Exercise Parks

Granada is filled with parks all throughout the city. There are many plazas where you can sit out and have a tapa while your kids play in a nearby park. Granada also has what we call "exercise parks" that have exercise equipment in them. They are scattered throughout the city, and you will find many people (especially elderly people) using the machines. Our favorite is in the Realejo, a neighborhood close to the Alhambra. Here are some pictures of Phoebe on the various machines:

Rowing machine?

Chest press

This says that it is for your waist. It spins.

Leg press

Shoulder press

This one swings back and forth, almost like skiing. (Phoebe's favorite)

This is a hip flexor. You swing side to side. (Katy's favorite)

Massager

Elliptical

In this particular park, there is also a grassy area where many people come to walk their dogs. Here is Phoebe in the park area.

Phoebe by a strange tree

Phoebe by a pond

We love the idea of having these parks around town. It encourages good health and exercise, and it also creates a sense of community where people come with kids and dogs.

Wednesdays at Bar Damasqueros

Wednesdays are our favorite night to go out for tapas. A bar we have found called Bar Damasqueros offers a game on Wednesdays: if you guess the number rolled on the dice, you win a free drink. And as all drinks in Granada are accompanied with tapas, you have a free tapa, too. This particular bar has amazing tapas, such as pinchos de pollos (small pieces of chicken marinated in a delicious spice combination and grilled), patatas bravas, and other delicious dishes.

The other thing we love about this place is the games! They have a cabinet filled with games that we play while we eat our tapas and drink our drinks. Last time we were here (in 2015), we discovered Mastermind, and last week we played Chinese Checkers.

Here we are with the menu

Today is Wednesday, so we are looking forward to heading out to Bar Damasqueros soon.

Update: here is a picture of our first tapa, some sort of crepe with parmesan cheese in it (yum!). Our second tapa was patatas bravas. I'm also including a picture of the receipt because I'm always amazed and how inexpensive it is to go out for a glass of wine (or two) and eat here.

Día de los reyes

January 6th is the Día de los Reyes in Spain, when the wise men that gave Jesus gifts bring gifts to children around Spain. On Thursday, January 5th, we went to see a huge parade called La cabalgata de los reyes. There were tons of people everywhere, and the parade started (at one point in town) at 5:30 and ended around 9:00. Various floats came by with kids--and adults--in costume throwing candy to the crowd. Most were sponsored by local businesses, and the main floats represented the three kings and their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Here are some photos of the parade:

Before the parade arrived

The gold from the reyes

On Friday morning, Phoebe woke up to several gifts from the reyes, including a basketball, a jumprope, some chocolates, and a bracelet making set!

Finding Phoebe's School

Today we took a bus to Phoebe's school to meet the director. The school is outside of the center of town, but the bus ride was only about 10 minutes. We arrived a little early and walked around a bit. Here's a picture of Phoebe overlooking Granada, and then a picture of her school.

Colegio María Nebrera in Granada

To the left you can see all of Granada down in a valley and to the right you can see the Sierra Nevada mountains. The school is new and very small. There is a TOTAL of 23 students--from 3 years old to third grade. They plan to add a new grade each year and eventually even build a high school in the empty lot you can see next door. Her class has 8 kids (including Phoebe), and half of the day they have classes in Spanish and half in English. There are no computers in the classrooms, and the director made sure to mention to me that they do not watch TV in class, even though there is a TV in each class that they use as a screen. Here is a picture of the view from one of the classrooms:

Phoebe starts school on Monday! In order to get prepared for school, we went to a mall near the school called Centro Comercial Serrallo Plaza. We shopped at the H&M, had lunch, and rode a stuffed electronic hippo!

January 6 is Día de los Reyes Magos, and the three kings visit all of the kids and leave them gifts. At the mall, there was a HUGE Hasbro display, advertising games for kids for Día de los Reyes. We will let you know if the reyes visit Phoebe!

Phoebe by a cardboard pop-up of Mr. Monopoly