Hola from Granada & Cordoba

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Well, after a long overnight bus trip from Porto to Madrid (and a half day in Madrid best left unmentioned apart from a visit to the Prado Museum) and then a bus to Granada, I finally made it to the south of Spain.

Let me just say that my experience with ´turismos´ (tourist offices) over the last week has left a lot to be desired.

I really enjoyed Granada. I visited Jeronimos monastery, the cathedral and royal musuem, and, of course, the Alhambra. Apart from that, I walked the streets, enjoyed some great food, and caught up on some email etc.

Once again, the photos from the Alhambra cannot do it justice, especially the interior shots. Hand held at such slow speeds, I cannot do well.

After 3 nights in Grenada, I headed to Cordoba where I found accommodation near where Pam and Graeme Sheers had recommended. Strange, but they never mentioned all the brothels at one end of the street! I must say, I have never seen such a concentrated group of old hookers. I don´t think I saw one under 45!

Whilst Grenada has the Alhambra, Cordoba has the Mezquita. Awesome also.

The other great thing I experienced in Cordoba was the annual fair. I took heaps of pictures of the crowd. There was a section for ´bring your own´bottles - which were then mixed into some interesting cocktails (including sangria etc) and hundreds of ´beer tents´. Mixed in with all this were some beautiful Spanish horses and women dressed immacuately in traditional costume. Did not see any of these at 7 am this morning when many of the crowd were returning from the fair as I was off to catch my bus to Algeciras!

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