...and the other half goes to Andalucia

One of the things I have learned in life is never to go back somewhere you've had a fantastic time, as it is rarely so good the second time. So I was planning on spending part of this winter in Granada in Andalucia Southern Spain, and not returning to Céreste. But then Martine et al decided to go to Céreste and in fairness, it hardly took any persuading to get me back there after all. Especially with the lure of having a companion to go trekking with on my lovely horse Gigi.

But I couldn't get Granada out of my head, so I decided to take a short holiday there, and who knows, maybe winter 2012 will see me there.


I travelled with my good friend Ann, we've known each other since the late 70s but had never been on holiday with just the two of us. Ann had a lot to forgive, I forgot my driving license and despite numerous calls to the DVLA to get them to send a copy to Avis, something was lost in translation and Avis never received it. So Ann had to do all the driving, while I tried to navigate with a very cranky SATNAV called Karen, with whom I have visited some very interesting but unintended destinations in the past.




We stayed the first night in El Torro del Mar, having been led there by a lovely elderly Spanish couple in their car as Karen could find neither the street nor the hotel, then the next day we moved on to El Morche, to a lovely beach and spectacular sunsets. We liked this place so much we stayed for 2 nights and ate loads of tapas!

Then we moved onto a town called Nerja which we both really liked. In the morning we visited these spectacular caves well worth a visit if you're ever in Andalucia, then chilled out on the beach for the afternoon

Then we started our journey inland to Granada, stopping in this hacienda style restaurant/hotel at Iznajar overnight and visiting the National park. The hotel was on a lake that was part of a hydroelectric scheme, and from the town you could see this bridge that had been submerged by the dam. We explored the fortifications in the town which were Moorish in origin and built right into the rock.

 The next day we took the road for Granada, which had been my original destination, but I was so glad we took a few days to explore the surrounding countryside, as it is so varied and interesting. This pic is of  a traffic jam Andalucian style.

 En route we passed loads of these amazing white villages, some of them perched on top of hills, some nestled into the hillside.












 Finally we reached Granada and the Alhambra. It is best to book in advance  to avoid disappointment on the day. Here is the view from the gardens.

This one of the many spectacular sites inside the Nasrid Palace. The architecture here is totally different to the rest of the Alhambra and Generalife

Then it was time to head for Malaga and our flight home. We passed this very impressive Moorish Castle in Calahorra, but didn't have time to explore, looking at it on the web later, it is definitely a place to visit next time.

Our last Spanish dinner, young goat. Tasted very similar to lamb.

The last leg of the journey back to Malaga passed by Nerja and we found a great supermarket, olive oil, Serrano ham, chorizo, cheese and Cava. Then lazed in the sun and shade of these great umbrellas, ate a lovely lunch , swam a lot then sadly departed