GRANADA IS SPANISH FOR POMEGRANATE

WEATHER: Hot and 27C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: The Alhambra Palace and Mexican for dinner was AWESOME

BUMMER OF THE DAY: 1EUR beers and 4EUR vodka’s at the Tantra Bar

BUYS OF THE DAY:  1EUR beers and 4EUR vodkas at the Tantra Bar

WORD OF THE DAY:  Kebab – we all have a craving for these at the moment

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh – you think I would feel refreshed after an AFD day.  But I woke still tired.  Maybe some of the travel / drinking days are catching up with me? Maybe.  I do have to mention, the showers in hotels all around the world sometimes need a manual on how to turn them on or changing it from the tub tap to the shower head.  Well this morning I just could not get my shower to work.  There was no water at all coming out.  I pushed, pulled, turned and twisted.  I had to settle with a basin wash and water all over the place.  After reporting it to reception, when I got back, I still couldn’t get it to work and in a frustrated shove from the wall, I knocked the tap the only way I obviously hadn’t tried and walah – water came out!  What an idiot!!!

We had a walking tour this morning at 8.30am.  Paco took us around his beautiful city that sits at the base of 3 hills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain.   The coach took us up one of them to get a great view of the city, walked around a local area for an hour and then got a lift back to the city ( thank goodness as the hill is like a mountain) and we went for a visit to the Royal Chapel where the Catholic Monarchs, his daughter Joanna of Castile and Philip I of Castile are buried.  The Catholic Monarchs chose the burial site the city of Granada, by Royal Decree dated September 13, 1504. 

We also visited La Charterhouse of Granada, a monastery of cloistered monks, which is located in what was a farm or Muslim almunia called Aynadamar that means Fountain of the Tears, and had a wealth of water and fruit trees.  The works were made in the first half of the 16th century.  The Monastery suffered heavy damage during the Peninsular War and lost considerable ground in 1837 as a result of the confiscations of Mendizábal. Currently, the monastery belongs to the Carthusians, reporting directly to the Archdiocese of Granada.

The tour finished at 11.30am – and I just couldn’t lift my feet and keep my eyes open on the bus, so Marc and I decided we would do what the Spanish do and go back to the hotel for a Siesta.  We didn’t even walk the 20 minutes, we caught a taxi and it was the best 5EUR ever spent.  So out next meet was at 3.30pm, so we got 3 hours sleep, in an air-conditioned room with the curtains drawn and it was HEAVEN!

Our 3.30pm meeting was to take us to the most visited Tourist site in Spain – The Alhambra Palace.  To get entrance tickets to this attraction is such a process.  3 months in advance tickets have to be pre-booked, and then when your tour starts, the numbers are reconfirmed and then the tickets you no longer need get released back.  They sell 8,000 tickets A DAY!!  AND they are always sold out by 8.30 in the morning!  Isn’t that insane.  You are then allocated a time to enter the Palace, they give you a few minutes either side of your time slot, but if you’re not there on time, you lose your spot and tough bikkies.  We got given ear pieces that we could hear Paco on without having to be right near him the whole time, this is technology working at its best, and they are super awesome. 

The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid-14th century by the Moorish rulers of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus.  The Alhambra's Moorish palaces were built for the last Muslim Emirs in Spain and its court.  After the reconquest by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492, some portions were used by the Christian rulers.  After being allowed to fall into disrepair for centuries, the Alhambra was "discovered" in the 19th century by European scholars and travelers, with restorations commencing. It is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions, exhibiting the country's most significant and well known Islamic architecture, together with 16th-century and later Christian building and garden interventions. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the inspiration for many songs and stories. 

The gardens are also pretty impressive.  There are 300 full time gardeners to keep them all looking so great!  There are a lot of water fountains and flowing water in the grounds and they are most prevalent in the garden areas also called the Generalife which means Garden of Architecture. We got to spend 2 hours walking around this magnificent Palace.  It was a WOW moment for a few people on tour, and this was the main reason they came on tour, as the tickets were included in the tour price, they are that hard to get.  And we thought Bon Jovi concert tickets were hard to get!

Walkabout dinner tonight.  This means Rach points us in the right direction and we fend for ourselves for a feed.  We generally break off into smaller groups and then meet back up again for drinks again after the meal.  So a group of us had Mexican.  I have to say it was the best Mexican I have ever had.  I also need to mention the vodka ‘free pour’ here was half the glass, they were sooooo strong!  Great value for money at 4.50EUR a glass, but the liver doesn’t think so!!  Anyways we met up with the group again at 11pm and headed to an Irish pub for a drink, before changing locations and heading to a bar called Tantra.  I don’t know how Rach does it, but she got us a drinks deal of 1EUR beers for the first round and then 5EUR for 3 beers!  Well that turned my ‘home by midnight’ right on its ear.  The bar owner Oscar, also threw in a free shot that was 4 fingers high and the smell of the concoction just made my stomach turn.  I think if I had of actually drunk it it I would have made me instantly ill!!  Well we partied on here till 2.30am and then we got free entry to a club just down the road.  At this point in time, my Contiki Husbands had gone home, so it was just E and I the last 2 standing!  We left at 4.30am – getting home at 5.00am!  I am happy to report that there was no repeat of Barcelona ie: no driving the porcelain bus – so a successful night out all round and it was a lot of fun.

I like Granada – it is beautiful and the city has a great feel about it.