The Trip of a Lifetime: May 6 to 11, 2022 - Rome, Granada

5/7/22 Captain’s log: stardate 20: Granada, Spain
I walked past a flamenco venue today and then past a Syrian restaurant that was playing music that sounded like the call to prayer. I never realized how how similar they sound. I’m sure the Moors had a large influence on Spanish music. Probably where they got the Phrygian scale.
Today was a logistics day. We set out in search of a better backpack. See are getting rid of Roz’s, she’s wearing mine and I’m rocking a new, larger one. We need to pare down and size up so the luggage situation is manageable by the time we get on the ferry to Morocco. Tomorrow we get back into tourist mode. Alhambra!!! Bucket list destination.
Frank

5/8/22 Captain’s log: stardate 21: Granada, Spain
This is the first stop that was planned as a vision quest, but plans can be fickle. When I went to Israel in 2005 I was on a quest to hear God. I thought I would hear him in the middle of the sea of galilee. I didn’t. I heard a preacher do a Bible study. Same thing in Cana and the probable site of the sermon on the mount. In the Galilee region we stayed at a Kibbutz, but it was just like a hotel. A fellow traveller and I payed our guitars and sang in the lobby. When we finished, I started back to my room. There was a little boy, maybe three, who was trying to catch up with his dad. He yelled, “Abba! Abba! Abba!” And God’s still soft voice said, “Be like that little boy.” Well today I had one. Was sitting in a common area at Alhambra looking up at towers with birds flying all over. I wondered how one picture could capture this magnificent place. Then later I saw a painting in the Modern Art Museum by Ismael de la Serna. It has the shapes of Alhambra, but only the color of the brick towers. There are birds flying across the face. Wow! He nailed it and I somehow understand what he was thinking.
We are both losing weight. Roz has dietary challenges. I just don’t feel like having heavy meals. Plus we are both walking a lot. A real lot.
This afternoon I did a video for the grandsons on life being counterintuitive. Shooting from the hip. No script.
I must really be a beer guy. Roz and I are both introverts. And we are also kind of misanthropic. Nothing personal; it isn’t you, it’s everybody. Anyway, we don’t make a lot of friends on the road. On this quest so far there has only been Jeff the brewmaster in Barcelona and Roberto, the owner of the cafe on the corner- that has tea for Roz and craft beer for me. Coincidence? I don’t think so…
mañana!

5/10/22 Captain’s log: stardate 23: Granada, Spain
I did a second run on the Camino Mozarbe route this morning. This one started at the Catedral de Granada and went through city streets. I made it to Maracena. The jogging and hiking are making me a much better runner. I was pushing through most of the hills. Hope I can keep it up for the rest of the trip.
Then Roz and I spent the afternoon dealing with buses, well one in particular, trying to get to an art museum. We had the same driver both times we tried to find it and he told us to get off at the wrong stop each time. He wasn’t very nice. He gave others bad advice too. This guy’s customer service was so bad that if he worked at the IRS he would have been put on a letter and fired after five or six years; yeah that terrible… We never found the museum.
Our health entry forms for Africa are printed out and ready to sign. Now we need to get negative COVID-19 tests in Malaga tomorrow or Algeciras on Thursday. They are easy to get here in Granada, but it can’t be more than 48 hours old when we board the ferry.
mañana

5/11/22 Captain’s log: stardate 24: Malaga, Spain
I jogged up towards Alhambra this morning to say goodbye. And I do mean up. My legs are starting to look like they belong to a mountain goat. One last cafe con leech listening to jazz at Elvira 81, then we started out for Malaga.
Driving id getting to be a drag. Closest parking to our Air BnB is a 15 minute walk. The guy said there is free street parking nearby. We searched for an hour with no luck. We are rethinking transportation. Maybe no more car rentals. . We planned on buses and trains in Morocco and England anyway. I would be happy not driving here again.
We are scheduled for COVID-19 tests at 7:30 tomorrow morning. If we need expedited results (we see what that means) it will be more than $200 for us. What a racket. We explored a little this evening, but this is a layover. We were here as a stop on a cruise several years ago. Very nice place, but we have a goal in mind…I plan on having a champagne cocktail with the ghost of Richard Blain on Friday night. I hope they don’t round up the usual suspects, or I may wind up in jail.
mañana

None until we get to Casablanca