Feliz cumpleanos, Roberto! Hannah made one of her delightful, custom designed birthday cards for me, hope I can get it home intact. Up at 7:00, Craig and I walked up the steep hill to the La Alhambra ticket office, arriving by 7:30 for the announced 8:00 opening of the ticket office. Then, we waited 1 hour in line to actually buy the tickets for an 11:00 – 11:30 palace visit time-window. Back down to the hotel, collected the girls, out for café con leche and rolls. We all attempted to board the 20 passenger red Alhambra bus for €1, the girls made it on, Craig and I did not. Another brisk 30-minute, steep, up-hill walk. Finally, all together and inside, it was grand.
A personal note: Near the end of the La Alhambra visit, I experienced another of several near-miss toilet/WC close calls in Europe. I don’t notice this in the US very often, but because of the way my internal plumbing works, when I have to go, I HAVE TO GO! For example, there are no toilets on short-haul trains or busses in Portugal or Spain. On the 30-minute train ride from Lisboa to Setubol in Portugal, I finally had to enter the ‘air-lock’ between the last 2 cars and irrigate the tracks at 60 KM/hr! In any case, at La Alhambra, I was near that point again. I had confided in Hannah and she had gone ahead of me to ask in Spanish for directions to the WC. Thanks to her, I made it with about 15 seconds to spare. Perhaps I need to become a better planner.
