Day 30 - Valencia to Granada

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A long day in the coach. 6 hours driving broken into 3 x 2 hour stints. No really interesting sites to report, just the tour director talking most of the time pouring out Spanish history. His knowledge is amazing, quoting kings by number and dates, way too much and he stands and refers to nothing.

We start off with orange groves everywhere, then almonds and finally some really arid country which he says is where a lot of the old "spaghetti westerns" were filmed. Just like a real desert scene with lots of hills everywhere. He tells us about a city that we pass that was built expressly to attract tourists. Looks and sounds very much like the Gold Coast. Lots of high rise buildings, even an amusement park. All in the middle of nowhere. He says that the population goes from 70000 to nearly 700000 over summer. They built one high rise so tall that when it opened, they still hadn't worked out how to get water to the top third of the building......

Eventually we arrive in Granada. We get about half an hour lecture on how and what the gypsies do to fleece you of your hard earned. By the time we get off the bus everyone is frightened to move anywhere. As it turns out, we have about an hour before we head off the our next tour. The Alhambra is a hilltop fortress complex empcompassing royal palaces, serene patios and reflecting pools from the Nasrid dynasty as well as the fountains and orchards of the Generakife gardens (that last bit was from Wikipedia).

This place is huge and we wander through the summer palace and gardens, then through the gardens to the Kings palace and on to the Muslim palace. This one of those big majestic places where there is lots of opulence inside but very plain outside. Really nice mirror pool inside which reflects the building nicely. Eventually out and back to the hotel for a late buffet dinner.

Off for bed and an earliyish start tomorrow.

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