Granada

We reached Granada around sunset and therefore we had some time to sit back and relax at our accommodation before going for dinner. The weather was chillier than Seville which was surprising to me. I came here once before in the summer somewhere in August and the weather was too hot to handle (36C celsius) that I didn't notice its differences when I travelled to both Seville and Granada. I suppose being located not too far off from the coast and near the Sierra Nevada mountains, Granada enjoys both warmer and colder climates.

After getting ready, we went on to celebrate the surprise birthday party from the night before with a proper dinner. We went to a very nice little restaurant called Restaurante Sevilla. The food was fabulous and we really had a good time there.

The next morning, we walked the town a bit before visiting Alhambra. The town was quite hilly and the roads were narrow and covered with pebble stones. After an hour walking the pebble stones path, my feet started to ache. Every time I stepped I felt my feet were massaged by the stones. The town itself was quiet. There was a small local market selling food, fruits and vegetables, clothes and bric-a-brac where the locals traded among themselves. We visited the remains of the old city gate and at one point when we reached the top of the hill, we saw a view of the city  and a spectacular view of Alhambra. It was magnificent.

A visit to Granada is not complete without visiting Alhambra, a palace and fortress complex that whose buildings and the designs around it was incredibly beautiful. The one thing that was very outstanding of Alhambra (compared to other palaces I visited in Spain) was the carving. Every walls and ceilings of each buildings there were carved beautifully into very detail. It must be taking the artists very long time to finish them. And looking at the results, I think it's worth it. The carving is definitely the highlight of Alhambra. Of course, there were other places worth noted as well, such as the pool of the El Partal Palace, the Alhambra reflections and there was a courtyard near the exit of the palace that was very lovely. I still remember enjoying the serenity while sitting at the courtyard.

Even in our very tight schedules, we still had time to go street shopping. Our accommodation was located in Albayzin (also known as Arab quarter) where it is famous for its original houses since the 16th century. The streets were narrow and winding and full of small shops selling Arab's influence souvenirs, clothes, shoes, or trinkets that you can bring home. I was happy to have found two bubble pants for myself.

It was another chaotically short but still a very memorable visit to Granada. We visited Alhambra, which was the most touristy place in Granada and had a chance to walk the town in attempt to grasp the essence of the town. We even had a chance to enjoy free tapas in a few tapas bars around (Granada is one of the few cities in Spain that offers free tapas for every drink you order). It was all very good. This is the last story of the Spain Trip as this was the last city in our trip. After Granada, we headed back to Barcelona to do souvenirs shopping before catching our plane back home.

The town where we walked

Some of the many designs of Granada's floor

Alhambra

Carving on the walls and ceilings of Alhambra

Windows of Alhambra

Reflection pool in Alhambra

One of the fountains in Alhambra

The courtyard before exiting Alhambra

Nerja

Another bus ride away from Ronda and we arrived at Nerja, which is a resort town on the east of Costa del Sol (Sun Coast) in the Malaga Province. From the bus stop we walked for about ten minutes dragging our luggages to our hotel. The hotel is located at the Balcon de Europa, the centre of the old town, which is also a viewing point showing stunning panoramic view of the sea and the coasts around it.

The sun already set when we reached the hotel. And the next day was my sister's birthday. The five of us planned to give her a surprise at midnight. After dinner we spent our time chatting in one of the rooms and by midnight we turned off the lights and sang her happy birthday. We also gave her the presents we bought from Toledo. It was very hard to make it a surprise as she was with us the whole time. But still, it was a very fun night together.

The next morning we went out to the beach. Some of us went sun tanning and some of us walked around the beach and the Balcon de Europa. I must say the view from Balcon de Europa was just unbelievable. The sky was bright blue sat perfectly on top of the blue water. I could see the skyline very clearly. It was amazing.

The old town itself was very touristy. There were many tourists around and I found that the majority were pensioners from the UK. I overheard some of them talking about retirement money and similar topics. I didn't see many young people around except for those who came with their parents.

I also noticed there were many street cats around the area. I talked to one lady from the UK who had been there for a week or two feeding the street cats there. I think there were around ten or more cats gathered near her when she came with the cat food. She said she had been feeding them since she arrived and she only had a few days left in Nerja. She was worried no one would feed the cats after she left. She was one very caring lady.

Nerja, a pleasing city with amazing beach and sea view, is unforgettable. I still remember the sun shining brightly, the blue sky, the blue ocean, and the light breezy wind. The city was very laid back and it made me feel that the time had stopped and let me have a good time there. But then again, we had to rush out for our next destination, Granada. This would be the last city before going back to Barcelona.

Photos by me, MT, AW, HM, JK.

The birthday gal

The breathtaking views of Nerja

Balcon de Europa

Posing with King Alfonso XII at Balcon de Europa

The Great Gorge of Ronda

The bus ride from Sevilla to Ronda (not Rhonda, I spelled it wrong on the previous blog) took less than two hours. When we came near Ronda, we could see range of mountains full of olive trees. Then the bus went up the hill where we could see lines of white houses spreading around it. It was absolutely gorgeous. Still a part of Andalusia, Ronda, which is in the Malaga regions, is a city on two hills divided by a gorge.

We reached the city somewhere around dinner time. On the way to our restaurant, we passed by the bridge (known as Puente Nuevo or new bridge) that connected the two hills and took some night shots. It was a very deep gorge (known as El Tajo), unnerving to look down but beautiful at the same time. The next day, another bright sunny day, we went back to the bridge. The gorge was without a doubt magnificent. We walked down the gorge but not for too far down as we didn't have enough time. From below, I could see the houses that were attached to the gorge and from the top, the area was surrounded by mountains. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

We then visited Plaza de Toros, the oldest bullring in Spain. It was my first time to a bullring. There wasn't any bullfight when we were there. Not that I was looking for it anyway. I had no interest in watching bullfights at all. I think it's very cruel. But the bullring was something to be amazed to. It's very impressive and worth to look at.

Ronda definitely has something to be proud of; its beautiful landscape nature. The gorge and its surrounding gave me reasons to draw a series of long breaths which was relaxing and very calming. I wouldn't mind another visit. The next time I would give it enough time to walk further down towards the bottom of the gorge. I'm sure it will not disappoint me.

Night shot of the Puente Nuevo

More Night Shots of Ronda Town

Puente Nuevo and its nearby scenic view in day time

The amazing views of Ronda's surroundings

Plaza de Toros

More Plaza de Toros

Ronda's colorful town 

The Lovely, Lovely Sevilla

Our journey that started from northern Spain finally reached the southern part of the country. Sevilla, capital of Andalusia, welcomed us with its glorious sunny day. We started out a bit late as we were enjoying too much of the rooftop terrace of our lovely accomodation. We had longer than usual breaksfast there. We took photos there. We rested and relaxed there. It was a lovely terrace.

First up to visit was the Royal Alcazar, also known as Alcazares Reales de Sevilla. Located in the old town of Sevilla, the Alcazar was a real surprise for me. Some parts of the palace had similarities with Granada's Alhambra eg. the carving on walls, the patios, etc, but this Alcazar had one of the most unforgettable garden that I've seen. The garden was a real joy for me. There was a spot near the fountain and surrounded by very tall palm trees where I just sat there doing nothing and enjoyed it. It was very pleasing. And apparently this palace was very famous with wedding couples. It was a Saturday and there were a number of couples and their photographers in action that day. It's not surprising at all as there were many photo spots to take in the palace as if they were from different places. It was a great palace and I had a good time there. I never expected that I would enjoy it better than the Alhambra.

We spent so much time in Alcazar that we had a late lunch. We were too hungry and had to go out from it although we didn't feel like it. After our lunch, we walked the city. Sevilla is a big city and we would have covered places faster if we ride a bike. There were bike rental spots everywhere but we had to register first to rent one and we didn't. So we had no choice but to walk. We only managed to walk up to the area of Torre Del Oro (Gold Tower). It was a very unique octagonal Moorish style tower located along Guadalquivil river. We walked along the river for a while and wanted to go to the other side of the river but gave up on it as we were too tired to walk.

At night, we were very excited because we booked ourselves to watch a flamenco dance. It was my first time watching this dance and probably the first time for everyone else watching there as well. There were two dancers, a singer, and a guitarist. Each of them played a part that made every aspect of this dance very interesting. The dance was very passionate and full of fire. I could see that the dancers took so much passion and energy for every little movement. It was an amazing experience for me to be there to watch it.

The next day, we only had about half a day for Sevilla as we had to go to our next stop, Rhonda. We planned to visit the famous Cathedral and its bell tower, La Giralda, but surprisingly enough the queue to get in was too long and we didn't have time for it. So we just roamed around the Cathedral, had a delicious tapas lunch and went souvenir shopping before taking a bus to Rhonda.

Although it was my second visit, I still think Sevilla is a very fascinating city. The influence of Moorish style on its buildings made Sevilla different from other cities in the northern Spain. I felt that I was transported to a different country. And the food...I can go on and on about the food. I love the Andalusia's speciality such as the gazpacho (cold tomato-based raw vegetable soup) and rabo de toro (Spanish oxtail stew) and I love the churos. I love everything about Sevilla. There's definitely no doubt about it.

Photos by me, HM and JK.

The many features of Sevilla Alcazar

Us Enjoying Sevilla

The Flamenco Dance

The Bell Tower, La Giralda

Windows of La Giralda

Light Fountain in the square near the Cathedral

Waiting for a wedding couple from the Cathedral

Bikes for rent

Madrid

We took bus from Segovia to Madrid. One of us was quite sick and when we reached Madrid bus terminal, we decided to take cabs to our accomodation. I thought the distance was not too far from the terminal and therefore we would get there in no time. But I did not consider the traffic jam. We split into two cabs. The one with me inside reached in about half hour to forty five minutes (I think it's supposed to be about fifteen minutes ride). The other cab was lost, literary. When my friend told the address to the cab driver, he nodded right away and seemed to understand where to go. He even put the address into his GPS. After escaping from traffic jam and into the highway, it was already almost an hour. My friend came to realise that the driver was lost because the road sign on the highway was showing they were on the way back to Segovia. After debating and arguing with the driver, he finally brought them back to the correct address and was still charging triple the price of what my cab was charging me (even though he reset the meter somewhere in the middle of the trip). As far as I remember, they were in the cab for about two hours. My friends on that cab were tired, hungry, angry, felt ripped off and regretted the decision of taking the cab. All of us were very hungry. So we had quite a big dinner somewhere near where we stayed.

In the morning, my sick friend was looking worse. So I let the rest go on with our schedules and I stayed back with her. I needed the free time of not having things to do anyway so it worked fine for me. My friends visited the Royal Palace and had a very fine Paella lunch. They said the palace looked similar to Versailles but better, but Versailles had a much better garden. The Paella lunch, they said, was the best and the most expensive they had ever tried. I, on the other hand, walked around the area where we stayed, near to Tirso de Molina metro station. I have to say though that the area was a bit rough and scary. I don't know whether it was just me because a friend told me to be very careful in Madrid so I became very conscious of my surroundings. To make matters worse, I got lost. So I went into a four star hotel hoping for a direction and a map but the person in the reception was not friendly and I was out of the hotel with nothing. Luckily, I found my way back to Tirso de Molina station. Phew!

All of us met up for a dinner and a little bit of shopping in Puerta del Sol (metro: Sol). This is the heart of Madrid. It was quite a busy night, full of people out and about. I enjoyed the atmosphere. It did feel like somewhere in Granada but I wasn't sure where exactly. But it was good. And I did some shopping myself.

The next morning, we went to Museo del Prado, which was full of fine art collections. This was where I was first introduced to Goya's collections. I spent quite a while looking at them and trying to understand and appreciate them. There were many things to look at in this museum so you have to be prepared and know what to see before you go inside. We spent about half a day there, just in time for lunch. It's just not possible to look at everything in one day, let alone half a day. After lunch we got back to our hotel, packed our things up and got ready to the train station (Atocha station) where we took a night train to Sevilla.

As the capital city of and the largest city in Spain, Madrid was big, modern, busy and full of energy. Like other big cities, it was also rough and unfriendly. I was actually quite dissapointed with it. I guess I was expecting something more than what I saw. Or maybe two days were not enough to feel the city. I don't know, really. I think I should give it a second chance and come back to this city. Let's see if I change my mind.

Our dinner in Madrid

The Clock Tower at Puerta del Sol

The square at Puerta del Sol

I took the photo of this bear statue without realising that this was Madrid's emblem and a favourite meeting place at Puerta del Sol

Tourist bus is common here at Puerta del Sol

Shopping at Puerta del Sol

On the way to the Museo del Prado, people were cleaning statues to be displayed 

Entrance of Museo del Prado

An artist in action in Museo del Prado

Atocha Station, Madrid

Segovia's Charms

After a deliciously authentic dinner the night before (Segovia's infamous roast suckling pig was of course on the menu) and a good night's sleep, we were ready to start the day in Segovia's old town. Situated on a high ground, the old town is full of narrow and twisting cobbled streets. Segovia's old town is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The weather was really great that day. We walked down the hill to visit the first place in our itinerary, church of Vera Cruz. We walked past the Alcazar at the top of the hill and the church, which is at the bottom of the hill, could be clearly seen from there. It looked like a long walk down but it only took about 10-15 minutes. The church was built by the Knights Templar and was said to once housed a fragment of true cross. The shape of the church is unusually circular, not like the shape of churches that I've seen before. Inside, it was very serene. I just sat inside enjoying the peacefulness.

We then walked back and visited the Alcazar. I wasn't feeling well and therefore I didn't really take much notice of what I saw. Looking up from the church of Vera Cruz, the Alcazar stands tall on top of the hill. From the outside, the building looks like the typical castle that is used in many of Disney stories.

The last thing we visited in Segovia was the Aqueduct. This is a must see in Segovia. From what I understand, the aqueduct was used to control water flow that was coming in to the town. It's probably equivalent to the dams or canals these days. It was how the Roman built it in the old days. I can't say that I understand how it was used exactly looking at the way it's located right in the middle of the old town. Probably there wasn't a town there before. But it's a great monument stretching around the old town of Segovia. Unfortunately, we only had limited time to check out one site of it. I think it's too beautiful to be what it is, you know, a water passage. I guess that's how people built things in the old days: beautiful and functional at the same time. A local cab driver was obviously very proud of this monument. He even tried to explain to us about it in Spanish knowing that we couldn't speak the language. But I could tell from his tone that he was very proud of the Aqueduct.

It was again another quick day for us but it was definitely worth coming to Segovia. It's a beautiful town with a lot of characters. And the Aqueduct is astonishingly beautiful and not to be missed.

Segovia's Cathedral

Sunlight's reflection

Baskets for sale

We're ready to start the day at Segovia

The amazing aqueduct

Close up on aqueduct

The church of Vera Cruz

The Alcazar

The Weird Drop Box

We reached Segovia later than we expected and it was already dinner time. After carrying our luggages to our hotel and finaly meeting our two friends who were missing in action for the first few days of this trip, we decided to split up: some of us to go for dinner, while some others (me included) to return the rental car.

Having no GPS and no map, we asked the hotel reception for the directions to the AVIS rental car. The good news was we found the place. The bad news was it was not the correct AVIS rental car. Apparently, there was another one.

So we stopped at a few petrol stations asking for directions and it was funny to see my friend was talking with these helpful people at the petrol stations using a little body language and a little understanding of Spanish. They mentioned something about an Arch that we need to pass by before we can find the rental car.

After struggling a bit we found the Arch and finally the rental car. We parked the car and because the rental car office was already closed, we then looked for a drop box to drop the car key. But we couldn't find it.

The rental car was at a train station. We then asked someone who was working at the station about it. He thought we wanted to rent a car but after a few body language he finally understood that we were looking for a drop box. And he pointed us to the window of the rental car office which has a small square hole where we can drop the key. We didn't expect that at all. We were looking for a postbox or something like that but not a glass window with a square hole. It was so hilarious. So we dropped the key and we heard the key fell onto the floor and then we laughed. 

We went back to Segovia's old quarter and joined our friends who were having dinner at a restaurant near our hotel. It was already pass midnight. We were so exhausted that after dinner, we went to sleep immediately. And that's that.

Here's the small square hole as the drop box for the car key

Avila City Wall

On the way to Segovia, we detoured to Avila to visit the city medieval wall, which is amazingly still in one piece and surrounding the old town. This is another Spanish city that was declared a UNESCO Heritage Site.

The old town was quiet as we were there at siesta time. We were very hungry and went to a cafe recommended by the Lonely Planet. We were so happy to find this cafe was still open at siesta. We ordered simple bocadillos (Spanish bread rolls) with jamon serrano filling but the bocadillos were too hard to bite (they're not the kind that were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, they were simply very hard all over) and the jamon was far too raw and none of us could eat them. And a waitress working there was giving us a very unhappy look at the unfinished food. It was a terrible lunch. We left the cafe still with empty stomach.

Soon after, we paid a small fee to walk on the Avila wall and because of time constraint, we only managed to walk on one side of it. Some parts of it were under constructions but generally the wall was still in a very good condition. It was a hot afternoon. The sun was shining upon us and we were half baked up on the wall. But it was well compensated by the astonishing view of and from the wall.

On leaving Avila, we stopped by at Los Cuatro Postes, which is only 1 mile outside the city. This is the best spot to view the wall encircling the city. It was just absolutely indescribable!

Despite our very brief visit, we really had a good time in Avila (luckily the unpleasant lunch didn't spoil our experience there). As I say it often and almost on every ending of my blog for this Spain trip, it's too bad we didn't stay long enough to fully appreciate of what this medieval city has to offer.

The view from the top of the wall

As you can see, the wall is very much still in good condition

Los Cuatro Postes and the Avila city wall in the background - I love this photo

Posing at Los Cuatro Postes

The magnificent city wall, which is still intact and surrounding the city