Tell Me Moor Tell Me Moor

As much as we enjoyed Malaga, for the second leg of our Spain trip, Dave and I ventured through and around the city trying to leave. We trekked to a few rental car shops to compare prices only to end up booking our car at a random no-name place. So with our fingers crossed we hoped the insurance was legitimate and headed out to find our car which was parked literally on a street somewhere - we just had to look for the license plate in order to find it. We asked a guy on the next street for help with the car map, and he grabbed the keys to check out the license plate on the tag. While mid-thought of "he's trying to steal our keys!" he explained that he actually worked for the rental place and was on his way there. Turned out that our car was randomly, and luckily parked in a spot right near us.

After Dave got himself adjusted to our compact vehicle (props to the man - driving on the opposite side of the road, while sitting in the opposite side of the car, driving stick which he hadn't done in years, with the stick on the opposite side of his body), we promptly got stuck in traffic. You see, Malaga is in the running for the European Capital of Culture in 2016 so there's construction everywhere, which meant the GPS was of little help.

We eventually reached the highway to Granada, though the driving issues didn't end there. After missing our exit and turning around, upon entering the city we were completely baffled as to where the hotel was. We stopped off at a bakery where I had a ten minute conversation in Spanish with the manager (mostly saying "not ____" and "not ____" if I didn't know the word - process of elimination did actually work.) He called the hotel for directions which got us in the vicinity but didn't land us directly there. The street we thought we had to turn onto had a sign with a big red prohibited line, in addition to it being a tiny cobblestone street which we didn't even think our small car could fit down. We found a local garage (there is no street parking in Granada) with what seemed like an 80 degree angled twisty entrance and parked temporarily. We resorted to asking other hotels where ours was, and if we could even park in their garages (answer: a confused look followed by "No.") We finally found our hotel that confirmed we were to drive down that tiny "do not enter" street and into their 80 degree angled twisty entrance garage. The driving there made us nervous wrecks so we decided to extend our stay in Granada from one to two nights which I'm thankful we did.

We made it to the hotel just in time to hop on the small bus that took us up the mountains to The Alhambra. The easiest way for me to explain The Alhambra is that it's a Moorish palace/fortress/garden/small city that overlooks all of Granada. The first area that visitors walk around is called Generalife (pictured below.)

I'm obsessed with the views of the white houses on hills

The below pic is slightly reminiscent of this photo taken in Bath(Dammit, I never posted the photo I'm talking about, but a Bath recap is always nice.)

Little pink white houses for you and me

I can't believe we managed to capture these photos with no one else in themI swear we didn't carve this into the tree

The Alhambra and it's views were beautiful. The pictures of the detailing in the palace simply don't do it justice. This is a must to visit if you're ever in Southern Spain.

Another reason one should visit is Granada is for the FREE tapas! Every time you order a drink in this city, the restaurant brings you a small free plate of food. We knew that beforehand because we had inside information, but had we not, we probably would have blown an unnecessary amount of money on dinner. Instead, we spent a small amount of money on cheap drinks and filled our stomachs up on a lovely street of restaurants near our hotel.

I still don't know what the first tapa(s?) that came out was exactly. According to this website, perhaps it's a type of Montadito? It appeared to be a pate-like mush full of flavor on bread...I'll leave you to ponder that image for yourself, but it was quite tasty (in a good way.) Oh, I also removed the fried egg that came on top of it if that helps for identification purposes.

The second tapa(s?) was sausage on bread with a side of these tasty bean-type things that looked like mutant corn kernels. I saw the mutant corn-kernel bean things in a jar in the supermarket but couldn't decipher what they were. Ana - any help here would be greatly appreciated.

Third up were little franks in some sauce. Dave told me they were likely from a can but I'd like to think they weren't (although...how else would they come?)

We switched bars for the fourth drink and luckily didn't receive a repeat plate. At this place we received chicken croquettes with fries. I'd had this in Malaga and it was one of my favorites.

On our way back to the hotel we spotted a cozy tapas bar on that tiny cobblestone street where we were staying. One of the coolest things about Granada is that you would never know it until the evening, but there are charming little tapas bars that open up on practically every street. I think we fared best at this place - we were first given Spanish prosciutto (name?) on bread with a side of olives, and for round 2, a hard cheese with honey and dried cranberries on top.

Yum...cheese and honey tapasOh wine what you do to me

You would think that all of that wine would have made me sick. Well, it did! The next day we ventured out to grab food but I was feeling nauseous and had to head back to the hotel before truly starting our day. With me still feeling about 38%, we booked a bus tour around the city as I couldn't physically handle much more than that (let it be stated that I think I had a virus or fever and not just a hangover - there were chills and sweats involved.)

Our first stop was actually The Alhambra again. We drove up a different way which gave us another batch of beautiful mountainside views. I also don't understand how a bus that big physically made it up the side of the mountain but that's another story.

We passed the bull ring on the tour as well. Unfortunately no fights were happening when we were in town. I would have loved to seen one, but at least we watched some on TV during the trip - they were quite entertaining, though disgusting at the same time.

I don't know why this sticker was posted to this sign but I like it

After most of the journey, we exited the bus and walked around the area by the main church. I made friends with an ice cream cone that looked like a cartoon dog.

We roamed around for the rest of the day and accidentally stumbled upon multiple fountains at night.

Yay, we love fountains

I'm wondering if I'll finish posting about my trip to Spain by the time I go to England for the holidays. Part three to follow.

The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly on the Plain

Am I late on the bandwagon with this? PLEASE watch the funniest video I have ever seen (thanks Meghan!)

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

At the end of September, Dave and I rendezvoused in Spain (he was in the UK handing in his thesis so we met in Europe for a vacation.) The trip was booked based on the fact that we were offered free accommodation near San Javier, but more on that later.

On a Saturday morning I arrived in Malaga in southern Spain.

(Malaga's at the Bottom)

After getting off the train, there was construction going on and I was in the middle of a major intersection clueless as to where to go in the heat with my large suitcase. I hesitantly tested out my Espanol with the closest ice cream vendor to ask for help in locating the hotel. She gave me a map and pointed in a direction, which led me to a large tourist map down the block. After studying the map for about 15 minutes, I figured I'd take a guess at a direction (1 in 4 were okay odds in my opinion.) In taking off, I moved two feet to the right of the map, looked up and there was the hotel...typical.

The "riverbed" next to our hotel

As Dave's flight wasn't getting in until the evening, I thought I'd have a wander (and after all, Spain's largest department store was only a block away.) Starvation set in and I walked aimlessly for a few hours trying to find a shop that was open (thanks siesta) or a bar that didn't have only men in it. I ended up buying a plain roll and a lemon jelly-flavored, unappetizing biscuit from a supermarket (a first of many not-dinner dinners to come.) I had no idea where I was, could not find it on the map, and eventually had to backtrack until I made it safely back to the hotel.

While waiting for Dave, I decided to brush up on my Spanish by watching dubbed Sex and the City and Gossip Girl (also giving me flashbacks of watching Dawson's Creek and Guiding Light in Italian while studying abroad.) It hit the 11 pm point and Dave still hadn't arrived, which got me freaking out - if I hadn't been able to find the hotel (and I speak some Spanish), then I figured he was probably lost. After confirming with the front desk that the area was safe (especially the case on a Saturday night), I ventured out to look for Dave. Oh, and by the way, ten feet out of the hotel I got harassed by a scary old man (thanks NH Malaga staff.) I darted until I was out of his eyesight and circled the deserted area of the train station completely baffled as to where Dave was. I even went into the empty station, only to find a lone security guard questioning what I was doing there. I had an excellent conversation in Spanish in which she confirmed that there was one more train arriving at 11:45 pm. I went back to the hotel to check Dave's flight status and the Aer Lingus site said it was delayed until the morning, but I was all dressed up to go out (and of course I was worried...) so I was not accepting that as an answer. I checked the airport site that confirmed his flight had been delayed, but only by two hours, and was landing any minute. I went upstairs to grab my trash magazine (so thankful they carry the UK mags in the Madrid airport), seated myself down in the lobby and thankfully Dave walked in soon after.

We then went out in the historic center to get some food (at which point I realized that I had been wandering around lost all day in an outer random area of the city.) No one would serve food at that time though, so we ended up in a main square facing the church...at Cheers. We had one drink before they closed and headed back.

The next morning we went on a great bike tour that took us throughout the city. Each of our bikes had a name.

Me

Dave

One stop we made was to the square near Picasso's birthplace. There were too many tourists for a photo op with Pablo's statue so we posed together instead.

Everyone else was wearing a helmet...

We rode through the main park that was parallel to the beach. If I remember the story correctly, the man who built up the park brought plants from all over the world. They were quite the beauty (and quite ginormous.)
We also rode on the actual beach and stopped at a seaside bar. On the southern coast of Spain they cook Sardines on the beach which we had the delight of trying.

Pre-feast

Loving the guts

This is our tour group - you can find us in the GCute street we rode through - the guy at the end posing was a bonus.

Picasso was born in Malaga. Ironically my face is shaped like something from one of his paintings in this photo.

His childhood home is now a small museum. According to our tour guide, most people think that his art in Malaga is the "lesser" of the lot. You can judge for yourself -

In the afternoon post-tour we headed to a recommended tapas bar called Lo Gueno. Not being too daring, we had plates of paella, sausage, chicken croquettes, potatoes, and rabbit amongst other things. As this was a mid-afternoon meal, we ended up eating bizarre dinner #2 which of course was ice cream.

We meandered around the main street for the remainder of the evening.Our stay in Malaga ended with the hotel buffet breakfast. Mine included an amazing piece of chocolate cake. Hey, if the hotel wants to offer that for breakfast, who am I to reject such an offer??

Spain trip part dos to follow.

Also, for a deafening rendition of the blog post title, please refer to the PS 115 My Fair Lady sixth grade school play VHS where I completely butchered it (I was sick, okay??)

Never Thought I'd Be On A Boat

Dave and I went to Ohio last weekend to visit Zoe and Hal. On Friday night we went out to dinner in Columbus and got the local tour, mainly of Buckeye themed places and things. These fans are crazy - not only do people own school buses painted with the team's colors, and giant inflated football players rise high over gas stations, but the stadium actually has football players in stained glass windows. Dave was so inspired by the support that he bought a Wisconsin Badgers mug at the airport as a souvenir.

That evening our hosts took us to Graeters ice cream shop. During the day you can watch the staff make ice cream, though we were there too late for that. We were not too late to take pictures in the ice cream playroom though!

Banana split see saw - perhaps my most favorite photo ever?

I can't even remember what flavor I got because the pretzel cone was so delicious.

The next day we drove two hours to Sandusky where their boat is docked in the marina. Dave got a nice American dose of barns and cornfields on the way. There were tons of churches on the drive, some with quirky messages. The hands-down favorite was "Come to my house before the big game on Sunday" - God.

Hanging out on the boat

It was windy and freezing and the waves were crazy on Saturday (thanks Earl) so we stayed on the boat and drank and grilled. I introduced everyone to Uno and I got whooped in Scrabble.

The "kitchen"Our "bedroom"

Peekaboo

The next day, the water was still super choppy, so we got a ride on a neighbor's boat to Put in Bay. Before leaving the marina, we stopped at the gas station for boats, as well as the pump out station. You can probably figure out what that's for. The smell was wretched.

Leaving the marina, holding our breathCedar Point was across the way from us. We didn't go because it was so cold out, but frankly, I was crapping my pants just looking at those roller coasters.The boat was going 35 mph but it felt a lot faster. I'm quite surprised one of us didn't fly off the back.I wasn't kidding when I said we were going fast, my hair was uncontrollable.Calmer waters

The guy who gave us a ride offered to make us Bloody Marys. I'd never had one so I asked him to please keep it down on the spice. Not only did my drink have Cajun spices around the rim, but I took a bite out of the pickle in it and I actually choked because it had soaked in all the spice from the drink. Zoe had declined one so he made her a ridiculous drink:

Melted Kahlua flavored chocolate around the rim of the martini glass
1 shot Godiva liquor
1 shot Godiva vanilla liquor
1 shot vanilla vodka
Espresso liquor
Peanut butter
Shake it up with ice and pour
Grate Ghirardelli chocolate on top
When he realized his peanut butter cup had melted, he put a strawberry with whipped cream on the glass instead.

The taste I had of this drink was insanely good. Never have I ever regretted my Bloody Mary decision so much.

The amazing drink

We ate the "Best Lobster Bisque in Ohio" TM. The restaurant is only 676 miles from NY so I can easily get some bisque whenever I want.

In Put In Bay, most people drive golf carts.

As you can see, we rented one.

Then Zoe smacked her head on it so Hal bought her frozen peas to ease the pain. This doesn't compare to the most memorable head smack of all time - Erica C. at the Excalibur...

Us: It's okay to cry.

Erica: (thinks about it) Okay WAHHHHHHH!

You can also rent these weird bug-like cars. I took took this photo while riding on the back of our golf cart.Since our ride was docking overnight at Put in Bay we took the ferry back.

Check out the sunset. Finally one of my camera settings worked.Sitting on the dock of the bay (well, close to it.)After coming back to beautiful Sandusky (yes, that's sarcastic) we went to Goofy Golf. This is Dave "in" the crane machine.Mini golf

In a castle!

After golf we went to Sonic. I had no idea that they brought food out to your car on roller skates, it was so cool! Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of it.

The other exciting thing that happened this weekend was that we saw an Amish family! I'm talking full blown Amish style beards and bonnets. But they were staying on a boat so I was kind of confused.

Also, Dave smelt his first skunk (the animal, not the Camden favorite.) I enjoy the occasional Pepe Le Pew spray myself, don't judge.

Kappelmen controlling the boat

Bye bye Ohio!