In order to get great photos like this
and this…
and so many so many other great views, it usually requires a lot of these…
When we started our walk to the Alhambra early yesterday morning, the weather was cool and we were heading downhill in our to cross a bridge over the river. But even something as simple as “walking down the (wet, cobblestone) street” can be treacherous.
Upon crossing the river, however, the journey took a decided turn in an uphill direction! Gone was the cool morning as sweat began forming as we paused to catch our breath.
As we reached the summit of the hill and arrived at our destination it occurred to me again how very much in shape one has to be in order to take on an expedition such as we have done. Regardless of what city, country or continent we have visited there have been a few consistent facts. There’s going to be a lot of walking and there are going to be a lot of hills and/or stairs to climb. Whether it’s the Giralda tower in Seville, the Medina in Tangier or the Alhambra in Granada you can’t make those happen without a considerable workout. But that’s part of daily life in most of Europe. Instead of driving to the grocery store (which nobody here does) they walk - every day.
And take a look at this guy about to ascend to the highest point in the Alhambra complex - on crutches!
I remember when preparing for the trip a couple of weeks ago that I was concerned about losing my 50+ day streak of walking at least 10,000 steps (5 miles) a day while in Europe. Yesterday morning, prior to leaving the Alhambra, my watch alerted me that my streak remains in tact.
In fact by the end of the day yesterday, we had accumulated over 12.5 miles!
I think that we can all learn a few lessons about health and staying active from of European friends.
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