Never have I ever...

...Seen anything as beautiful as the Alhambra in Granada. Granada as a city is possibly my favourite place in Spain. The terrace I was writing from was a lovely place to chill out, relax, listen to music, have a few drinks and meet new people. I was there for the Alhambra, and I can safely say it was worth every euro cent. However, before I launch into the details of my short stay in Granada, I have to detail the bus ride there as it was also an experience in itself.

Scenery on the drive

As I boarded the bus in Cordoba I wasn’t that sad to be leaving I’ll be honest. Cordoba was nice, but it was slow and there wasn’t much to do besides walking. I was prepared to put my headphones in and tune out to the world for a few hours; however I shortly changed my mind as I saw the scenery we were driving through. Hill after hill of olive trees in sandy soil all shades of white and red, moving on to rolling hills of green fields and little creeks with old English trees and reeds everywhere. It was beautiful. The drive was spectacular, and just when I thought it couldn’t get better, we rounded a corner into a deep valley, and as we climbed out of it around a corner, glimpsed the snow-capped mountain that would form the back drop to the roof-top terrace and the Alhambra in Granada.

The view from the Terrace

Once in Granada, I was reminded once again of Morocco. The strong Islamic influence means that the old city resembles a Medina, there are small stores selling leather goods and Arabic calligraphy street signs. I felt more at home in Granada than I have anywhere else. I found my hostel easily enough, meeting another Australian on the bus and finding that she too was staying at Oasis Backpackers, and settled in. “Oasis Backpackers” is an absolute gem. It is beautifully situated in central Granada; there is a fifteen minute (uphill) walk to the Alhambra and it is surrounded by shops and souq-like streets.

One of the Alhambra Gardens

The hostel itself has lovely spacious rooms (ours even had a bar fridge which we quickly stocked with beer) and lots of common areas, one of which is the terrace. Any hostel with a roof-top terrace is a winner in my eyes, and this terrace was beautiful. If you look to one side you can see the city of Granada and the cathedral; to the other side you can see the snow-capped mountains. Needless to say I set up camp in the sun. Granada was also made so beautiful by the fact that the weather was warm and sunny, making the temptation to sit and do nothing very strong (I resisted for the most part). Granada also threw in some lovely surprises.

As I walked into my mixed 10 bed dorm, I was greeted by someone standing at the window. I announced myself, and as he turned around I realised that we had actually met before.  His name was David, and we had met at Home backpackers in Valencia. He also told me that Vera from Finland who was also at Home Backpackers with us was also in our dorm. I was very pleasantly surprised. After our quick catch-up I went to the terrace to chill out for a while and meet more people.

Intricate detailing of the Nasrid Palace

I had no plans for the afternoon or dinner, and so after sitting in the sun for a while (tough life) I made my way around the city looking for an ATM and a supermarket. I managed to get directions (all in Spanish-I’m learning!) to a supermarket that I had somehow missed on my way, bought my food and then headed back to the hostel. I made my way to the terrace, meeting yet ANOTHER Australian and chatting as we listened to good music in the sun. More people arrived, and it was decided that we would do the Hostel’s Paella Dinner party and then listen to some live music being played at the hostel, but being up for a big night we also planned some games and shenanigans for in between times.

Gardens inside the Nasrid Palace

The night went on to the tune of Swing music, sangria, beer and laughter, as I met more Australians amongst the other guests and we got to know each other over beer pong. It was awesome to be able to relax and have fun, and after a while we decided to go out and “hit the town”, which never actually happened because we couldn’t find said town venues. We made it back to the hostel thanks to Emily’s great sense of direction and orientation, and headed to bed after chilling for a while.

The next day was my “big day” of doing things. I had reserved a ticket to the Alhambra a few days earlier, and had chosen to go in the morning slot between 8:30 and 2pm and been given the time of 10:30am for palace entry.

The view from the Lookout Tower

The Alhambra, for those who don’t know, is THE THING to do in Granada. It is an old Islamic palace built in different stages by different sultans, and turned over to the Catholic monarchs on January 2 1492. The palace is comprised of different gardens and areas including the Nasrid Palace, Alcazbar, Generalife and Partal.

It is exquisite. Words and photos cannot do it justice. I think I walked around with my eyes like dinner plates and mouth open for most of the time. The white stone walls are covered in intricate carvings of Arabic calligraphy, different shapes and objects and sculpted patterns. The ceilings are just as intricately crafted in different shades and types of panelled wood, and in some places, patterned tiles. The gardens are perfectly crafted and manicured, overflowing with flowers and well-kept hedges bordering both gravel and cobble stone paths. Around every corner there was something different; whether that be a walkway covered in arches of roses, or a terrace of jasmine and other sweet-smelling flowers. It was absolutely incredible, and I would not hesitate to go back there again (or recommend it to everyone-it is something you must see!)

More beautiful gardens

After returning from the Alhambra I made my way once again to the terrace to sit and relax and have a bite to eat. Afternoon Siesta time has become very important to me over the course of my time in Southern Spain, and I will miss it dearly in the rest of my travels. We put some indie funk music on the speakers and chilled out for the afternoon before some went off on a street-art tour and others stayed put, blogging and whiling away the afternoon in a state of semi-consciousness due to the hour at which they crawled into bed the night before.  I was to try and plan my next trip, but momentum faded and I ended up just sitting on the roof with the rest of the backpackers laughing and listening to Aretha Franklin. Words cannot express how good this felt.

Inside the Cathedral

After a while, the group that stayed behind separated. I went downstairs to use WIFI, and others went to the Alhambra. I ended up buying my bus ticket to Barcelona for the next day, and then chatting to Australia and Morocco for a while, before heading to the Terrace, finding most of the group there, and then heading back to buy beer. It was one of those perfect afternoons where you just sit and chat over drinks, laughing and whiling away time with music in the background. Two more Aussies and two New Zealanders had joined us, making it a very loud and funny group of people sitting on the terrace. Mickey was being taken, jokes were being made and it felt like we had known each other for a while rather than just over 24 hours. It was such that as a group, we decided to go and have drinks at a Tapas bar, so as to receive free Tapas.

It's blurry but you get the idea. It's opulent.

Three rounds of drinks and six Tapas dishes later, we decided that we were happy to go and sit on the terrace once more as a group and drink more wine. We sat until midnight, when half of the group decided to go to a club, and the other half-myself included, deciding to call it a night, and instead tucking into free pasta in the kitchen and going to bed.

The next morning I awoke late, trying to procrastinate my packing until after a good breakfast as I was to catch a 15 hour bus ride to Barcelona later in the afternoon. I ended up leaving my bags at the hostel as I booked more hostels and then headed to the supermarket to buy food. So much of my life now revolves around the supermarket and food; it’s a little bit ridiculous. Needless to say I love hostels with free breakfast *giggles*.

Right before my camera died...

I wrote this blog as I was sitting on my 15 hour bus ride, 2 hours in, wondering how I was going to pass the next 13 hours without going mental or getting deep vein thrombosis. Sleep seemed the only logical option, but I had already had one nap and there is only so much sleeping one can do on buses.

I ended up napping my way through the bus ride, and then arrived at Barcelona at the very early hour of 5:45am. The station was pleasantly quiet but still had enough people to make it safe, and I set up camp on a chair to wait for the Euroline bus I had just booked to Toulouse. Time flew and before I knew it I had bought my lunch and was boarding the bus wondering once again how I was going to pass the next 7 hours. Luckily enough the bus ride was smooth; there were no crying children, only a loud Moroccan couple who quite clearly thought I didn't understand their conversation (I didn't really want to hear their conversations as they cuddled "Oh habibi"-it wasn't necessary!) and I arrived in Toulouse late in the afternoon too sunny but cool weather, and set about finding my hostel. As this story ends, another begins, and I'll leave it there until I post about Toulouse.

Until next time!

Love Love!

Clem xx