The Alhambra

I have to revise my opinion of Granada. Apparently I took a bad route yesterday. The city is quite beautiful and the people are very friendly, at least outside of the main tourist track. Got up at first light to hike to the Alhambra. The sun didn´t come up until almost 8 so it was a dark, steep climb. Had to wait for it to open at 8:30 but it was good to get there early because none of the tourist buses had arrived. There were probably 30 people, tops, waiting in line and once inside it was like having the place to myself. The gardens still have flowers in bloom eventhough it was very cold up there. I took more pictures there than I have in total for the whole trip I think. It is a really big place, with lots of views out over the city and very well maintained gardens. It would be nice to visit a bit earlier in the year, perhaps October when the summer tourists are away but the flowers are still in full bloom. It took about about 3 hours to see the Nasrid palaces and the Generalife. Somehow I got on the wrong track and missed the Alcazaba. Will save that for next time.

I´m now waiting for the 4:30 train back to Sevilla. I´m tempted to take the 1:50 train to Algeciras but I cannot find any bus schedules for traveling from Algeciras back to Sevilla tomorrow. Without the bus, the return trip by train would take about 8 hours as there is no direct route from Sevilla to Algeciras. Not worth the risk. So I will take the 4:30 train back to Sevilla and figure out what to do next from there. Algeciras, Cadiz, Cordoba, and Huelva are all options for tomorrow.

Proxima Parada: Granada

I couldn´t check out of the Doña Lina until 8am so I couldn´t make the 7am train to Granada. Instead I explored Sevilla some more and left on the 11:50am train for Granada. It was a 4 hour train ride but it went by very quickly. The train travelled from the plains around Sevilla up into the mountains. The only tragedy is that my gps was lost somewhere on the train as I departed. So unfortunately there will be no GE maps of the trip when I return. Better the GPS than the camera though.

Aside from that, I made it to Granada easily. The town, at first, appears dirtier and more touristy than Sevilla. I haven´t yet seen the older part of town, hopefully it is better. I found a room at the Hostal Atenas. I guess its a pretty popular place because at every street corner there is a sign that points in it´s direction. The room is the smallest yet. Though it has a shower, it does not have a toilet. Each floor shares one. I´m happy to say though that the first floor one is spectacularly clean though. I had some trouble with the lights when I first got here. I had the lady at reception come try to get them to work with the card. She tried 5 or 6 times, they finally came on and she said ¨There is no problem.¨ For 20 euro a night, its good enough.

The plan for tomorrow is to walk to the Alhambra, see all there is to see of it, then escape to the train station and head back to Sevilla. I will probably try for another reservation at the Vime Corregidor but if that fails, I will go back to the Doña Lina or try the Hostal Toledo which is nearby.

In Sevilla

This morning I found the Dona Lina (with the help of an old lady in a 3rd floor window) and reserved a room for tonight. It´s located right next to the Reales Alcazares and the cathedral. I was very impressed with the Reales Alcazares but the cathedral is very impressive. After that I went to the Plaza de Toros and took the tour, seeing the Torre del Oro along the way (didn´t go in). Ate lunch at a cuban restuarant. Had fried bananas and eggs with rice and meat sauce. Then I went to the Plaza Espana and the Parque Maria Luisa. Now I´ve just arrived from the university and am fighting off flies at a low-end Kinko´s. I´m here to check in and find out the Renfe schedule for tomorrow´s trains. Santa Justa station is only a kilometer or so from the Dona Lina so tomorrow morning I will hike from the hostal to the train. Definitely need to consider buying a hardy backpack for future trips. Carrying a suitcase along the narrow streets is difficult. I´ve tried to get a continuous GPS track for the pictures but the streets are so narrow that the signal is hampered by the buildings.

Made it to Sevilla

I finally got here after what seemed like forever travelling. Drove my car to Chris´house, walked to the marta station, rode marta to the airport, flew to London (Gatwick), switched planes, flew to Madrid, took the subway from the airport to the train station, took the AVE from Madrid to Sevilla, took a bus from the train station to approximately where my hotel is, then wandered around for an hours asking directions and trying to figure out the cartoon map the oficina turismo gave me. Each person I asked gave me different a different direction. Not ¨direction¨ as in a list of roads to follow, ¨direction¨ as in North, South, East West.

The lady at the Renfe window in Madrid told me an hour was enough time to get to and find the AVE train itself and so sold me a ticket for the 2pm train. She was right. One hour is enough time. One hour and one minute is not. I very narrowly made it, was the last person to board. There were only 5 or 6 people in my car so I thought I could get some sleep but the scenery was amazing. The terrain at the beginning was very urban and industrial, not much to look at. But the middle of the trip went through orchards and large flat areas that looked a lot like the American Southwest. I saw a few ruins and some old bridges, etc. So I only dozed off a couple of times.

The Vime Corregidor was nestled on a back street with no street sign which was halfway closed due to construction on some of the buildings but I finally found it. It´s a nice, simple hotel with, as you can see, internet access. They tell me there are no rooms for tonight so I´m searching for the Dona Lina today but if I can´t find that, I passed numerous other hostals and hotels in my search for the Corregidor.

I got here around 4:30 yesterday so I haven´t seen much of the city other than a few churches. I am going to stay another night in Sevilla (hopefully at the Dona Lina) and then take the train to Granada as early as possible in the morning.

The phone hasn´t worked in London, or anywhere in Spain so far so I doubt I will be able to make calls for the duration of the trip. Except maybe through the ATT service I used last time. I don´t plan on using that so long as I have internet access to update the blog.

Waiting...