Mission area, revisited

It's been 12 years since I returned from my mission to so Spain.  In many ways it's hard for me to believe that so much time has passed by.  We started out in Malaga, a place where I labored for 7 months and made some of my dearest friends.  Going back, brought back a lot of happy and painful memories.  I'm so glad I went on a mission but really would never want to repeat the experience.

 We stayed at hotel Barcelo, which was inexpensive and surprisingly stylish.

A demonstration by one of Europe's finest comforts

This little hang out spot in the hotel's lobby deserved a special kind of shot.

 The best thing about this hotel is the slide that takes you from the second floor to the first.  We totally love slides and took full advantage.

 Old town

 At the Picasso museum.  Little Pablo was born and raised in Malaga.  The museum had many of his lesser known works.

From Malaga, we were off to Granada which is one of my favorite towns in Spain.  The city is in the Sierra Nevada mountains and is stunningly beautiful.

We stayed at the Casa 1800 hotel which is located in a beautiful 16th century building.

Think bleached white houses with tiled roofs and wrought iron accompaniments

One of Europe's downfalls in the pathetically small drink sizes people are forced to deal with.  First, it's small drinks then it's revolution, I say.

Citrus trees are found all over Andalucia, love that

The Alhambra, the last bastion of the Moors in Spain.  Another wonder of the world, I believe.

We walked up to the Alhambra at night.  It was a really surreal hike that kinda felt like Narnia.  Walking up this hill surrounded by forest, the trickling sound of the aqua ducts that surround the path and the faint light emitted by lampposts.  Below are more pics of the Alhambra.

The Moors created tons of fountains within the Alhambra.  It was amazing to me that they did this using water pressure and primitive plumbing!

Steam vents at the public sauna and bathhouse.

Next stop: Ronda, Sevilla