After our 4 days in Barcelona, we were ready to leave the big cities. While we very much enjoyed the sights and food there, our busy days were starting to catch up with us. So, we hopped on a plane to Granada, a smaller city nestled near the Sierra Nevada mountains in the south of Spain. As we flew in, all you could for miles were olive groves. We arrived in the heat of the late afternoon and immediately noticed the increased intensity of the sun, but the heat was far less humid than Barcelona.
After a quick siesta, we set out to soak in the atmosphere of this very different place. At 7:00pm as we set out on our walk, it was 37 degrees. Yikes! As the sun started to set, the temperatures eased to a very comfortable 27. This part of Spain was settled by the Moorish people (Muslim North Africans) for centuries. The city felt very Moroccan, with narrow cobbled streets, tiny markets selling spices, and tapas bars galore. Families and children wandered the narrow streets and sat out enjoying ice cream and sangria till late into the evening. It was a picture perfect scene walking around as the sun set. We had dinner at a Moroccan restaurant and ate far too much...mint lemonade, skewered meat, hummous, bread, olives, and a lemon-olive chicken tagine. Dessert was Moroccan sweets with honey and pistachios, followed by Morrocan mint tea. Awesome!