Granada and the Alhambra

Hello...my turn to do update. Well we left Marbella and headed for Granada. The drive in was stunning as you drive thru the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Molly wasnt happy but the sights were amazing, with whole villages built into the side of the mountains. The temperatures vary hugely, with soaring temperatures in the summer and freezing thru the winter with lots of skiing. We arrived in Granada, and our Campground was literally 30 steps from the bus station. We got a motel as we were only going to be there for 2 nights and we had a bitch of a lady in reception who was particularly unhelpful. To gain entry into the Alhambra, you need tickets and they only sell 1500 per day and they only sell so many in advance. We arrived on a Friday and desperately wanted to visit on the Saturday but could only secure tickets for the Sunday...what to do..the other way is to go on the day and queue, so that was our only choice. We went up there on the Friday so we knew how to get there (no mean feat) and did some other sight seeing which was awesome as well as there is a whole town across from the Alhambra that is part of it and still inhabited today. Anyway, we were up at 6 on Saturday (a killer in itself when you have no deadlines and get up when you wake normally) and got the bus in and arrived at 7.30. The queue was already 300 metres long and it did nt open til 8.30. By the time they opened the ticket sales ( and there is only 1 person selling tickets!) the queue was a kilometre long. We made it in....and got the morning session as they split it into 2 sessions, but many didnt and you cant buy for the next day, Oh No...you have to go thru it all again. Now, for those of you that have no idea what the Alhambra is, then it is best you look it up on the internet as it is hard to explain but basically, it is a city within itself and is extremely old but different parts relate to different eras. It is well worth the visit as so many people do. There is so much stuff to write about this I dont want to bore you with all the details so here is the link for those who are interested... http://www.andalucia.com/cities/granada/alhamhistory.htm
Arriving exhausted back at the Motel (we stayed in the Motel part of the Camp ground) in 29 degree heat at 7.30pm we had to pack up ready to leave in the morning. We left the next day and enjoyed an equally interesting drive thru the remaining part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range on our way to our next stop...Alicante.
We arrived in Alicante late in the day, and instantly decided we didnt really like it so moved on to El Campello, a seaside town about 15 kms up the coast and found a nice Camp ground. We checked in and immediately were be friended by a couple of Spanish families that were camping next to our Cabin. All that can be said about this evening was they were extremely friendly, there was a lot drunk (by some more than others) and there was a single man amongst them and Vicki got to bed at 5 in the morning and rumour has it there was a nightclub involved.

We awoke to another beautiful day, and headed North to Valencia!!! We stopped at Benidorm on the way just to have a nosey as we had heard so much about this place which is so popular with the Brits...and then some. I can honestly say, I have never seen so many people fit on a beach in my life, and it isnt a small beach!!
We carried on up the coast and hit Valencia on the Monday afternoon, and it was the rest day for the Louis Vuitton Cup and we had 3 wins under our belt...










The above photo was taken in the beautiful garden area of the Alhambra and the other was taken up the top area of the Alhambra with Albicin in the background.

V

Photo above left is of Vicki in Albicin and the photo above is of me in another part of the Alhambra garden area.

Photo on left is of Vicki in Grenada with the Sierra nevada mountain range in the background. You cant see it but there was snow still on the top.