The next part of our trip is through the south of Spain. We don't really have a plan anymore, its sort of gone out the window. We do have to be in Barcelona by the 18th Sept to meet some friends and then on to Paris for our flight to China. While not having things booked is not my ideal style of travel, it should be interesting.
We took the night train from Valencia to Granada, as the day train was full. Arriving mid morning we had accommodation at Makuto Backpackers. It took us a while to find it as it was in the hills, many narrow twisting roads to navigate, without a map. The place is very cool, although bit of a hippie commune. It has great common areas most of which are outdoors, beanbags, hammocks and a tree house. Our first day was spent resting after the train, chatting, drinking and eating the tapas prepared by the hostel staff. In the evening we went for a walk around town, more drinks, tapas and bought some etchings, hope we can get them home in one piece!
The main attraction in Granada is the Alahambra, a palace on top of a hill. It is quite amazing with a fortress (Alcazada) which has great views of the city, the Palacio Nazaries was an amazing Muslim palace, with extravagant decorations right throughout. Our favourite part were all of the gardens in and around the palaces, as well as in the General Life, a more residential area. The gardens were manicured, green and had many water features, including the 'water stairs', an outdoor stairway with water running down both sides where the hand rail usually is as well as down the middle of the stairs, with numerous fountains on the landings, hard to describe, but very cool. The Alahambra is in one of our travel books back home as one of the '100 things to do before you die', Tick!
We walked back to the hostel, stopping for some amazing tapas. For 2 euro, you order a beer or sangria and they bring t out with a plate of food. We had small baguette's filled with ham, salad and mayo as well as potato chips, olives, pickles etc...
The rest of the time in Granada, Christine had a bit of a migraine, so we took it easy. She did some shopping, Damien walked to the bus station to organise tickets. We met some very interesting people at the hostel, and went for a walk one night to watch sunset over the city.
Our next stop was a brief one in Cadiz. Arriving by bus we had to hunt down some accommodation once we had arrived. This wasn't too difficult, with a map and a list of accommodation from the turismo, Christine did the run around, without the packs.
We spent the afternoon doing the tourist walk around the old town, nice parks and fortification. This ended with an ice cream and swim on the beach. Cadiz seems like a nice place although a bit touristy, the new part of town reminds me a bit of the Gold Coast. After a shower we wandered around for a while before getting some tapas for dinner. The next morning after some shopping, we were back on the bus, only for an hour, on our way to Canos de Meca.
We had breakfast in a small Spanish bar, with the locals. We then grabbed some churrizo, olives (Christine's new favourite) and fruit at the local Mercado. We then headed down to the bus terminal where we bumped into an Australian couple (James & Bel) we had met in Granada, they were spending the day on a cruise ship that was docked, James brother works on the ship.
We arrived in Canos de Meca early afternoon. Damien spent the first hour looking for a room, but most places were fully booked. Christine sat and ate olives on the side of the road in the mean time. We eventually found a room which turned out to be really good. Pool (first accom with a pool since Las Vegas), Air con, bathroom, fridge, close to the bus stop and on the main street, were living in luxury! The rest of the day was spent lying by the pool.
We spent the weekend (5th and 6th Sept) doing very little, was nice! Saturday the weather was great so we spent most of the day on the beach and by the pool. Sunday was warm but windy, we went for a walk to the lighthouse and relaxed on our patio and by the pool. The beach actually had sand and the town was a lot smaller than Cadiz and other beach towns. We also drove through Palmar on the bus which looked small and nice. The highlight of Canos was probably wandering out to the pool, only to find our maid (a Scottish girl) and her 2 friends swimming topless! We promptly joined them in the pool, they were very friendly.
Monday morning we spent on the bus heading to our next stop Sevilla. Seville is another amazing city, we really like this place! Our hostel was cheap, small dorm, 6 beds with en suite, although noisy and boiling hot/freezing cold depending on whether aircon is on or off (no thermostat). There is a balcony that is too hot to use, its like 40 deg Celsius here, free breakfast, internet and great staff. After a free coffee we headed out for a bit of a walk around town, which is so nice, before making a big salad for dinner, again, needing some healthy food! We walked along the river for a bit, looking for the market and ceramics areas of town as well as some nice fountains and the massive cathedral.
We took the night train from Valencia to Granada, as the day train was full. Arriving mid morning we had accommodation at Makuto Backpackers. It took us a while to find it as it was in the hills, many narrow twisting roads to navigate, without a map. The place is very cool, although bit of a hippie commune. It has great common areas most of which are outdoors, beanbags, hammocks and a tree house. Our first day was spent resting after the train, chatting, drinking and eating the tapas prepared by the hostel staff. In the evening we went for a walk around town, more drinks, tapas and bought some etchings, hope we can get them home in one piece!
The main attraction in Granada is the Alahambra, a palace on top of a hill. It is quite amazing with a fortress (Alcazada) which has great views of the city, the Palacio Nazaries was an amazing Muslim palace, with extravagant decorations right throughout. Our favourite part were all of the gardens in and around the palaces, as well as in the General Life, a more residential area. The gardens were manicured, green and had many water features, including the 'water stairs', an outdoor stairway with water running down both sides where the hand rail usually is as well as down the middle of the stairs, with numerous fountains on the landings, hard to describe, but very cool. The Alahambra is in one of our travel books back home as one of the '100 things to do before you die', Tick!
We walked back to the hostel, stopping for some amazing tapas. For 2 euro, you order a beer or sangria and they bring t out with a plate of food. We had small baguette's filled with ham, salad and mayo as well as potato chips, olives, pickles etc...The rest of the time in Granada, Christine had a bit of a migraine, so we took it easy. She did some shopping, Damien walked to the bus station to organise tickets. We met some very interesting people at the hostel, and went for a walk one night to watch sunset over the city.
Our next stop was a brief one in Cadiz. Arriving by bus we had to hunt down some accommodation once we had arrived. This wasn't too difficult, with a map and a list of accommodation from the turismo, Christine did the run around, without the packs.
We spent the afternoon doing the tourist walk around the old town, nice parks and fortification. This ended with an ice cream and swim on the beach. Cadiz seems like a nice place although a bit touristy, the new part of town reminds me a bit of the Gold Coast. After a shower we wandered around for a while before getting some tapas for dinner. The next morning after some shopping, we were back on the bus, only for an hour, on our way to Canos de Meca.
We had breakfast in a small Spanish bar, with the locals. We then grabbed some churrizo, olives (Christine's new favourite) and fruit at the local Mercado. We then headed down to the bus terminal where we bumped into an Australian couple (James & Bel) we had met in Granada, they were spending the day on a cruise ship that was docked, James brother works on the ship.
We arrived in Canos de Meca early afternoon. Damien spent the first hour looking for a room, but most places were fully booked. Christine sat and ate olives on the side of the road in the mean time. We eventually found a room which turned out to be really good. Pool (first accom with a pool since Las Vegas), Air con, bathroom, fridge, close to the bus stop and on the main street, were living in luxury! The rest of the day was spent lying by the pool.
We spent the weekend (5th and 6th Sept) doing very little, was nice! Saturday the weather was great so we spent most of the day on the beach and by the pool. Sunday was warm but windy, we went for a walk to the lighthouse and relaxed on our patio and by the pool. The beach actually had sand and the town was a lot smaller than Cadiz and other beach towns. We also drove through Palmar on the bus which looked small and nice. The highlight of Canos was probably wandering out to the pool, only to find our maid (a Scottish girl) and her 2 friends swimming topless! We promptly joined them in the pool, they were very friendly.
Monday morning we spent on the bus heading to our next stop Sevilla. Seville is another amazing city, we really like this place! Our hostel was cheap, small dorm, 6 beds with en suite, although noisy and boiling hot/freezing cold depending on whether aircon is on or off (no thermostat). There is a balcony that is too hot to use, its like 40 deg Celsius here, free breakfast, internet and great staff. After a free coffee we headed out for a bit of a walk around town, which is so nice, before making a big salad for dinner, again, needing some healthy food! We walked along the river for a bit, looking for the market and ceramics areas of town as well as some nice fountains and the massive cathedral.
We saw the funniest thing in a gift shop. We were just chatting to the shop assistant about the city, what to see and do, she was studying in Spain, originally from Hungry. While we were there a group of 5 young girls (probably about 12y.o.) came up to the counter. They were just browsing, but one of them picked up a little foil packet that had 'I love Sevilla' written on it. Now we knew exactly what it was, but the girl didn't, so she was looking at it, and then asked the shop assistant 'what is this', after trying to explain it a discreet way, she ended up having to tell the girl it was a condom. Everyone was laughing, and the poor 12yo was so embarrassed she walked out of the shop immediately, her friends laughing, close behind.
Next morning we did a very comprehensive walking tour with a guide, we were the only two on the tour which was nice. We saw pretty much all the major sites arround touw, although it was a bit brief or rushed. We learnt that much of the city is a bit messy at the minute as they are just finishing the metro lines, and there is a new tram. As a result much of the city is now car free, which has been nice. The tram runs along the main strip, Avendida Constitution, with the nice cathedral. We heard stories about the Torre de Oro, University and the amazing Piaza Espana with fountains, murals from each province of Spain, a moat and bridges. We also saw a number of nice parks around the city.
After the tour we did a bit of shopping for some ceramics before having lunch in a buzzing little cafe, full of locals and stadium type tile seating. It was chaotic and all in spanish, but we survived and had some very nice food.
After siesta we went for walk around a local neighbourhood, Triana, just relaxed had a drink and watched the local way of life, kids playing in the public square and traffic chaos! On the way home it had got pretty dark so we were able to see a few of the fountains all lit up. The following day we were very lazy, Damien especially. We organised a few things on line, had a sleep in and long siesta. Christine did head out to do some shopping and organise the bus tickets to portugal. After a restful day we headed out to a little local restaurant for some tapas. This ws reccomended by one of the staff at the hostel, and turned out to be really good. We ordered a few plates (en espannol), before telling the staff to bring us out some surprises. We ended up with some really nice cod and pork dishes. The staff were very friendly, and helpful with our spanish, and were highly amused when we showed them our 'roo'.
After dinner, we ate churros, spanish donuts. Now we felt really sick. We headed to a bar in a small neighbourhood which had a flaminco show. This was free, except for a few sangria's, and considering it ws free the show was pretty good. The guitarist was really good, and the girl dancing was trying very hard! We actually caught up with a Japanese guy from our hostel at the show.
Thursday was our last day in Sevilla, but we had the day to sightsee before taking a night bus to Portugal. After a bit more shopping, we headed to the bullring. We think our timing is going to be such that we just miss any bullfights, unfortunately. So we thought we should at least do a tour of the stadium. This was really interesting, the stadium itself doesnt have seats, just concrete steps. It included a guided tour of the stadium and the museum underneath. Also stories about how the bulls are removed from their mother at a young age to stop them becoming too intelligent and the farmers are always on horse back around them so that they cannot lear the human movements. We also saw the stables and the chapel where the matadors pray before hand.
After the tour we ended up in a tiny little bar/ restaurant. It was expensive, but the little spanish man gave us beer, a house special pork dish which was amazing as well as traditional patata tortilla, olives and a 'free' caramel vodka when we finished. It was a tiny little place with only one other person in there. We really enjoyed our meal. We then lay out in a park for a while and had another look at the amazing plaza espana, before returing to the hostel to collect our bags.
Seville is a very nice place with a number of galleries and attractions that we could have gone to. Unfortunately due to the heat and us being a bit tired, we took it a bit easy and missed out on going to most of these. While we would love to have gone to the Cathedral and Alcazar, we figured we needed some rest (and shopping time).
Next morning we did a very comprehensive walking tour with a guide, we were the only two on the tour which was nice. We saw pretty much all the major sites arround touw, although it was a bit brief or rushed. We learnt that much of the city is a bit messy at the minute as they are just finishing the metro lines, and there is a new tram. As a result much of the city is now car free, which has been nice. The tram runs along the main strip, Avendida Constitution, with the nice cathedral. We heard stories about the Torre de Oro, University and the amazing Piaza Espana with fountains, murals from each province of Spain, a moat and bridges. We also saw a number of nice parks around the city.
After the tour we did a bit of shopping for some ceramics before having lunch in a buzzing little cafe, full of locals and stadium type tile seating. It was chaotic and all in spanish, but we survived and had some very nice food.
After siesta we went for walk around a local neighbourhood, Triana, just relaxed had a drink and watched the local way of life, kids playing in the public square and traffic chaos! On the way home it had got pretty dark so we were able to see a few of the fountains all lit up. The following day we were very lazy, Damien especially. We organised a few things on line, had a sleep in and long siesta. Christine did head out to do some shopping and organise the bus tickets to portugal. After a restful day we headed out to a little local restaurant for some tapas. This ws reccomended by one of the staff at the hostel, and turned out to be really good. We ordered a few plates (en espannol), before telling the staff to bring us out some surprises. We ended up with some really nice cod and pork dishes. The staff were very friendly, and helpful with our spanish, and were highly amused when we showed them our 'roo'.
After dinner, we ate churros, spanish donuts. Now we felt really sick. We headed to a bar in a small neighbourhood which had a flaminco show. This was free, except for a few sangria's, and considering it ws free the show was pretty good. The guitarist was really good, and the girl dancing was trying very hard! We actually caught up with a Japanese guy from our hostel at the show.
Thursday was our last day in Sevilla, but we had the day to sightsee before taking a night bus to Portugal. After a bit more shopping, we headed to the bullring. We think our timing is going to be such that we just miss any bullfights, unfortunately. So we thought we should at least do a tour of the stadium. This was really interesting, the stadium itself doesnt have seats, just concrete steps. It included a guided tour of the stadium and the museum underneath. Also stories about how the bulls are removed from their mother at a young age to stop them becoming too intelligent and the farmers are always on horse back around them so that they cannot lear the human movements. We also saw the stables and the chapel where the matadors pray before hand.
After the tour we ended up in a tiny little bar/ restaurant. It was expensive, but the little spanish man gave us beer, a house special pork dish which was amazing as well as traditional patata tortilla, olives and a 'free' caramel vodka when we finished. It was a tiny little place with only one other person in there. We really enjoyed our meal. We then lay out in a park for a while and had another look at the amazing plaza espana, before returing to the hostel to collect our bags.
Seville is a very nice place with a number of galleries and attractions that we could have gone to. Unfortunately due to the heat and us being a bit tired, we took it a bit easy and missed out on going to most of these. While we would love to have gone to the Cathedral and Alcazar, we figured we needed some rest (and shopping time).
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