Spanish Vacation Pt III- Granada

We ventured about 1 1/2 hours Northwest into the area around Granada, Andalucia on the 10th day of our vacation. It was also my birthday.  John got me a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  It was delicious.  He also is going to take me on a hot air balloon ride for my birthday. 

Here is a overview of Granada:

  

We ended up staying in a nice hostel near one of the squares.  We got to explore the city quite a lot. Granada is built on a hill, so there were lots of small twisty roads to explore.  The cathedral where Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand (those are the folks who financed Columbus's expedition) are buried is huge. This is one where you can see some of the intricate carving:

  

You can also get some tasty ice cream nearby after exploring the city:  

here's a view of one of the streets near our hostel:

Part of the old defense wall survives.  Here is an arch from that wall:

  

We went to the famous Alhambra for a night time tour.  The Alhambra is a very old fortress built by a muslim ruler and then taken over by christian rulers.  It had very intricate carvings and was very beautiful.  

Here is a picture of Alhambra from a hill next to the complex:

It was dark, so the pictures didn't turn out that great.  On the left is a picture of the palace of Carlos V.  On the right is a close up of some of the carvings.

    

Here is a "ghost".  Kinda looks like John ;)

  

Our vacation ended on a very disturbing note.  We had about a 1/2 hour to kill before we had to get to the airport in Malaga.  We decided to go to a nearby beach and enjoy the sun. We got back in the car and drove to the airport.  I opened the trunk and discovered that our luggage and John's computer were stolen. They must have been hungry thieves since they also stole the remainder of my cake. We can replace the clothes and phone that was stolen, but not our pictures.  We were really bummed that our pictures were taken.  Luckily John had our passports in his pocket.  I also took my phone and wallet with me, so the thieves didn't get that stuff.  We got on the plane with moments to spare after dealing with the very uncooperative spanish police and made our way back to amsterdam.  

here's a view of the beach: