. But our feet were dragging a bit by the end of a tour through the Generalife--the royal gardens--and it already had been a few hours.

Isn't it beautiful?

Such intricate detail--I'm obsessed!

So, after a siesta, we decided to check out the Parque de Ciencias (Science Park) and were thoroughly disappointed. It looked really cool and interactive and fun, but it was pretty much none of those. OK City's science museum was way better! So, hot and tired and disappointed, we trudged back to our hotel, after stopping for dinner--delicious bocadillos! Bocadillo is just the Spanish word for sandwich, and I became enamored with them. The meat and bread are just so yummy!

The next day, we were off for Madrid, and our final two days in Spain! We were excited, but also very, very tired. And kind of ready to be back in the States. After a confusing and stressful, final, four-hour drive, returning the rental car, and checking into our final hotel, we spent the first early evening in our hotel room and in Torrejón getting dinner. My stomach still wasn't feeling quite right, and we weren't sure we wanted to wander around hot, populated Madrid quite yet. So we rested for one more night and checked out the local areas around our hotel instead.

The next morning, we took the train over to Madrid and wandered around a bit. We found a cool marketplace that reminded me a little of the kasbah--only more modern and big-city-setup. It was pretty cool. But we were on our way to the Royal Palace, and we were on a mission. Also, it was really hot outside in the middle of the city. So we kept walking all the way down to the palace, stopping by the Royal Cathedral before, and admiring the colorful paintings all around the huge, vaulted ceilings and walls. I'm personally a bigger fan of the Gothic and Baroque styles, but the sleeker, more modern look inside a simple cathedral exterior was really perfect for the feel of Madrid.

After the Cathedral, we finally visited the Royal Palace, which turned out to be really awesome! I wasn't terribly excited for it, but I am so glad we went. There were just so many cool details, and fresco paintings and painted ceilings and really old furniture and floors and silver and sculptures and, finally, the armory, where there were endless rows of armor. Royal armor, common armor, 14th century, 15th century, horse armor, little prince armor, helms, breastplates, gauntlets, swords, crossbows, rifles, spears. Everything. It was so cool. We loved it.

Finally, we ended with some delicious montaditos--another Spanish word for sandwiches...And got some inspiration for a possible future venture. Russ really wants to start up a deli or something, and maybe a montadito shop with tiny sandwiches is just the thing. We'll see what happens. :]

Anyway, we finished off our final day in Spain with tapas--my favorite croquettes and chicken skewers--and a pitcher of sangria, of course. It was amazing.


Then, after a stressful time getting back to the airport the next (very early) morning--turns out the buses didn't start up in our area until 7--we got on the plane and made it home!

And thus ended a wonderful, amazing, so-fun honeymoon. I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

Cheers!