Spain 4th Edition

Granada by day and the main attraction of course Alhambra.

Firstly though we catch a local bus into Granada Central with the object being to find the Old Town which has become our favourite area to explore within these large cities. So, wandering through a maze of narrow streets backdropped by red, gnarly mountains, occasionally happening across a fruit stall here, a trader in leather goods there, we realise we are in the Jewish district of Granada. I cannot express or paint a written picture as to how it looks and feels to be able to wander through a communities habitat and daily life soaking up the richness of it all. The memories and the beauty are in our heads and hopefully expressed in photos we upload to Facebook and I am forever humbled by the fact that we are lucky enough to be able to do this. This feeling particularly hit home in Granada and, as is our norm, we became so engrossed in our surroundings and wanderings we realised we were quite lost in the back streets of this huge, huge city........but never fear, it was lunchtime and we had espyed a graffiti covered cafe with truckloads of attitude, on the corner of a dilapidated street that just begged us to come on in. So we did. As Gary will say - we went in as strangers and came out as friends - wine soaked and bellies full with another adventure and experience under our belts.

An hour later and a long uphill slog we finally arrived at the ticket office at Alhambra. Now the fun started as there are only a certain amount of people allowed through each day and only 30% of these tickets can be bought at the ticket office and the queue was.......well, not too bad to be honest. Senior citizens are cheaper too, but not us we are from New Zealand (go figure that one and hey what about our budget?), so begrudgingly paying full price we entered the wondrous world of Alhambra.

Alhambra is a palace and a fortress complex, originally constructed in 889 as a fortress and then rebuilt firstly in the 11th century, when the palace and walls were added and then converted into a Royal palace in the 14th century. In the 19th century it was saved from dereliction, restored and is now the most amazing piece of arcihtecture I have ever witnessed. The buildings are basically quadrangles with rooms opening on to a central courtyard and all quadrangles are joined by connecting rooms and passages. The columns, the filligree, the reflecting pools, the very prominent water features, whether within the quadrangles or flowing down the sides or centres of a bank of steps all make you feel you have stepped into another world. The outside walls of Alhambra are austere, plain and, to be honest, uninviting but once you walk through the immaculate gardens to the inside you feel as though you have walked into paradise on earth. We spent hours here in the sunshine which made the light perfect for photography so please go to our facebook pages and view the pics - just couldn't stop snapping.

But it is getting late, the light is fading -we must retrace our steps back home to Molly.

Deciding to catch a bus back down into Centro rather than walking we got off the bus........somewhere????? (Wherever it was it was the last stop so we had no other option). Getting your bearings in a place this size and locating your bus stop as well takes some doing but, true to form, my trusty GPS (Gary) got us right there and well within the 2 hour time limit!!! LOL.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day in Granada and our stay in Granada given it is a big city but after 4 nights at this campsite tomorrow we will move on. We are still looking for a base to stay for a while so maybe, just maybe, our next port of call just outside of Almeria will be the place.

This 4 hour journey was beautiful. After dispensing with low cloud and heavy fog at Venra del Molinillo we climbed to 1400metres - the highest we have taken Molly so far - skirting the eastern side of the Sierra Navada mountains. The photos posted on facebook cannot do it justice it is like driving through a wonderland. We have been sooooo cold but now we are back in brilliant sunshine and warm again. We love Andalucia. Driving through La Peza Lopero there is a light dusting of snow on the mountains and then we find ourselves on a mountain plateau cruising at 1100metres through plain, arid countryside where nothing much is able to exist or be supported except.........fields and fields of windfarms as far as the eye can see and surprisingly they are beautiful. Majestic arms slicing through the atmosphere. Doris telling Agnes...."you can do it! Keep going, don't be so lazy", but her arms are hurting and she has to come to a slow halt as Doris looks down on her and continues her own neverending motion of arms. It is a glorious sight and yes we are on the Spanish plains. There are small villages dotted here and there embedded in the folds of these spectacular mountains which look like the layers and frills of flamenco dresses basking in the sunshine.

At Dolar we descend a little into a basin of agriculture. Plastic greenhouses and wigwams sheltering tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant abound, from the road to the horizon. The surrounding hills are now sparten and there is only tussock to view. Then grapeviness and olive trees come in to view - kilometres and kilometres of well looked after vines - and the mountains take on the frills of the flamenco skirt again. I have never seen such beautiful scenery in my entire life and the light was perfect for photography.

And so we descended after our long journey into Almeria and Kate (gps) and Molly took us to Castell del Rey and to our next campsite - La Garrofa.

Next update:

And so 2 weeks and 1day later we are still here at La Garroffa and what an amazing time we have had and are having. The weather is fantastic and we are positioned directly overlooking the beach. The shore is stoney and stormy - wave wise - and the sound of the pebbles crashing to shore lulls us to sleep at night. This is the most amazing place ever. A tiny cove nestled between Almeria and Roquetas

Next update:

If you have been faithful enough and been an avid follower of our blog you would have realised by now that all has been very quiet on our blog spot for well over a month.

What happened was that we got stuck in La Garrofa. This is a place that you either "get" or you "don't get" and we definitely "got it". We finally stayed here for just over 5 weeks!!!!!

Why? The place is nothing special - small sites, salt water showers, a bit old and tired (it actually was the first Spanish campsite on the Southern coastline) - but the people, oh the people who get La Garrofa, form this amazing bond of happiness, helpfulness, fun and contentment. Those who don't fit in with the place hurry up and leave for better, more modern climes. Swiss, Scottish, Dutch, English, German and of course New Zealanders - some with amazing skills and eyes to die for - come together at planned and impromptu get togethers, which can last all day or to the early hours, creating memories that will last forever for everyone. Throw in long walks over the barren hilltops to a Tapas bar in the next bay; Thursday morning English breakfast gatherings on the seafront in Roquetas; girls day out to the Grand Plaza buying up all the specials; the Curry evening; the Chilli evening; the fresh fish evening; the guitar, harmonica and country music evening (amazing couple to watch and listen to who run a back packers on the Isle of Skye); the bonfire on the beach evening, with burnt sausages and marshmallows and cans of beans popping in the fire; the Ukeleli evenings with the La Garrofa song written by the amazing Gary and put to music by Markus and Sabrina from Switzerland (boy those two could dance): the leaving evenings - the saddest of them all. We fell in love and stayed. It was so easy. A local bus going left would take you to Almeria which boasted an amazing beach to stroll along, up to date shops to shop at and a castle called Alcazaba which was free to enter. A bus to the right would take you to Aquadulcie, for food shopping, and then on to Roquetas where we both had a tattoo done - another tick off our bucket lists.

We had been looking for a place to stay for a while for a while and as we eased Molly under a low hanging tree on a parcela overlooking the beach we were welcomed by the sun and these amazing people. Next day the low limb of the tree was cut off to allow us more room. We are unsure how this came about but it was the conduit to our falling in love with the place as people had been trying to get the branch lopped of that tree for years. Instantly we were a hit - we had achieved the impossible.

Mo and Jim from the UK, Jurg from Switzerland (he arrived in July and is still there), Margarite and Peter from Germany and Holland repectively, Lisa and Brian from Scotland were all La Garrofad but a steady stream of previously La Garrofad couples would soon arrive to swell the throng. Annie and Tons from Holland, Ellie and Steve from the UK, Dawn and Graham from the UK and the "kids from Switzerland"- Markus and Sabrina - who would soon be La Garrofad as well, who would leave and then return for more. All of these beautiful people made our stay at La Garrofa magic.

And then there is MALCOLM!!!!!!!

Malcolm is the cornerstone of La Garrofa without whom the place would not be how or what it is. Malcolm is a wiley Scottish jack-of -all trades who charges 5euro for most things - or at least suggests he should. Malcolm has a heart of gold and would do anything for anybody. He came to La Garrofa many years ago and never left and is now one of the few employees La Garrofa has. To be honest there is no need for many more when you have a Malcolm at your disposal because he has everyone's interests at heart and visa versa. Malcolm calling in for a cup of tea, orange fanta or a home cooked meal for later is a regular occurance. Malcolm is the camp Father Christmas and everyones friend. Thankyou Malcolm for enhancing our stay at La Garrofa and looking after us. We will be back.......soon.

Oh I forgot to add - he is extremely good at blowing up engines too!!!!!!!

So upward and onward and we finally left La Garrofa after 35 days and after the most amazing farewell. The wine, brandy, whisky, music, dancing and food flowed and three of us were the cabaret. Mo, Sabrina and myself, with a little bit of Annie thrown in, reminding us that I still have a little bit of "the wild child" left in me. It was definitely a night to remember and next morning, after battling through a human line of resistance we drove out of La Garrofa and towards Portugal for a month in an apartment over Christmas and New Year.