Los Tíos

About two weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing my aunt and uncle here in Spain!  I was really excited to see them and meet up with them in Granada because this was the first time I got to show off Granada and Baza to somebody.

The guests of honor!

I met up with them on a Sunday, got breakfast in Plaza Bib-Rambla and then we carried on exploring the streets of Granada all day.  I showed them the important streets and plazas as well as some lesser known gems.  It was great to calmly walk around the city while chatting and catching up, all day long.

We made our way up into the Albaicín and Sacromonte, exploring areas that I had never been to either!  We just kept climbing up and up, seeing lots of cave houses and other houses covered in blue decorative plates.  The further we went, the better the view was of the Alhambra.

Oh, you know.  Just a Sunday afternoon
procession.

We stumbled upon adventure after adventure.  As we climbed up into the Sacromonte, there was a woman inviting people in to see her cave house.  I figured it would be a good opportunity for them to see.  I warned them that we would probably just have to leave a tip or something on our way out.  Well, while we were in there we saw no tip jar, but she was pretty much forcing us to buy a drink from her.  She offered us water, beer, soda, wine, etc...  As we kept refusing, she pushed even harder.  So finally I gave in and said yes.  She charged us two euros each for the water, but then she took a picture of us.

Later, after we had made it back down into the city center, we ended up randomly stumbling upon a religious procession.  They had a band playing music and everything.  It turns out that they had to shut down the bus service to the center of the city for this little procession, making it very difficult for me to get back to the bus station in time to catch the last bus back to Baza.  No worries though, I made it back just fine.

Then we went our separate ways for the week.  I went back to Baza to work and they took off to Sevilla and Ronda, two other really nice cities in Andalucia.

The lions are back!!  (After a three year absence)

My aunt and I at the Alhambra

I met up with them again on Friday afternoon and we toured the Alhambra.  I know I had seen it before, but it is still amazing the second time and I am sure it still will be the time after that...  After all of that sightseeing, walking and watching the sunset from the Mirador de San Nicolas, we had to go recouperate and end our night with churros con chocolate.

Alhambra at sunset

The next day, we got a rental car and took off towards the coast.  We went to Nerja, Granada which is a beautiful beach city with white washed houses.  It was a little strange because I think there were more English and German people there than Spanish people.  We still had a good time, enjoyed the sights, the beach, the nice weather and ate a huge, delicious seafood paella.  Somehow between the three of us we devoured the whole thing.

La playa 

After lunch, we took the very scenic route back to Baza, where I showed them a few of our favorite tapas bars.  I had a great time showing them around Baza the next day.  I had never shown it off to anybody before, so I was a little nervous, but I think they enjoyed it!  I showed them the important sites like the Plaza Mayor, the Baños Árabes, the cool fountains and the ghetto Plaza de Toros.  We ended our day by driving towards the Embalse de Negratín, which is a gorgeous lake about 25 minutes away from the city.  Unfortunately we had some problems with the rental car and had to cut that trip short.

SEAFOOD PAELLA!

Overall I had a really great time showing them around and having their company!  I have been so lucky to have a couple of visitors and this means the world to me.  Seeing familiar faces really gives me that extra something that I need to keep me going until the end.

Thank you auntie Sue and Donal for coming to visit me!  I had an amazing time and I hope you enjoyed your trip!!!