Put Grenada on Your Bucket List!

Well excuse my ignorance!  We really knew nothing about Grenada before coming to Spain. If you haven't been here before put it on your bucket list!  And for those of you that have visited, I hope it brings back great memories.  A beautiful city surrounded by the Sierra Nevada national park and mountains.  We arrived to snow on the mountains, sun shining and 21 degrees.  Grenada is known for its tapas and the outstanding Alhambra!  A collection of palaces, fortifications and gardens in a beautiful calm surrounding.  There is a definite Arabic presence and a bit of a taste of what is in store for us when we visit Morocco.

Overlooking the Alhambra from Mirador St Nicolas

Sunset over Granada from Mirador de la St Nicolas

View from the torre de la Vela at the Alhambra

Patio de Arrayanes, in the Palace of the Lions, Alhambra

Patio de la Acequia
(court of the water channel)
in the Palace of Generalife, Alhambra.

Generalife walkways through the gardens

Cheers from JR

Granada

We've made it to Granada - here's some pics of our road trip stops in Cabo de Gata, Cartagena and Almerimar!

Miramar Beach, Cabo de gata

Almerimar Marina

Camper stop, Almerimer Marina

Camper stop, Almerimer Marina

Cabo de Gata

Cabo de Gata

Cartegena

Can you see the nose in the tree trunk? Cartagena

Cartagena

Snow view on the Sierra Nevada but no sign of snow in Grenada. Beautiful sunny days with a high of 21 today. Tapas have been amazing along with the Alhambra!

Back into it!

Lunch stop on our way to Cabo de Gata. Nice to be back on the road again!

New York Debrief

Happy New Year!

This comes from Muchavista in Spain, where the sun is shining and we have 20 degrees today.

We thought you might like a wee break down of our amazing trip to New York.

We arrived to torrential rain on 23 December, but nothing could stop us from the excitement of arriving in New York and seeing family. We had a few hours wait at the airport for Jamie & Hannah's flight to land. After a few tears, we all hopped into our big black American beast of a van and headed off in the rain to the Pocono Mountains, Southern Pennsylvania. There were eight of us in total, John, myself, Jamie, Hannah, Nick & Ali (Hannah's brother and girlfriend and yes, another Nick & Ali) Denis & Lynelle (Hannah's parents). It was a good 2 hour drive to the mountains and we arrived about midnight to this wonderful lodge in the woods all set for our white Christmas. After much excitement we got to bed about 3 am which meant John & I had been awake for 27 hours. Denis & Lynelle had done all the food planning & purchases for our 5 day stay there, so everything was organised. It was just perfect, including Xmas decorations and lights. We had the tree trimming ceremony on the 24th using 3 decorations each which we had had to bring with us and tell a story about the decorations.

The weather was unseasonably warm in the Poconos so there was no sign of snow. We were in shorts and t shirts for the first couple of days and to light the fire we had to open up the doors to let out the heat. Christmas jerseys were compulsory attire on Christmas Day and a lot of fun and laughter along with good food and wine was shared that day (and every other day). 

It was lovely being away from the hustle and bustle of life and a good down time for all before the onslaught of the crazy busy New York City. We even had squirrels and deer in our back yard! The weather became cooler while we were at the mountains and on our last day we got snow!

On the 29th we drove from the Poconos to our Air BnB apartment in Brooklyn, where our Nick joined up with us from Canada, sporting locks of curly hair. More tears of joy! We went out for ribs that night (as you do in the US of A), and low and behold we were talking to the people next to us at our table and one of the people turned out to be Murray Proffit's brother-in-law - such a small world!

We had 11 fantastic days in NYC. We had our beautiful niece, Anneke marry Chris at Grand Central Station, photos taken under the Manhatten Bridge in Dumbo and a beautiful reception dinner in Soho. 

We certainly burnt the candle at both ends, to name some of the highlights there was Liberty Island, walking many km's each day and soaking up the life of New York, a Giant's football game, working in the rescue centre, family bowling night, Italian night (John and I cooked an Italian meal we had learnt to make at our Italian cooking school), Brooklyn Bridge & park, New Years Eve and celebrating Jamie & Hannah's engagement. 

We are proud to say that Jamie asked Denis for permission to marry Hannah and separately also asked Nick (Hannah's brother) they all kept it to themselves until Jamie proposed to Hannah in New York. Once again, more tears. Jamie arranged to have the ring picked up at Auckland duty free and had it hidden in a sock in transit. It is a beautiful solitaire.

Our boys have chosen well, we now have 2 weddings to look forward to in New Zealand, no dates or plans have been made for either yet.

Back in Spain, we are both recovering from "burnt out colds" and will get back on the road in a few days time. Heading further south and into Morocco.

Lots of love 
Lorraine & John 
Kiwigypsies

Lorraine's McGyver!

JR's latest creation!! It fits 1 dozen cans of beers, 2 x 1 ltr tomato juice, 2 x 1 ltr lemon drink, 1 kg carrots and a bag of crisps. Only thing missing is the "kiwi dip". Made out of scavenged goods (including a highly toxic swimming pool chlorine container and cable ties).  He even put lights on the back!  Love my McGyver!

Back to Gypsy Girl

What an amazing couple of weeks we have had in New York with family. On our way back to Spain to board our Gypsy Girl. 

The Big Apple

Views from the "Top of the Rock".  The Big Apple is right up there on the favourite city list!

A panorama posted by Lynelle Woods. 

Brooklyn Bridge

The most amazing views of NYC on our stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Yankee Stadium

A fantastic visit to the Yankee Stadium today in negative 4 degrees. Brrrr

New York Giants Football

At NY Giants football game with John Russell, Jamie Russell, Hannah Woods & Chodo Chahalous

New York City Rescue Mission

From Ali's post: What a Great way to end 2015... Today we spent the Morning preparing food for homeless men in New York City, what a great experience. We meet some fabulous people and had a good time! It's nice to be able to provide service to others, especially those who live in this incredible city!

From Lynelle's post: Thank you to my family and whānau for volunteering at the New York City Rescue Mission on New Years Eve. It was so lovely to give a little back to this amazing city that has given us such a great time!

New Years Eve

New York City

Everything I imagined and some!  What an amazing city, full of life and fun, so much to see and do.  We have been very lucky with the weather, however today was freezing, minus 9 this morning, then we got up to minus 4 during the day. I think we have got to zero here tonight. I've never experienced cold like this before. In the same breath, loving every minute of it!

Time Square 42nd Street 

Times Square

Rockefeller Centre

Rockefeller Centre - so many people, crazy!!

Downtown, Statute of Liberty in background 

9/11 Memorial 

World Trade Centre

Wall St, NYSE