Let me entertain you... once again...

With Granada in sight, we packed up “Boombox” ( Maria ven aqui’s car) and hit the road. We tried to sneak a souvenir, but the car was a little too full. This is Berta/the cutest Spanish bebe. She really helped Bops and Cops out with their Spanish. She speaks more on their level. Si, No, Hola. Gracias.

 

Granada!!! We had no idea how much this city was going to rock our world! We got checked into our room.  We were a little hesitant picking another hotel on the internet, ( please see blog “Some old and then some new tricks”) but Hotel Jeronimo was a giant leap. IT HAD INTERNET!! AND FREE BREAKFAST!! AND AIR CONDITIONING!! AND A SHOWER CURTAIN!! We were thrilled kitsos. We didn’t spend much time in the room, there was too much to see and do and too little time.

We did some sightseeing, a little souvenier shopping (see fancy fan in pictures), and listening to local musicians on the street. This place has such a New Orleans feel. We fell in love immediately. But our tummies started to grumble. So Bops and Cops said “Let’s find a resturant and have some lunch!” Maria vena qui responded “ No, no, no! Here in Granada you get a beer and a free tapa… then you move on to the next tapa’s place.” Nice! Let’s go TAPAS HOPPIN! We were really hungry so we had to have four or five beers to get enough lunch. It was delicious and good thing we were full kitsos because did we have an uphill climb to La Alhambra. We thought the Parthenon was on top of a mountain. HA! 

Tapa's Hoppin

Tapa's Hoppin

 By the way. Cops came up with the sign of the kitsos. And the kitos love to Tapa Hop and sip on some Cava! okay... on to the La Alhambra!!! Did you do your research? Cause if you didn't you will have to still do that. We are only providing pictures and they will not be able to do this place the justice that it deserves.... Seriously one of the most breathtaking spaces we have every been in. Even when it is over 40 degrees celsius. Again if you want that in Fahrenheit do the research. But just know, it's HOT. REALLY REALLY HOT.  Now it's picture story time...

Bops bought the fan and everyone was jellybeans. We contemplated the hats. It wasn't in the budget.

Us just being artsy fartsy.

Starting the climb...

Inspiration started flowin in the cave of one of the palaces. A little art project is coming your way... patience. This is just a preview.

If you look closely you will see headless statues. We created a story about why the statues were headless. It involved a fan and an angry Charles V. We told this story to other tourist passing by for 1 euro. The pot was a little empty. We needed some easy cash. If you don't know who Charles V is and his relationship to La Alhambra, shame on you. Do your research.

Signs of a heat stroke. Not glamor shots.

Signs of a heat stroke. Not a glamor shot.

Signs of a heat stroke. Not a glamor shot.

We can not explain the heat index. We were literally putting our feet/other body parts in the fountains. It was becoming extremely hard to stay hydrated. But we pushed forward. Not letting the heat get us down.

See? We are not even sweating!

Bops had enough of the heat. Wasn't thinking straight. Tried to jump out of the tiny window.

A view of La Alhambra. This  picture is taken from one of the gardens.

We decided we would document the graffiti artwork. It seems to be important in each city that we have visited. Again, we got a little artsy fartsy/dramatic.

After a long day of sightseeing, we stuck close to the hotel and had dinner on the rooftop. It wasn't a bad view. We had a beautiful monestary right across the street. You know us kitsos like to stick close to the monestaries. See above description of Kitsos if you forgot.

It was hard to leave Granada, but we were excited to head to our next destination Zahara de los Atunes. (tha-hara day los ah-tun-nes) Try to say that as fast as you can three times. Cops still can't say it once, slow. We were ready for some rest and relaxation. But Zahara de los Atunes had other plans. Maria ven aqui has a great friend Iosu ( Yo-sue). He just got back from India and is now working at the resturaunt, Los Suenos, which happens to be right on the beach overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. 

Los Suenos

You can literally see Africa. Not joking. Got the pics to prove it.

See Africa.

We got there just in time to grab burgers and head to the beach for the sunset. We had a nice fancy 7 euro mojito to wash down the delicious meal.

The picture does not do it justice. We were literally at the southern end of Spain. It was like being at the end of the world. Pretty incredible. It also made us feel a little creative. I don't know if it was Janis singing "Bobby McGee" or the 7 euro mojito but something just inspired Bops and Cops. 

This is where the night gets interesting. Bops and Cops are thinking time to get some Z's but we forgot we are on Spanish time. Iosu (Yo-sue) headed over to tell us the plan. Shower, Dinner, go to first bar, then second bar on the beach. What? Que? It's already 11pm. Okay. Twist our arm. But we're not showering. We knew it was going to be a good night when we parked the car and ran into these two!

No caption needed. We had a blast. Iosu plays the viola with a local band and so we danced and met some really great people. We also were given a Spanish lesson when a popular song came on.... You may know this song. We fell in love immediately. Please take a look. (Click on the word "look")




Well the time flew by and before we knew it, the clock struck 5am. These kitsos started turnin into pumpkins. The next morning we rallied. Woke up. Ate our tostadas con mantequilla y mermelada and our cafe con leche, we went to the beach which ended up a sandstorm, and ate an awesome lunch at Los Suenos. Things were great! We watched the sunset, had a mojito, and called it an early night.

But sometimes kitsos don't always land on their feet. Thrusday morning arrived, along with food posioning or a bug. Bops had a night of restless sleep full of anxiety and Cops woke up on the wrong side of the bed with a touch of nauseua. Well that touch turned into a nightmare. Poor Maria ven aqui. We had to be out of the hotel and on the road to meet Jesus ( Maria's beau) in Sevilla for a day of sightseeing. Bops tried to rally and went with Maria ven aqui to grab a tostada and cafe con leche. Cops stayed in the room and tried to survive. You could say that this car trip was less picturesque than the others. We loaded up, threw Cops in the back with a plastic bag and some Aquarius (equivalent to gatorade). There are not a lot of pictures to document the next leg of our trip but the ones we have will give you an idea. After a LOOOOOOOOOOONG three hrs of Cops yakking and Bops ignoring the queezy stomach that was threatening to make her #2 kitsos with a plastic bag, we picked up Jesus, decided to skip the sightseeing, and get to his home as fast as we could. Warning: (Graphic description) By 6pm Cops had lost all food from the past three days and Bops was well on her way. There was moaning, swaying, crying and pure survival techniques to stay alive. Once Bops jumped on the Yak train, Maria ven aqui said "Enough is enough! You both are going to the hospital!" Let us stress that we were surrounded by angels. Maria ven aqui and Jesus, one day we will repay your kindness. We would have been lost in the woods arriving at the emergency room without the ability to communicate with the doctors or nurses, at this point either in English or Spanish. We also would like to thank Spain for paying for our visit, shots, and IV. Documentation required.

The trip has been too perfect. Something was bound to happen. It was a bit of a nightmare but it could have been so much worse. And it's awesome blog material!! So we had to bypass Sevilla and Madrid and we are back in Sant Pol. Feeling better. Thanks to Maria and Jesus.

Now we will post the rest of the pics and also have a special treat! Enjoy our video dance!!!

For some reason this makes us laugh. It's almost like a little cartoon. Beware of a pile-up!!

Can you see a Bops?

The pot was empty and so the kitsos had to go lookin for leftovers...

We're very versatile.

Have we told y'all how much we love Spain? WE LOVE SPAIN! We love the food, the coffee, the scenery, the history, the castles, the beer, the wine, the cava, and especially THE PEOPLE. WE LOVE IT LOVE IT LUUUUUUUUUV IT!!! This is every other sentence in conversations. We spent the first four days in Sant Pol with Maria's family. We felt right at home even with the language barrier and have experienced the real Spanish deal. Her father cooks delicious meals and we sit around a big table laughing and making fun of each others English and Spanish. Bops and Cops have promised to learn Spanish because everyone knows English and we are embarrassed. We have learned a couple of words. Cullereta (little spoon), Tengo hambre ( I am hungry),  esta loca ( she is crazy), donde esta el bano ( where is the bathroom). We are well on our way to being fluent in Spanish. We had dinner at Maria's cousins restaurant with some of her friends. Then we went to a bar on the beach to "chiflau" (chill out). Just some local slang for ya.

 

Barcelona!!! Maria's town is just a short train ride from one of the greatest cities in the world. Barca Barca!! We decided to dive into a little culture and visited the Picasso museum. This did not disappoint and we learned a great deal about this artist from Spain. Keeping with the theme of Picasso, Maria took us to a restaurant called 4 Cats. This was a popular hang out of Picasso and we could see why as we wined and dined. We even shut the place down, making friends with the servers and manager which led to a free round of cava!! We also had a special guest join us... AINA!! Another Spanish Rose that Bops has missed dearly. We spent the afternoon reminiscing of our adventures at Shenandoah and learning about the new things happening in each others lives. It was Cops first time meeting Aina and they hit it off with flying colors!

The 4 Cats

Aina!

Told you. We shut the place DOWN!

Aina and Bops

Toasting Picasso and all of his brilliance.

Before heading out of town, we had to make a stop to see the cutest lady in Sant Pol. Yes, that would be Maria's precious grandmother. She helped us make sandwiches for the car and showed us her lovely home.

She is about as tender as they come. 

The Catalan way of making a sandwich.

We waved goodbye to Sant Pol for the next ten days and headed out on the road. We made a lot of progress... 40 kilometers in 2 hours!!!!!! Maria ven aqui was thrilled. Stuck in traffic and Bops and Cops can't drive manual vehicles OR read the directions (which are in Catalan). It didn't help that we went to bed the night before at 3 am!!!

Spanish traffic jam. The cars are smaller but still just as annoying.

Once we finally got some open space on the road... we were able to enjoy the scenery and beautiful drive. Who knew that the south of Spain would be so incredible.

We also saw the mascot of the country. That's right. A bull. On the top of a mountain.

 After a short drive of ten hours, we finally made it to Cabo de Gata! We were unaware that this is a huge national park or natural park as they call it. We pull up to the accomadations and immediately fall in love. It's really hard to explain this little bohemian commune. It's literally in the middle of the desert but has some of the most incredebile beaches just 10km away. Quite impressive. By now, you know the importance of finding food and the local beverage for the kitsos. Lucky for us, there is an adorable resturaunt/Moraccon tent that serves delicious tapas and sangria. Unfortunately, Cops and Bops were surprised to find that fruit flies also loved sangria and had drank themselves drunk in our glasses. Maybe we will get the sangria in Granada. It has been a very relaxing three days which has been a great way for us to spend the first days of our road trip. It's really hard to explain the landscape here. You are driving in the middle of the desert and then out of nowhere comes the sea with huge capes and rocky ledges that make great photo opportunities. So now we will create a photo story of the first leg of our trip.

Bar/Tent/Hang out /  Serves Sangria with fruit flies

Our Hippie Commune

Cops preparing to fit in when we travel south.

The Spanish snakes LOVE stilettos and fishnets. So be careful.

Making friends everywhere we go. If only they would fit in the suitcases.

The town that we walk to for coffee and water and wine.

Cops carrying the water on her head. She could be part of a tribe.

Kitsos grooming time. How many kitsos can fit in a bathroom? Answer: Tres.

They talked me off the ledge.

We are happy kitsos! We love Spain!!!

Cops giving the sign of the Kitsos.

So we are off to Granada in the morning! We are going to see The Alhambra. Do the research and google it. It's pretty important to Spain. Read up on your history so you will know what your are looking at in our next blog. Us kitsos can't do everything for you readers :)

Much love and light. The Travelin' Kitsos

Some of you may know that when Maria ven aqui came to the states we did a road trip through the Southwest to see the Grand Canyon. Well, we ran into some elks or as Maria ven aqui calls them "The Ellkis". When we found the sign for "The Elkis" we took a picture so we could remember how terrifying they were at midnight. Guess what we could run into here? Wonder which would be scarier.  Watch out for the bulls.