“Las Terrazas” was the name of our little hotel,

Our window overlooked a small plaza, where people could buy bread in the morning, or just hang out.

Our patio had a nice little patio with flowers and fountain,

And a wonderful view of the town down below

These towns are characterized by narrow streets,

Flat roofs, on which grain can be dried

Flowered porches,

Decorated houses,

And artisan workshops

Whose goods are sold to tourists (like us!).

We struck out on a path which we thought let to the upper town,

But this farmer

Told us it was a dead-end and directed us to the right path.

Even on these mountain slopes there is tillable land which grows wonderful vegetables.

The next day we set out for the southern town

It was nice going downhill to start out.

There is an abundance of water in this area due to melted snows and lakes in the upper regions.

We stopped to pick blackberries

And eat them, of course!

There are numbers of fountains in these little towns with safe drinking water and great places for children to play!

There are numbers of chestnut trees in these hills.

I’d always wondered what “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” would look like. I still don’t know, but at least now I know what chestnuts growing on trees look like!

A memorable couple days, memories of which we will treasure.

And past this set of buildings. It was built in 1882 and belongs to the family of the shoe repairman that lives below us. In its heyday a number of families lived there, taking care of the farm. Now it’s practically abandoned.

On down the road is a little “town” (reminds me of Resaca, OH!). Juan Antonio (the shoe repairman) told me that a number of years ago the decision was made to build a new church instead of repairing the old one. Surprising?

On the way down we went past an abandoned gold mine, built by the French, many years ago.

The hike ended in this little town with narrow, flowered streets.

Phil & Twila Weber and their family were in town for a couple weeks to visit Kevin & Wendy. They invited us all out for supper.

Amanda liked this black spaghetti with shrimp

Judi and I celebrated our 32nd anniversary by attending an outdoor ballet featuring the Gypsy Romances of the famous Granada poet, Federico García Lorca, accompanied by flamenco music. Great program!

The next night we accompanied our friends, Jorge & Angélica,

to this little chapel at the top of an extinct volcano,

Where we had an awesome view of Granada at night.

Judi and I celebrated her 60th birthday with a Sunday breakfast at Kevin & Wendy’s

Their daughter, Ellie, is a study in moods. I called this one “I’m not sure”

Would this be “maybe?”

“Maybe not” You might try your own captions!

New, creative graffiti seems to be sprouting up in the city. Nice painting of the Alhambra!

Our hike today took us to a new place (for me), up the hill. (It always starts by going up!)

The peak in the background is called the “fish’s mouth.” Can you see it? Don’t worry, I can’t either!

The flat-top mountain in the background was where we hiked last week.

It just gets better the higher you go. Somewhere down there is where we live!

Break time, again.

Another view at the top of the hill

The way down was pretty steep. It would have been quite a ride in a vehicle, with the switchbacks and no guardrails; it was hard enough walking!

At the bottom was this swinging bridge.

So, life goes on in Granada.

If you didn't see the opening ceremony of the Olympics, try to be one of the 4 billion (including those who watch on delayed broadcast) who will do so. The show was spectacular, to say the least, but the entrance of the athletes was what got to me. The small, unheard-of countries and the large, powerful ones; obscure competitors who have no chance to win a medal, and the rich and famous - all there, coming together as one to celebrate and compete with one another. What a wonderful diversity of color and customs! This is advertised as an example of how mankind should get along!. Of course we know that behind the scenes there are protests for human rights violations, political animosity even between ethnic groups represented there, as well as the specter of performance-enhancing drugs.

But as you watch the athletes coming into the stadium under the flag of their country, try to picture heaven, a vast multitude, representatives from all tribes, tongues and nations gathering to celebrate, not sports, but the God of the universe, the eternal Living One, who will reign for ever and ever. You will be there, I presume, but what will you do in the meantime about bringing others along with you?

Getting up is no easy task. Lots of work, pausing to see not only what lies ahead,

But what lies behind. On the journey of life it’s good to look back and appreciate the view sometimes, especially if the way ahead looks kind of formidable.

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But, as they say, “when you’re up, you’re up,” and (after catching your breath) there are wonderful views of the vega,

Including the city of Granada, a beautiful city to be sure, but reminding one of Hebrews 13:14, where we have “no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”

If you use your imagination, you might be able to see a “baby sleeping” on top of that far ridge (or so they told me).

Of course, what goes up must come down. How appropriate! We don’t spend all our lives on the mountain top.

Passing almond trees on the way,

With almonds just starting to ripen. The green pods turn to brown and dry up. Somewhere inside is the almond. No wonder they cost 5 bucks a pound! (Or is it more?)

The road down was blacktop, so I returned a couple days later on my bike. What you don’t see is how steep it was coming up and how I huffed and puffed to get up here. Getting up is hard and time-consuming, but being there is exhilarating – while it lasts. Going down is way too much fun and way too quick! It was all brakes and no pedaling for 10 minutes, down into the heat and the noise of the city – but that’s where the people are.

Today we started out at the base of the Alhambra, (you can see the cathedral and the vega in the background),

Past this house decorated with ceramic plates, painted with typical local patterns.

Maybe some of you will want to try this style of exterior house decor!

Up past Sacromonte (“holy mountain”) with its caves – a flamenco music haven,

Past some fig trees

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Which yielded some ripening figs. After eating one, it’s no wonder Jesus was ticked off (without sinning, of course) when the fig tree didn’t have any fruit!

After another serious climb, we arrived at the top, the “Plains of the Pheasant,” where we took the customary midmorning break. This is something all the guys look forward to, both as a reward after a hard climb, and a time to “chew the fat,” although this time it was fruit, bread and tuna (with lots of raw garlic!). It gives new meaning to the admonition to let our speech be “seasoned with salt,” if it has an effect anything like garlic!

Back down again.

That’s life in Granada – ups and downs. Actually, both are quite good places to be!

We were welcomed by this trumpeting burro,

Then hiked up to what looked like an unfinished picnic area.

Went back toward town,

Then crossed a gorge and up the other side. Southern Spain is very dry right now. The only reason the trees are green in the middle of the picture, is because they grow along the stream at the bottom of the gorge.

Water is a precious commodity here. This canal brings water from melting snow and ice on the mountains farther up, down to the olive groves and other crops below.

Without water, even the weeds dry up.

The almond trees in the forefront are non-irrigated, rendering them non-productive, as contrasted with the greener plantations in the lowlands which receive water. I’m reminded how Jesus said he was the living water. Without water, plants (and people) die. Without Jesus, there is spiritual death. Will Spain ever see an outpouring of the Living Water?

Just as natural water can produce hardy trees

And bountiful crops,

And tillable land, so the Living Water can bring about growth and abundance. But you have to stay down low, down by the river, near to the Water. Jesus said that the humble, the meek will inherit the earth. When you get up high and mighty, away from the Water, you dry out.

However, even a green tree, like this fig tree, needs to bear fruit. Jesus cursed a fig tree once that didn’t bear fruit.

The next day the disciples were amazed that the fig tree had dried up. It may have looked like this dead tree. I remember an old quartet song sung by the Radio Bible Class (?) that says. “Nothing but leaves for the Master / O how His loving heart bleeds / When instead of the fruit he is seeking / We offer Him nothing but leaves.

Well, if there is no fruit to offer the Master, may the leaves at least be pretty! (said tongue-in-cheek)

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Lives in a little town about an hour from Granada.

We went out to help clean her garden, "as good friends should and do."

There are lots of grapes in and around these little towns. Harvest will begin in October.

These friends of Connie's not only help govern the town of 250 people or so.

They also own some vineyards

That make fine quality wine. These wooden barrels store wine from 2006 that will be marketed and sold next year. What did Jesus say about new wine in old wineskins? They probably didn’t have wooden barrels back then. The quality of wood affects the taste of the wine. How would animal skins have affected the taste?

The finished product.

Outside the town is a pasture with “toros bravos,” the bulls that will, sooner or later, meet their fate in a bullring. They didn’t look particularly friendly or pleased that we came by.

Several days later my weekly hike with friends took us to this town called Quentar

On the way we passed this dam and reservoir. Carlos, my friend, is a big Barcelona fan. You’ll have to blow up the picture to see the Barcelona logo on his hat and shorts.

This dog didn't seem too friendly when we first passed him behind a fence in an out-of-the-way place. But he got out and joined us on this hike, turning out to be a friend, though somewhat unwanted. He was probably bored.

For our hunting friends, blow this picture of a mountain goat up, print it and use it for target practice!

We finally got to the town. The white paint helps reflect the sun, keeping the houses cooler.

The narrow streets also help keep things cooler by providing more shade during the day and serving as a kind of wind tunnel.

Towns and cities are nice but it's the people in them who become our friends that bring them alive. Cesar and Christina are friends of Kevin & Wendy.

Cesar is an expert at barbecuing? How about ribs, steak and chicken?

Our little friends, Evan & Ellie, are also experts at inventing grown-up games.

Sometimes our friends celebrate birthdays with parties

And lots of food, not only these shrimp, but blood sausage, spiced sausage, un-spiced sausage, salad, bread, etc. The food is placed on plates in the middle of the table. You have only a fork and no plate, so dig in!

Dominoes is a fun thing to do with friends.

Seeing these ants together move a piece of potato chip, we’re reminded through nature how God designed us to have friends and be friends. Many hands make light work, and can help move mountains (or chips).

We’re fortunate to have friends in and around Granada, and are looking forward to having lots more!

This open-air restaurant featured snails. Now, these aren’t the kind you get out of the sea. They either grow wild in out-of-the-way places in the country, or they are raised on “snail farms.” (If the price of soybeans goes back down, maybe some of you farmers can try snails!)

Anyway, this is the sort of thing you don’t want to look much at what you’re eating. Instead of digging out the squishy meat with a toothpick, I found it more appetizing to kind of suck out the juice, then the meat usually came out with it. The juice the snails were cooked in was kind of peppery with laurel (or so the ladies said) and quite tasty. As you can see, we did quite a number on the snails (except for Jorge).

The rest of the meal you can kind of figure out except in the bottom right dish, the main part of it is some sort of squid. If you’d ask me which one I liked best, snails or squid, I'd say French Fries! Actually the snails were not too bad. At least we have another option where we can take our visitors!

Since the buses had stopped running at 11:30, we walked back down to town, stopping to take this picture of the Alhambra.

We got back home at 1:45 a.m. Why not? It’s much cooler then, anyway.

The hillsides are rocky, even though there is some vegetation, among them olive trees. Rocks make good caves, though. I wonder how the pickup (is it Ford?) – “like a rock” - would find the going here?

Some whole mountains seem to be rocks. (Notice the road below – good for hiking and cycling – I know!)

Rocks can be useful for making water channels,

Bridges (an old tram line from Granada used to run on this bridge),

And bridge supports.

It took a lot of rocks to make this dam!

The lake behind it is a major part of the water supply for Granada.

Below this stone house (or mill), someone used stones to make a trout ladder. I don’t know if it still works.

Even stone houses can have maintenance issues!

Some stones make good resting places. Jacob used one for a pillow. That was before he was 93 yrs. old, though, like this man.

Jesus talked about stones in the parable of the farmer planting seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the foot path. That’s pretty stony stuff. Not much will happen there except feeding the birds.

Some of it fell among the thorns and weeds which, even if the seeds did sprout and grow, soon got overgrown.

Some seeds fell on stony earth. Now is when the parable deviates a little from Jesus’ version. If left by itself, the stony earth will not be very fertile.

But what happens when the stones are removed? Many of you who garden or farm will remember picking up stones so that the soil becomes more productive. Stones are useful enough for bridges or houses or roads, but not in soil!

But when the stones are removed, what do you have? Fertile soil!

Soil that will bear forty, sixty, a hundred times as much as was planted!

We have heard from several sources that much work in Spain presently may resemble “picking up stones.” What is this? Prayer. Making friendships. Making the Word available to people. Positive publicity. Some of this can be done from anywhere. You can "pick up stones" in prayer from wherever you live! Some of it can only be done from here. The promise is that the Word, planted in fertile soil, will result in an abundant harvest.

Most Spaniards are passionate about soccer, here called “fútbol,’ especially when their team wins the prestigious Europe Cup, only a notch below the World Cup. This is real “football,” they would say, played with the feet, as opposed to the American version, which is actually played more with the hands.

I'd wondered, watching one of the first games, why the players didn't sing the national anthem before the game started. They line the players of both teams up and play the national anthems of both teams. The Italians, the Russians, the Germans, the Turks - all of them sang lustily - some more on key than others! But none of the Spanish players sang. I thought they had problems. Turns out the problem was that the Spanish national anthem doesn't have words! They haven't yet come to agreement on what the words should be.

At any rate, Spain advanced handily through group play, then faced Italy in the quarterfinals, whom they hadn’t beaten in more than 80 yrs. It came down to penalty kicks after two exhausting overtimes. Spain’s goalie blocked two kicks, and they won. The family members we were staying with north of Madrid were ecstatic!

Then after a thorough drubbing of Russia in the semifinals, Spain was up against the Germans in the final game. It began at 8:45 on Sunday evening. Few people were in the streets. But at 10:30 horns started honking, fireworks went off, people took to the streets. Spain had won 1-0.

We went out to see what was happening – people of all ages out on the streets, blowing horns, brandishing Spanish flags – in general, a big-time celebration. This is what happened to one pretty fountain.

Before

During the celebration – the fountain drew revelers as meat draws flies.

Afterward. It took some 18,000 euros to replace the damaged tubing, lights, flowers and shrubbery around the fountain. Was it worth it? You be the judge!

This was the front page of the newspaper two days later, when the team arrived back in Madrid. One million people thronged the streets to see them.

Passion – will Spaniards someday be as passionate about Jesus?

Madrid is huge compared to Granada. In the very center of town is the Plaza del Oro. Many important historical events took place here, including the beginning of the war against Napoleon in 1808. This building was used during the Franco dictatorship as a police headquarters. It’s now the governor’s office.

The guards of the city government buildings have these funny hats with a square back. Some think it may be to permit them to rest their head as they lean on the wall behind them to take a smoke.

This marker in Plaza del Oro marks the center point of Spain, kilometer 0, from which mileage (or kilometrage) is marked throughout the country.

There used to be bears in the king’s hunting grounds around Madrid hundreds of years ago. This is probably the only bear you’ll see now. The “madroño” tree produces a berry which was (is?) used to produce a local brand of liquer.

Plaza del Oro at night. This “Tío Pepe” sign was the first billboard in Madrid some 100 yrs. ago.

Plaza Mayor is just what the name says – ‘major.’ It’s a huge, enclosed plaza that throughout history saw major events take place, including Inquisition trials and execution of Protestants. Sobering! Now it houses government offices, ‘touristy’ restaurants, and various and sundry exhibitions. Mexico was featured the weekend we were there. By the way, the populace of Madrid consumes 1,000 tons of seafood a day!

There are some interesting ways of making a living in Madrid, apart from “normal” jobs. How about being a “living statue?” I’m not sure who this lady represents.

But it’s pretty clear what this one does! They stay rigid until someone throws a coin into the box, then they move around a little. I don’t know how they can paint themselves up and dress like that, and stay stick-still in near 100 degree heat!

Or if you can sing or play something, there are options – this Mexican mariachi group

Or what looked like a Thai musician sawing on this one-stringed instrument,

Or you can get creative like this glass musician. Nice music.

Madrid is home to the Royal Palace, the former home of kings and queens. It’s still used by King Juan Carlos for official state functions, mainly the hosting of foreign dignitaries for receptions, dinners, signing of important documents like Spain joining the European Union in 1985. We were not allowed to take pictures, but if you can imagine… sumptuous decorations, paintings, tapestries, chandeliers, royal bedchambers – it gives new meaning to the phrase, “fit for a king.” In one room was a Stradivarius string quartet: two violins, a viola and a cello – behind lock and key, of course, but the instruments are still played on special occasions. How many thousands (millions?) of dollars do they represent. We also toured the armory, full of medieval-looking armor for various and sundry kings and their steeds. Sorry we can’t provide pictures! We also spent some time in the Prado Museum, looking at some magnificent paintings, including an extensive collection of Francisco Goya, a Spanish artist.

The U.S. has their 9/11. Spain has their 3/11 of 2004, the day of the terrorist subway bombings in Madrid. The Antoch train station, shown here, was a main target.

There is huge, 300 acre park in the middle of Madrid, “El Retiro,” where you can walk and walk and walk (or run, or bike), and on the way see fountains,

Lakes,

And flower gardens.

Of course, all the walking can make you tired, like these guys in the photo!

We visited with Fred & Mary Kay Eichelman in San Agustín de Guadalix, 40 min. north of Madrid. They were getting ready to do a week-long English day camp for children in the town.

Dion & Naty Peachey and Matt & Mim Roggio, among others from Belleville, PA, came to help out in the camp. Matt is a nephew of Mary Kay.

From Madrid we traveled southeast to Cieza, passing fields and fields of vineyards,

Peaches,

And wheat. I bet Kansas doesn’t have in their wheat fields many remains of old “mesones,” ancient lodging places for weary travelers. You can almost imagine Don Quixote and Sancho Panza stopping here for the night,

Then sallying forth to slay the “giants”, only to get tangled up in one of the windmills still visible in parts of central Spain.

Cieza is a small city of 30,000 people or so, with four small evangelical churches: Brethren, Pentecostal, Gypsy and Latino.

Miguel and Patricia Nuñez live and work in Cieza. He’s from there, she’s from Nicaragua – we’d met her in Feb. when we helped out on the eye team there. It’s good to see how the Kingdom is growing in many parts of Spain. They both have neat testimonies!

An old Muslim lookout dating from the 13th century guarded the city

From Cieza we went to Murcia and spent several hours with Fernando and Nancy Rodríquez, Ecuadorians, who are pastoring a church of mainly latinos there. Unfortunately, Fernando was not feeling well that day, so we didn’t stay long.

Nancy treated us to Salcedo ice cream, made in Spain by an Ecuadorian, but typical of a town in the mountains of Ecuador. We always got some when we would travel through that town.

It was good to see more of Spain, but it was also good to get home to our little apartment in Granada

Then we strike out into the countryside. Some of these men have been doing this for 30-40 yrs, so they know the trails!

This time we followed a little valley to the headwaters of the Darro River, which runs through Granada. It’s not a big river, more like a stream. A number of years ago it was diverted underground through the city, under one of the main streets!

Of course, a main feature of the hike is the midmorning snack break!

We found a cave,

Which at one time probably housed flocks of sheep or goats.

During Spain’s Civil War from 1936-39, Franco’s men had an army camp on this rock outcropping, a strategic place to monitor movements in the valley below.

This town, Visnar, is near where Federico García Lorca, a famous poet from Granada, was executed during the Civil War.

On the hike this week we went past this old burial grounds, dating before Christ.

Water is an important commodity in a dry country.

Some of these canals were originally made a thousand or so years ago to supply water from the melting snows and springs in the mountains to the tillable land and population centers.

This old reservoir has been restored.

It’s surprising what you see along the way. It can range from color and scenery contrasts,

To little horse farms.

And to swinging bridges.

This narrow gorge has been turned into a national park with trails so people can walk

Or crawl along its edges!

I’m glad this rock didn’t fall on me,

And I hope this one doesn’t! It looks precarious, way up there!

If you look closely, you might see a face on this rock!

And if you look closely again, you might see the rock climber on the face of the face of the rock!

This little plateau

Looks like a good place for the famous midmorning snack!

Then it was back to the city and the daily grind!

Jorge and Angélica, our friends, invited us to accompany them.

Córdoba was an important Roman city in the first few centuries after Christ. Some Roman ruins are still being discovered and excavated.

An old Roman bridge newly renovated, originally built in the 1st century AD, crosses the Guadalquivir River, one of the most important rivers in Spain. Over the centuries many battles were fought on this bridge and much blood was shed in defense of the city.

On the far side of the river is the Great Mosque, construction on which began in the 8th century A.D. with add-ons continuing over a 300 yr. period. After the Catholic Kings’ reconquest of Córdoba, a Christian church was built right into the middle of the mosque. We’ll visit that in a moment…

Jorge and Angélica especially wanted to see the patios in Córdoba. Every spring 43 flower-adorned patios are opened for the public to view (for a fee). We saw 5 or 6 of them.

In some of them you can see fancy sink/washing areas,

Wells,

And even old kitchens.

This basket-like thing is an antique clothes dryer. To dry wet clothes, they were draped over the basket which was then hung above a charcoal heater used to heat strategic parts of the house.

Córdoba also had a sizeable Jewish quarter (until the Jews were expelled after the Catholic Reconquest). Here is an old synagogue,

With a cross etched into the décor - after the Jews had left, of course!

Moses Maimonides was a famous Jewish scholar, born in Córdoba in 1135.

Judi thought it might be profitable to be near such greatness, but it took a little doing!

The entrance to the Great Mosque with its bell tower, which was built over a minaret.

Just inside the outer wall is a “patio of oranges.” You don’t see the oranges on the trees because they are not currently in season.

The mosque is massive, originally built over a Visigothic Christian church, which was probably built over a Roman temple. The interior of the mosque is characterized by these pillars and double arches.

The front area of the mosque, left largely untouched.

The modifications made by the Catholic monarchs were in stark contrast to the original style of construction and decor.

The soaring arches of the cathedral. Much of the interior and exterior of the cathedral is undergoing renovation, as seen earlier.

Afterwards we headed for home, stopping on the way for a picnic lunch/supper (lupper?) and later on for café con leche.

We also stopped at this restaurant. Notice the cured hanging ham hocks behind Jorge’s head. Ham is huge in Spain – a whole ham from a black-footed swine costs over a hundred honkin’ bucks!

On Sunday we went to a little Brethren church where they had a baby dedication for 3 Ecuadorian babies. Technically, they’re Spaniards, having been born here, but their parents are Ecuadorian.

Pastor (head elder) Hans is originally from the Netherlands. His wife is from Granada.

These two little boys are twins, the one on the left has Down’s syndrome.

After the service they had a carry-in meal with an international flavor.

We especially liked the flavor of the Ecuadorian dish, ceviche de camarón (shrimp – here they call it “langostina”) By the way, I’ve never seen such a variety of size of shrimp here in Spain, from little bitty to the size of an 8 oz. steak!

How about a little tour of our apartment? We’re on the fourth floor. Get off the elevaror and we’re the first door on the right. In the entry way you’ll see this painting (not ours). Evan Mayer says it’s ‘naughty.’ Strange, yes, but naughty?? Below is our grocery cart – without it, walking the 5 blocks home from the store, those bags get heavy! That space looks like a good spot to store my bicycle, YTBB (yet to be bought).

Turn left from the entry way and you’ll enter our dining room.

On the other side is our living room.

Look out the window to the right and you’ll see (on a clear day) the Sierra Nevada. In the evenings the swallows swarm. You see only one, so you’ll have to trust me on this!

The kitchen is just off the living/dining room, not huge, but compact and adequate. Notice the washer down below and the on-demand gas hot water heater above Judi’s head. We have to keep slatted wooden door open to avoid igniting it!

Outside the kitchen is the clothes line. You have to lean out the window to hang the clothes, and hope you don’t drop them on neighbors’ lines below. However, it’s a way to get to know the neighbors!

Back the other way is the hallway, with lots of bookshelf space!

At the end is the bedroom and the bathroom (the photo of which we’ll omit!)

And the second bedroom/office. We needed a table for the computers, but everything we saw was too big or too little or too expensive. I finally made one of wood scraps found on the street, waiting for trash pickup. It felt a little conspicuous to be carrying it through the streets, so I waited until dark. It looks a little crude, but it works!

The procession begins with a reminder of the Reconquest of Spain, which ended in 1492 with the conquest of Granada. The huge effigies of the Catholic king and queen are followed by the Muslim ruler and his wife.

Then there a few “fun” things, including these big-headed figures who come along and bop people on the head with a rubber ball,

soldiers shouldering antiquated muskets,

and the fife and drum section, to keep everyone in time (sort of ).

Then comes the more serious part, with the seminary students,

A brass section with old, high-pitched trumpets played on their sides,

And a whole host of ordinary people, members of the Catholic brotherhoods called cofradías. These people are the movers and shakers of maintaining these traditions.

Following are more seminary students,

Then young boys, maybe altar boys (I can’t imagine them being this pious for very long!)

And a group of parish priests.

Finally, the main part of the procession appears. High above the elaborate float is the golden monstrance holding the “host’” the wafer (the body of Christ), partly hidden behind a red cross (sign for a pharmacy). Notice the flower petals strewn down from high-up onlookers.

Along the way, the procession stops to pay homage at altars like this one (which, incidentally, got first place in the altar contest).

Of course, there’s cleanup afterwards of the hay-like grass that is strewn along the path of the procession. It’s put there for a reason, of which we don’t yet know.

The streets of the city are kept clean at all times by these workers in florescent green uniforms.

The Corpus Christi procession is only part of the activities of the week-long Granada Fair, situated on the outskirts of the city. This would rival the Ohio State Fair, without all the animal and craft exhibits. Plenty to eat (how about an ear of sweet corn for 4 bucks!) along with try-your skill (luck) booths, rides, and loads of 3-D tents (dining, drinking and dancing).

During the week there are other exhibits throughout the city. Wherever people gather you’ll find entertainers of all types. How about in Granada, Spain, seeing Otavalan Indians from Ecuador, dressed in North American Indian costumes and playing North American Indian music on their Andean pan pipes (a quarter-tone lower than the accompaniment track, I might add!)?

At other places in the city you’ll see these “statues,” people who paint themselves up like a statue and “freeze” until someone drops a coin into a basket, whereupon they gyrate a bit before “freezing” again. I’m not sure who this guy is – a thin version of a young Einstein?

We were surprised and blessed by a brief visit from Louie and Sheryl Stauffer, on their honeymoon, no less!


Each week is different. What will this week bring?

This afforded us a magnificent view of Quéntar from higher up,

a look at the remains of a house probably several hundred years old,

an idea of how people make a living: olive and almond groves,

raising and herding sheep,

as well as goats.

Crossing the mountain afforded new views: more rugged terrain,

as well as picturesque views of the town to which we would arrive, against the majestic backdrop of the Sierra Nevada.

There was even a watering hole for humans. I tried to drink like Gideon's men.

The main street of Güéjar Sierra, our destination. From here, after some refreshments, we bused back down to Granada.

Lest you think all we do here is explore and hike, let me assure you that it ain't necessarily so! But southern Spain certainly is beautiful, and it reminds us of how great is our Creator.