SPAIN: Granada and Malaga

GRANADA 
Population (2011) 240,100

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Granada is the name for one of the 17 autonomous communities in Spain and shares the same name as the City where we would be staying for 3 nights at the ....wait for it.....a typical Spanish name - the "Don Juan Hotel".  Really comfortable, great price with buffet brekky included and central to everything the picturesque city has to offer. It even had a TV with English channels ie BBC and Sky but tend to get a little repetitive after a little while.  But let us refocus - this is not a Trip Advisor review but our adventures in this Andalucian city which was founded in 1492.  Granada is at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains and as you would imagine there are streams running through the city with the mountain backdrop.  In addition the food (Tapas) is always worthy of mention.  



After catching the overnight train from Lisbon and changing stations from one side of Madrid to the other for our connection at Atocha Estacion we checked our bags into what is called "Left Luggage".  Thinking this sounds a little ambiguous considering the events in recent times at that particular station we weren't surprised at all to find that our luggage had to be X-rayed by security before we could use the facility.  During our travels we regularly heard at rail and bus stations and airports via intercom that any "unattended left luggage" would be removed by security/law enforcement and destroyed.  Started us thinking about what they would do with our luggage, maybe a chance to get a new wardrobe, but NO - the luggage was still there when we got back - the boots that had reached Macchu Pichu, the T-shirts that were starting to fade and maybe the real reason why they didn't want it was because of the build up of dirty laundry in there.......!    Granada stream with Alhambra in the background Olive Groves surrounding the Granada region It was an opportunity also to set us free of the baggage that has been following us around for the past 4 months across 3 continents (even it if was only for a few hours). This allowed us to visit a couple of our favourite places from our first visit in Madrid ie. Parque de la Retiro and the lakes within, the Museum and Gardens area, what has now become famous on the Johnson Food Hit List - the "Museo de Jamon".

The RENFE train hit speeds of around 145-150 kms per hr and was going faster than the shutter speed of the camera so I was lucky to get a shot of the vast tracts of olive groves, there was also vineyards, wheat fields, the Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance, the villas, and thankfully that train was air conditioned because it was a fiery 40 degrees outside, and thankfully we wouldn't arrive in Granada until around 8pm.  Because of the time and distance from the station we caught a local taxi and for some reason the driver was really excited that he had a couple of Australian passengers which seemed really strange, but what we didn't know until he tuned in the radio was that the Spain and Australia Men's Basketball teams were in a playoff in preparation for the Olympics.  In all places ...Granada on this very night. He must have thought we were heading to the game.  We had to disappoint him by saying our destination was the Don Juan.  Unfortunately the Aussies lost - score 75-69. 

Spain beats Australia 75 - 69

The next day we hit the attractions of Granada reasonably early until it started to get quite hot again.  By 2pm the shops started closing.  SIESTA time of course!!  Apparently story has it that Siestas were introduced so that the farm workers could get out of the heat during the hottest part of the day, have a little rest, then go back out to work in the fields.  Now, if that is the case for the farmers and field workers - Why do the office workers, retailers, bars and cafes shut up shop and close for around 3-4 hours then re-open again at 6 or 7pm?  Here were 2 very thirsty intrepid travellers wandering around looking for refreshments at 2.30 in the afternoon and not one shop open.  Even the streets were deserted!  It was really strange because even though we'd travelled through many other places in Spain this was the first Siesta time that was really obvious to us, and in some way explains why the Spaniards party all night.

2.30pm - Empty streets it's Siesta Time

The sites and attractions around Granada are many and one we didn't get a chance to visit was the Alhambra  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra because advance reservations had to be made and there is a limit to the number of tickets released each day. Knowing we would have the chance to see the 'Little Sister' of the Alhambra (Alcazba) in Malaga, we decided to find a Laundromat for that washing building up in our luggage.  This was a laugh because we Googled to find one and after walking about 3kms to the address listed we'd found it was closed, empty, nothing inside. Thinking we had the wrong address which was not the case at all, we wandered around for about half an hour until in a little lane way we spotted a "Correos" delivery lady (the Spanish equivalent to Australia Post).  What a better person to ask about where there was a laundrymat - and our hunce was spot on because she knew where one was...  Left, right, slight turn and there it was Lavos Bubbles laundromat.  Mentioning Trip Advisor before - this one just had to go on their website as a Review for Laundromats in Granada. 

We did see the Gothic Cathederal, walked the Gran Via de Colon and Ronda, Plaza Gran Capitan, Plaza Trinidad in the old city and Plaza Neuvo where the walked the river Darro which used to be a crossing to the Alhambra until part of it was closed over due to flooding, but relics still stand.

For some reason Granada could be described as the San Sebastian of the south of Spain, perhaps because of the Tapas, the little lane ways, the old city feel and historic buildings.  The only difference is that the climate was much hotter and drier and probably the first city where we've seen a large concentration of backpacker hostels and "environmentalists" (people with huge dreadlocks).  Getting back to the Tapas, it should be mentioned here that when you buy a drink, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, you get the tapas FREE as part of the deal.  The drinks would usually cost between $3-6 and you could order a place from an extensive complimentary tapas menu.  This could be either plates of ham and cheese selection, bread rolls with Spanish sausage filling (Morcillo), Chorizo (not like the Aussie Chorizo), olives of course and other tasty morsels.  You might want to check out Tony's Food and Drinks blog for some mouth watering photos. TJ's Food and Drinks Blog link

Granada's Narrow streets

Although we found an open fruit, vege, meat market which sold every conceivable part of the animal, we tended to be drawn to the local supermarket just to see if it was any different from other parts of Spain was had visited.  Probably because it smelled nicer too!  We found there was one BIG difference for example, we've seen Moto-taxi ranks in Peru, limousine ranks and Horse buggy ranks in New York, Bicycle racks in other US and European cities, but never have we seen Shopping Trolley ranks anywhere before where shoppers bring in their trolleys and chain them up (chains, keys and rack provided by the store) while they do their shopping.  Novel to say the least. 

Shopping Trolley Parking Bay in Granada

On Friday 20th July it was time to leave Granada on the RENFE bound for Malaga via a little place called Bobadilla (pronounced Boba-dee-yah) and is the change over stop on the line between the two cities.

Not much of a drama you would think but when we arrived in Bobadilla we were only 2 people hopping off the train, ME and TJ, and the station appeared to be like one of those stations you see in the old western movies.  You know the kind one shop/bar outside, surrounded by wheat fields, silos in the distance and it was a whopping 42 degrees, and NO station staff in attendance either (Siesta time ??). All that was missing was the tumbleweed rolling down the dusty street.  But once inside it was like something you could not imagine.... it was wall tiled in beautiful colours and we had to wait 2 hours for our connection (we could be forgiven for thinking we had magically arrived in Casablanca already).  AND inside was air-conditioned !!! We could handle that.  After a while another 2 people arrived so we stopped being a little anxious. 

Our RENFE train from Granada to
Malaga via Bobadilla






Tiled walls Inside of Bobadilla Station

MALAGA

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Getting comfortable on the train we saw more plenty of wheat fields, vineyards and olive groves.  Good thing we like bread, wine and olives ... and not necessarily in that order.

Malaga is famous for a couple reasons (1) it is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso and (2) the birthplace of Antonio Banderas.  It is also only 100kms east of the Strait of Gibraltar, a landmark we would be flying over tomorrow evening on Air Maroc flight No. 985 direct to Casablanca.  We were to find it is famous for many more things and even though we were only there 1 day and night we tried to fit in an much as we could in the short time there.  And being close of the Mediterranean Sea we were given some light relief from the high temperatures we experienced in the past couple of days so walking the sites shouldn't be a problem.



View from Alcazbar towards Puerto Maritima

Firstly we had to get to the Alcazaba, the "little sister" of the Alhambra in Granada, and on first observations you can understand why, but it is still an impressive site on the closest high point to the city of Malaga.  From the top you can see across the harbour were cruise ships berthed.  The history of the walled Alcazaba dates back to the 11th century and was built as a palace-fortress for the city's governing Muslims.



Although there is now a lift to service access to the Alcazaba we decided to scale the original stone steps from the outside of the site taking in the views of Puerto Maritima and plenty of photo opportunities.

While we were trekking around this ancient site we came across other tourists doing much the same as we were.  Except I got a good laugh out of this one.

You know how the old story goes ....."A funny thing happened on our way around the Alcazaba"!  As it turned out a woman in passing very politely said "Bonjour Madame!".  Now why would she say Bonjour when we were clearly as far south in Spain as you could be and so close to Africa that you could almost smell the Camel dung from across the Mediterranean.  It wasn't until struggling up the hill I looked down and noticed I had on my RED TARGET Tee-shirt printed with a big black Eiffel Tower on the front and the word PARIS in big bold BLACK print. She obviously thought I was French.  And of course I so, SO politely replied in my best ever French Accent "Bonjour" back to her.  Now that was a laugh.  Did I say Target or TARGET (Tah-sczhay) ????

Little Sister of Alhambra



Town Hall, Malaga

On to another impressive modern site but still retaining its historical building facades is the Marques De Largos Mall which houses designer and high end name shops, restaurants and cafes.  What is most noticeable are the overhead drapes covering mall.

Marques De Largos Mall

Again, typically in Spanish style we found there were cobbled stoned narrow streets in Malaga as well as large Plazas, people gathering places where you would find fountains, waterfalls, garden promenades or statues of famous people.  We were surprised to find a life size statue of Hans Christian Anderson in Plaza de la Marina during our discovery walking tour.  As we understand it the statue was sculptured by a Spanish artist Maria Cordoba and dedicated to the writer for the time he spent in Malaga during a cultural tour, and having mentioned the city in one of his books.  Nice!



Statue of Hans Christian Anderson

We could have spent more time in Malaga because there were so many other sites and attractions to see.  Maybe next time !!

Malaga Tourist Information web link

We needed to get to Morocco that evening by 6pm to meet up with our G Adventures Moroccon travel guide and our new fellow travellers who we would be spending the next 14 days with.  

Our hopes of making 6pm are zero when you take into account clearing Customs, Immigration and Passport checks, Security etc   ......all that sh...t AGAIN.  AND the airport is 25 kms from our accommodation at the Morocco House Hotel in the city centre.

OK, add to that another 50 minutes..... the plane is that late for take off already.

The next instalment about Morocco, coming to you from Morocco, will probably be late TOO !!....

Till next time.

Liz and Tony

Malaga