Farewell to Spain

We checked out of our B&B this morning and headed to Madrid.

As we were leaving Granada, we spotted a large shopping area: DIY store, home store, etc. One of the things I had been looking for was a wall hanging planter. I had seen some when we were hiking in the Catalan area but didn´t want to carry it in my backpack so figured I would find one once we got the rental car. Nope! Looked and looked. We decided to make one final attempt so Kim exited the äutovia and turned around to go back. We had no luck in the DIY store but in the very back of the home store there was a "jardin" area and Eureka! I found some! 

Not only were they the painted clay pots made in Spain, but one even has the blue and green pomegranate design which is unique to Granada. Everywhere you go in Granada, you see the pomegranate: in drawings and paintings; on signs, pottery; as statues, fountains and imbedded into the pavement and roads. The pomegranate or Punica granatum, is "granada" in Spanish and the official symbol of the city. All the street signs have a painting of the fruit on the top of them. It´s even on the sewer manhole covers. 😂 Once you start looking, you´ll find them everywhere.

Kim was kind enough to say I could have both designs. They were super cheap compared to buying ceramics from the souvenir shops in the city centre. It´s just getting them home that´s the issue.

Once we got back onto the autovia, it was miles and miles, kilometers and kilometers, of olive groves.   I´m talking 400+ kilometers of olive groves. 

The hills were covered with them as far as the eye could see. 

I asked the B&B owner how they were harvested - by hand or machine. She said they lay down a tarp and whack the trees with a branch knocking them out and then pick them up. I say that´s a lot of whacking and figure there has to be some machinery involved for this many trees.

These bull silhouettes are all along the road.

This was only the second mariachi silhouette I saw.

Arrived Madrid

We walked down to the shopping area to find dinner. It was a huge mall and they were having a mini chef school (decorating alphabet cookies). I wish I could upload the video because he is hilarious but here´s a pic anyway.

We shared an Oktoberfest dinner. Did I mention how hungry we are for mexican food, a real steak, catfish????

We highlighted our route on the map. You´ll have to zoom in to see it.

It´s been a remarkable journey in many ways. I´m always reminded of the omnipotence and omnipresence of our God more than ever when we travel. His creation is indescribable and His presence is felt at every turn. He has watched over and cared for us even when I made silly, and sometimes frightening, mistakes like leaving my purse with our passports and Kim´s international driving license, in a restaurant. Someone turned it in with everything intact, for us to claim over an hour later. Praise God!   

It´s a joy to share it all with you even though I know the pictures don´t begin to reveal the true beauty. It´s even more of a joy to see your comments every morning when I wake up. It´s the perfect start to my day and makes us feel connected to home even from so far away.

We´ve met the most interesting people along the way and hope we´ve shared the joy of having Christ in our hearts. The woman who cooked us the Portuguese feast lives in a beautiful village and loves cooking for others. They have quite the catering business and location in the midst of all the vineyards in the Douro Vally, yet her desire is to move to America with her son. They are Trump supporters and have, I believe, a very idealized view of America, talking about how corrupt their government is. Little do they know about ours, and even less do we know about theirs. What seems like an ideal way of life on the outside must be much less in reality.

Some trip stats:

miles walked: 103.39

steps: 223,394

floors climbed: 605 (10´ elevation gain is a floor, so 6,050´ gained in elevation)

miles driven: 2,350

hours driving: 45.25

average speed: 52 mph

longest day driving: 8 1/2 hours and 481 miles

best meal: pesto pasta on my birthday - how serendipitous

bread eaten: TOO MUCH!!!

adios (goodbye) hasta la proxima (until next time)