Land of the gypsies

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Olé,

So much for Granada being cooler than Seville; The heat caused the first upset of the trip! After spending the day milling about Granada, we arrived back late at the campsite ready for a good nights sleep. Well, as we settled down on our expensive self-inflating mats, we discovered they were now more like self-inflating beach balls! The temperature in the tent during the heat of the day was so hot it caused the mats to blister. For those of you thinking of purchasing mats read the instructions first.

The campsite was clean, had a large pool and an Italian pizzeria, run by a smooth talking Italian called Alberto. Together, with advise from Pat & Mary an english couple in their 80's who had travelled the world and were on their way back home from a 7 week trip around Italy, and Alberto's charm, pizza ended up being our first meal in Granada. It really was a good pizza!!

The Alhambra is an amazing garden palace, restored to its previous glory after it was left to ruin in the 19th century. The ancient muslim palace and gardens, originally built by the Moors, had additional forts, palaces and temples added by various catholic rulers over the prevaling centuries, leaving a wonderful mix of architecture. If that doesn't interest you, it is simply worth visiting to loaf around the gardens.

The next best thing Granada has to offer is free tapas!! Simply walk into a bar, order a drink, and along comes a plate of food. A few rounds later you stagger home on a full stomach without having to visit the kebab shop, which incidentally are also worth visiting.

Other than that the winding streets have tea shops on each corner, definitely worth popping into, and the usual tourist shops with over priced ornaments, the most notable point are the hoard of gypsy's and hippie's roaming the streets. At first we didn't mind the gypsy's, but after the umteenth time having a sprig of thyme thrust into your face by an old woman, or a drunken bum asking for loose change it was definitely time to leave Granada!

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Photos

Alhambra garden
Palace gardens

Granada
A frequent stop in the shade

Granada sunset
Alhambra by night

Granada
Moorish lanes

Comments

[Kerry Smith]

Hi
Hi there Looks like you guys are having a ball, not too sure about the bull fighters, you were good to go and watch, but as they say, when in Rome.................. Keep writing lots of love me xxxxxxxxxxx