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Blogs from Andalusia, Spain, Europe
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May 17th 2013
Granada We had a sleepy bus ride here a few days ago, entered through the less attractive part of the city and immediately wished ourselves back in beautiful Seville! We walked to the wrong hotel, having gotten confused in our long tripadvisor quest the night before, but found the right one quite quickly. Walking around the neighborhood after checking in gave us a better feel for the city, and we stopped regretting having prepaid for three nights! Morocco in Granada? We are staying in the old Arab quartier, which is now the new Arab/hippie/hipster area. The streets are similiar to those in a Morocco medina, as they were originally built by the Muslim founders of Granada. We are near the Alhambra, with lots of tapas places on our street. It's noisy here until at least 1:00am, ... read more
May 15th 2013
After spending the day with a new buddy in Malaga, we headed to Tarifa 14/05. It is a small but beautiful Spanish town with gorgeous sandy beaches. We arrived at about 7pm, checked into the Melting Pot hostel and headed out for some food. 3 courses and a drink for €12 seemed rather good. I've just got back from a stroll (11.30am) walked across the beach, however it is definitely suitable weather for kite surfing and sods law when I get back in the sun comes out! Met the German girls and guys who Laura had previously met here. David & I went out for breakfast, we treated ourselves to cream cheese and smoked salmon, which came with a glass of cava (only 6€). The weather was overcast and cold, so we walked around the castle ... read more
May 14th 2013
Well, I'll just be quick the flight bit...crying all the way to the airport with my mum. So very emotional, but I got chatting to a lady in the queue for luggage check in and started to feel a bit better. All went pretty, smooth. I didn't even bleep when going through customs. Flight was ok, but I can see why Ryan air flights are the cheapest (not that I'm moaning). I got chatting the lady next to me who was lovely and I was getting excited. Arrived in Malaga.. A relief as I collected my backpack, which luckily was the 2nd down the conveyor belt and I strolled out into the foyer, took a deep breath and smiled. Found the taxi rank, the driver did not know where my hostel was so he gave me ... read more
May 14th 2013
We spent our last full day in Sevilla visiting the Parasols and the Cathedral and just wandering around and seeing some beautiful gardens, parks, and buildings... The Cathedral, while immense, was oppressive in a way and had none of the beauty and grace of the Alcazar (and it cost more to get in!) We are off by bus to Granada tomorrow mid-day...... read more
May 13th 2013
After a last trip through the medina, a taxi ride to the border of Spanish Ceuta, a walk across the border, including a few minutes of real strangeness (walking through narrow metal cage-like passageways, with a dozen Moroccans waiting for something...they told us to squeeze by them....), a taxi to the ferry, ferry to Algecinas, Spain across the Straits of Gilbraltar, walk to the bus station, three hour bus ride to Seville and a final taxi ride to our hotel, we are settled in Seville for three days! The culture change was most abrupt as we traveled by taxi from the Ceuta border: within minutes, we went from seeing poor Moroccan workers to people jogging and power-walking along the shore, dressed in expensive clothing.... The bus ride from Algecinas to Cadiz was stunning...the coast is known ... read more
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May 10th 2013
From Valencia I carried on to Granada. I took the bus again and arrived at my destination again late in the evening. Which meant that information desks would be closed and I would only have the tiny map from my guidebook to go by. The bus station is quite a ways from the city centre, although I still considered walking. When I came out of the bus station there were two city buses out front and EVERYONE who didn't have a car waiting was jumping on the first bus. Without any real idea of where I was going I asked the driver if the bus went downtown. Yes it did, and conveniently stopped only a couple of blocks from my hostel. It probably would have stopped closer, but it was oddly crowded for the time of ... read more
Palomares to Salamanca upto lunch
Published: May 8th 2013Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Seville » Utrera
May 8th 2013
Finding our way out of Seville we stopped for early coffee break and met Pakistani chap who practiced his English on us. Yamaha racing team truck pulled in making his way back from jerez while we drank our morning caffeine fix. Ken invited dave G to make an illegal left out of the Car park but the passengers on the bus got short shrift from the bus driver of our convoy. Weather is excellent for biking very warm and overcast so the 297 miles on riding again on an empty dual carriageway should be no problem. All bikes doing well, and ken had given Lucas some fun by riding his grandson around the compound before we left .Miles or kilometres passed and we stopped for lunch along the way, but were possibly followed into our stop ... read more
NEVER EVER DRIVE A F#*%^N VAN IN SPAIN!
Published: May 8th 2013Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Torremolinos
May 8th 2013
Forgot to mention the strange thing we saw leaving Valencia. Hot looking senorita's with little cases sitting on white plastic chairs interspersed every so often along the highway. Took us a while to realize they were puta's (whores) ready to service customers...we then played spot the whore (and discussed what was in the cases!). With Guido the GPS guide failing us on the drive into Granada, we found ourself smack bang in the middle of the city... massively busy, narrow streets (the van inches away from scraping both sides and making a u-turn meant doing an Austin Powers 20 point turn), traffic, people, bikes, dogs, cows ... ok no cows... Leanne having a cardiac arrest, Mick with dry mouth syndrome and adrenaline guts, it was hell. Guido decides to come back on line and directed us ... read more
Seville day out with robin as guide
Published: May 7th 2013Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Seville » UtreraMay 7th 2013
Team trip guided by robin headed to Seville, but boys team ripped by male taxi driver who took long way to tram station, and 15 euro lighter we eventually arrived into Seville central on a fabulous Light train and hit the nearest coffee bar so mr goode could overcome his abstinence of pure cafe solo, refreshed we started the seville tour and hit tapas bars and sights in wonderful sunshine Lunch was superb with robin guiding us through the streets of London, no that's a song the ken does Mean Seville we went over the bridge with padlocks from couples who etched them, Few more beers we then had some little pussies local delicacy and more tapas. Returning to the station it was suddenly meriender time, that's sevillian for cake and coffee time at about 5pm, ... read more
