(supposedly) last day with Juan!
Trip Start
May 23, 2008
1
33
54
Trip End
Ongoing
Granada,
Andalusia,
Spain and Canary Islands
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Before leaving Malaga we decided to check out the Castillo de Gebralfaro and the Alcazaba, which were situated on a hill with panoramic views of the city. The Castillo de Gebralfaro is a Moorish castle sitting at the highest point, and we walked around the top of the perimeter walls admiring the lovely views, before heading down to the Alcazaba, a fortress and palace dating back to the 8th Century. Gelati was also in order, as by that stage it was almost lunchtime and getting very hot.
We took the coastal route as much as possible north to Granada, which was just as impressive as the drive along the Costa del Sol down south, with huge brown hills rolling down to the ocean and scattered with huge whitewashed spanish mansions, and stopped for a late supermarket lunch at a small beach along the way, to have a swim and a snooze in the sun before we farewelled the Mediterranean and had to go inland.
Granada didnt seem to warm to us at first, taking well over an hour once we were inside to tackle the maze of one way streets and narrow alleyways before we even found a park, and even then we still had no idea where our hostels were.
view from Castillo de Gibralfaro over Malaga
Going off a tiny Lonely Planet map (they are total shit by the way) we managed to eventually get to our street and checked in. Our next dilemna was where the hell we were going to park Juan, as he was sitting in a loading zone and had to be moved by 8am the next day. The lady in the hostel though was very helpful and told us that there was free parking up the top of the street that we were on (alot of the streets are only pedestrianised, as they have a lot of steps etc so there is not much car access available) and drew on a map the route that we needed to take to get there, which looked disturbing in itself as we had to be on the correct one way roads and the maze that we had to drive through to get there looked incomprehensively hard, though the lady seemed to think that we would be fine and that it was easy! Yeah right. Once we got back to the car it took us another hour to move it from a park littereally no more than 150 - 200m away from where we intended to go, through the backstreets (incredibly lost and confused) and to a car park. The problem with Granada is that not much is signposted so once you drive past the road that you want, it takes you 15 minutes to get back there as you litterally are stuck going one way. By the end we were all incredibly frustrated but relieved. Though I dont think we will ever speak of that moment again...By the time we parked Juan it was about 11.30pm and me and Sean were starving. We wandered down to the Plaza Nueva and got tempted by the most amazing gelati that we had ever seen, but decided instead to get a pizza.
view from Castillo de Gibralfaro over Malaga
We wandered around for a little while as the place was full of people, and found this guy who was making huge bubbles using 2 sticks and a piece of string. We watched this one kid keep trying to burst them by throwing a juggling baton at them, while another guy was underneath blowing at them to keep them up in the air and out of the kids reach. It was really beautiful and balmy weather, and there was a street performer playing the guitar next to us, and heaps of people sitting around chatting and drinking. Though we soon got tired and headed back up the maze of streets to bed.We were up early again this morning to start exploring the town. Granada is a maze of beautiful cobblestone streets, and although we had a general idea of what we wanted to see, we tended to wander more than anything. On top of one of the hill which we were staying on we found the Mirador de San Nicolas - a church and large square which looked out over the famous Alhambra (we go and see that tomorrow) and surrounding town. Me and Georgie watched these kids climbing on this old dome-like building and decided that we wanted some of the action ourselves. Sean unwillingly played photographer and well, i guess you just check out the pictures. We then headed down the hill and wandered along the creek back through the city to the main Cathedral and Capilla Real (royal chapel), had some delicious rolls for lunch in a little cafe, wandered some of the streets, tried out the AMAZING gelati that we had found last night, then retired back to the hostels for an afternoon siesta.
That morning we had booked ourselves in for a session at the local Hamman (Arab) baths, and headed off to those at 4pm for 1 and a half hours of blissful relaxation.
walls of the Castillo de Gibralfaro
The baths are made up of 3 different pools; a cold, warm and a hot, plus a sauna. The interior is softly lit, and the designed with arab style pillars, marble, mosaic tiles and rich earthy colours. Soothing music is played throughout the rooms and we paid a little extra to indulge in an aromatherapy oil massage. Floating in the pools and lying in the sauna for so long meant that by the time we walked out we looked completely dazed and sleepy. It was sooo relaxing and peaceful. I couldnt take my camera in but there are pictures if you google search if you want to check it out. It was amazing.When we returned to the hostel we got deep into discussions as to what i should be doing for the next part of my trip. Georgie kept suggesting that i continue up the coast with them to Ibiza and after showing me photos and videos of her last time there, i was completely sold and changed around my plans and bought the tickets! Luckily i had allowed some time in my itinerary to allow for moments like this so it wasnt too difficult to change around and after all, this is what travelling is all about! And i was pumped as it meant that i got to have another couple of days with Juan :)
To celebrate we cracked open some sangria and then headed to a square up the road to find somewhere to have some dinner. We were walking past a restaurant when we were approached by the funniest restaurant hostess i had ever met, and to make matters worse, she didnt speak a word of english. But we fell in love with her instantly and decided to eat there.
Georgie and the Castillo de Gibralfaro
Our waiter was equally as good, he was from Morocco and had come over to Spain to learn the guitar. We had a really nice dinner and then decided to try and get to bed a little early for once (11.30pm) as tomorrow we have a hugely early morning start of 6am as we have to somehow line up and pray that we get tickets into the most famous and highly hyped attraction in Granada, the Alhambra.meanwhile, since i have hit the 3 month mark in my trip, i guess its about time i did a little one of my updates.
What i miss most: being able to go down the street and know exactly where i can get what i want.
What i miss least: routine!!! And working.
Favourite thing about travelling: not knowing what the day will bring - unexpectedness!
Least favourite thing about travelling: living out of a backpack (although i love Boris to bits)
Favourite city / country: Munich / Portugal
Least favourite: Athens still!
Favourite food: Gyros, Crepes, gelati (all incredibly healthy)
Least favourite food: Tagine from Morocco... uugh it makes me shudder
Favourite part of Spain: south for sure! Seville especially is absolutely beautiful.
Least fav part: Madrid was pretty boring.
Where in Europe i could live: Munich or south coast of Spain
What i am looking forward to most: staying with Desiree in Switzerland, and Belgium
What i am looking forward to most when i get home: seeing everyone
Days away: 97
Days i have worn shoes: 2 (aaaahahahaha i love it)
Days since milk: 10 - noooooo!
Days it has rained: 2
Days since it rained: 56
What i am craving right now: vegies
What is my one weakness: nutella...
View down to the bull ring in Malaga
and gelatiSome (of the many) things i will be doing when i get back home: Learn spanish, work to live and not live to work, spend less time in bed and more time outside, slow down... nothings a race.
What i love about travel: the most deep and intimate conversations that you have with perfect strangers, most of whoom you never meet again. Like last night i was talking to an American guy while i was lying in bed in the dark in our room, and this morning he was gone. Its very wierd but really really cool.
What has suprised me the most about Europe: How easily i can communicate
What annoys me the most about Europe: Going to new countries and then accidentally speaking to them in the last language! It makes your head hurt as by the end you have spoken practially 3 languages at once.
What i have learnt from the last 3 months: you always have to look on the positive side as nothing good ever comes from negativity. Always be happy and enjoy every moment. Life is what you make it and if you want something bad enough, you will make it happen. Be true to yourself and dont stress!!!
Comments
Bulls and Roses
Well Kate, love your philosophy of life. We all need to stop and smell the roses, just as long as we keep well away from the thorns. I notice you have taken the 'soft' approach with Spain's national passtime, bullfighting. You have not mentioned going to a bullfight but the bulls you found sure are cute and are probably much easier to control. Did you find them in a china shop? Sorry bad joke, I guess they were in a Spanish shop. I am so glad your bad experience in Barcelona has been well and truly pushed into the past by all the incredible things you have seen and done since and you will leave Spain with some wonderful memories. Luv Mumxox
Where is a cow when you need one? NO BULL
Ten days without milk, and your still alive! WOW - How did you cope? I guess you would be having the worst case of DT's then!
So your navigating skills have been very handy by the sounds of it. Don't you just love one way streets? By the time you get back you will be very conditioned to one way streets, you would be great to have as a navigator in Sydney.
What's with all the male things in your life at the moment, Larry, Boris, Juan? Surly some of these items are female; Cars are always female, unless they are a truck. And what's with the Bulls, is this a subconscious thing that reminders you of your father (Pedders - NO BULL) or do you just like soft cuddly things?
Glad to see you are living life Kate, I love your new found mottos' and new found elder style philosophy. It's quite a change from that 16 year old teenager that I remember from a few years ago. The one philosophical thing you forgot to add to your writings is that you're dead for a very long time, so see it and do it now, as you just don't know what's around the corner. But just remember, to keep something in reserve, as you got to look after your folks when they get older.
Thanks Kate for a great lot of new Blogs. I know it's been a lot of work for you. Love you heaps beautiful. Keep safe, have lots of fun and enjoy.
Love Dad xoxxox
PS - One thing you might like to do is in your random section from time to time, is do an expanded explanation of local names of some of the foreign foods or cultural terms that you use in your writings e.g. what makes a really good Galati and what makes a bad one. What spices and herbs are used in dishes? Etc
Superman/Wonderwoman?
Hey Kate, What are doing climbing on that random building are you trying to be superman? Well I googled the baths that you went to which had a youtube link so I watched a couple of videos of it, my god it must have taken ages to do those mosaic tiles. I so want one of them massages. Then I youtubed the Al-Hambra to see where you would be going and there was an 8 minute clip about it. What a massive place I really hope you were able to get tickets, if not, youtube it and see it like I did.
Loved all the photos, keep up the good work and oh yeah I have plenty of milk in my fridge if it helps!!
Luv Donna xx