http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Spain , Andalusia , Granada en-us Wed, 22 May 2013 11:41:38 +0000 Wed, 22 May 2013 11:41:38 +0000 GranadaWe 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 s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-786295.html Its been two long days since our last confession ooops sorry I mean blog and we39ve covered some ground in that time. So lets do a short recap.Friday our last day in beautiful Barcelona we had a morning of shopping then headed to our pickup location for a half day journey to meet the Monks of Monserrat. Arriving there we were greeted with a confused face and a Qu no Monserrat tour today http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-784577.html Hotel car park and bikes securedTapas for dinner and cross festival http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-784157.html Took the morning bus to Granada and made sure I wouldn39t miss this one by getting to the terminal much earlier. Bus ride was a good 3 hours long and when breakfast was light and stomach gets hungry easier in the cold it was pretty enduring. Bought a local 39tourist39 map for 1 euro and headed to town. Main hit for today was to the Alhambra and from there perhaps a few more other sites http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-768298.html As my father and I hadnt taken a holiday abroad together since 1989 it was long overdue. His two preferences were Ireland or Spain. No offence to Ireland but as I live in England I am already sick of being rained on so I chose Andalucia in Spains heavily Moorish influenced south.I was conscious that as my father is 75 years old quite deaf and even more absentminded than I am that I w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-757436.html Granada wow what a city. If I could make myself an ideal city I would take some of its elements from Granada. Chief amongst of which would be cheap and high quality tapas. I have never been out in a European city where one can eat and drink so cheaply without sacrificing all semblance of quality.Apart from the excellent nightlife which I was lucky enough to enjoy on the night I was there with a M http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-750900.html So we headed to Andalucia in southern Spain to soak up the last of the summer sun. Soaked we were for most of the time. Sadly there were flash floods in the region after 6 months of no rain and some people lost their lives.We were on a late night flight to Malaga and stayed in some cheap but clean place walking distance to the train station. It was an airy morning completely dark at 7.30am and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-748004.html ltgtltxmlgt ltoOfficeDocumentSettingsgt ltoAllowPNGgt ltoOfficeDocumentSettingsgtltxmlgtltgtltgtltxmlgt ltwWordDocumentgt ltwZoomgt0ltwZoomgt ltwTrackMovesgtfalseltwTrackMovesgt ltwTrackFormattinggt ltwPunctuationKerninggt ltwDrawingGridHorizontalSpacinggt18 ptltwDrawingGridHorizontalSpacinggt http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-746426.html Preface This post was written about 10 days or so before the solace of the mountains. When I read it now it seems so far away from my current state of mind but I post it in the spirit of a blog that is documenting the journey and states of mind as well as 39what has happened39.Sometimes during this trip I have struggled with the concept of being 39a tourist39. The catching of flight http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-743173.html The tour book that I used when I was planning my trip recommended setting aside 3 hours to see the Alhambra and Generalife in Granada. They were not kidding. In fact from the time I hopped out of my taxi I learned my lesson the day before about successfully finding my way there on foot until exhausted I hailed a taxi back to the hotel it took just over 5 hours to see it all. So much has bee http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-741981.html Today was a travel day although I did manage to get quite a bit of sightseeing in. The train ride from Seville to Granada is just over three hours it left Seville just before noon and arrived in Granada around 300 which is a pretty perfect time to be travelling I have to say you don39t have to get up early and you still have enough of the day left when you arrive to make a day of it. Gra http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-741650.html Bienvenidos a Granada actually its a month later and I39m in Scotland bit of catching up to do. Had a great journey down by train from Cordoba very scenic. Well needless to say I visited the Alahambra the number one tourist attraction in Andalucia. It was woth going to but it was sooo touristy lines everywhere. Thankfully I bought my entrance ticket in advance and avoided a long wait. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-740794.html Granada is a midsized city located in Granada Province in the Andalucia region of Spain. Rich in history and culture Granada is arguably the single most worthwhile city in Spain for a tourist.In addition to a rich multicultural history the Alhambra and other monuments a studentdriven nightlife and skiing and trekking in the nearby Sierra Nevada Granada offers a break from the summer heat of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-738260.html Granada has not proved as interesting as I expected but that39s only probably because I have spent so much time by myself My hostel room is very stange my bed and another are in a kitchen and three other beds are in a separate room with no aircon. Noone was sitting out in the hot and sticky communal areas so I resigned myself to sitting in my kitchen under the aircon instead until it got http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-737636.html In my 71 days in Spain I have been to Madrid Toledo Sevilla Nerja Salobrea Mlaga Lanjaron Algeciras Mekness Morrocco Fez Morrocco Lagos Portugal and Paris France. For all of those trips home base has been Granada. To think that this time tomorrow more or less I will be on a bus to Madrid to get on a plane to the US is insane. The only way to describe what I am feeling is http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-733548.html Belfast Most people who39ve come here say they39ve just come from Cordoba or Seville but this is the first time anyone has come here straight from Belfast. That39s random.It was. Most people wouldn39t take a week39s holiday and go from London to Belfast to Granada.It wasn39t the original plan I was meant to continue down to the Republic after my short but sweet sweep throug http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-731654.html Well I have survived my very first music festival ever It was beyond amazing We got to Benicassim on the 10th and stayed thru the 16th. Let me just say I am so so so glad we decided to do the easy tents where they set up the tent for you and supply us with a light locks and bed mats. Such a good idea It was also pleasant because the rows of tents were covered with some sort of material t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-730984.html We have a record.We were the first in the breakfast room. Unbelieveble. This is it. We visit where we came for The Alhambra. We were picked up from the Hotel by a mini bus. It was a real U.Nation arriving at the Alhambra tour with Aussies Germans South Africans Americans and a Dutch couple living in Canada for 61 years. The Spanish guide fitted us with ear phones and gadgets so we could h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-730490.html Tres tristes tigres triscaban trigo en un trigal.Un tigre dos tigres tres tigrestrigaban en un trigal.Qu tigre trigaba msTodos trigaban igual.This Trabalengua tongue twister is how my week began. We are sitting at lunch one day when all of the sudden Johnny just says it. I was intrigued and so he slowed it down and taught it to us. I spent the rest of the hour we were in the kitch http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-730396.html Today we were on our way at 10 o39clock. A few clouds looked promising. Who knows it might control the temperature. The aim was to or rather climb to the St Nicolas church because the view supose to be spectacular. Map in hand working our way through the maze of cobbled streets and steps. Ha. They always forget the little connecting bits. When asking locals they just point up with a smile as http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-730307.html