Si's Year Out! (Plus Europe! Plus Morocco!): October 2009

Granada is a cool student town situated at the foot of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains, overlooked by the commanding fortress complex of the Alhambra.

When I arrived at 10am I found that my hostel was at the top of a very steep hill...and I was at the bottom. It wasn't all bad though - the climb did take me through some of the outer gardens of the Alhambra and once I arrived I was rewarded by a dip in the hostel's pool on the rooftop terrace (yes, it was a hostel!).

I spent the day wandering around the town before heading off to the Old Quarter to find the San Nicholas lookout. The lookout is at the top of another large hill (!) but every step was worth it as I was rewarded with the most spectacular view of the Alhambra, its towers rising majestically above the town's buildings and its red battlements cutting through the dark green chestnut trees that covers the hill it sits upon.

In the afternoon I met a couple of English girls and a guy called Tom, who was working at the hostel. We cobbled together some Sangria and Tom took us around the town telling us a bit about Granada. After the sun went down we headed up to San Nicholas lookout to take in the night view of the Alhambra. The night was spent sitting on the edge of the lookout in the warm evening breeze, swapping travelling stories and drinking Sangria while watching guitar players, flamenco dancers and a fire juggler busk for the crowds.

The next day was Alhambra day! I had to get up ridiculously early (not helped by Sangria consumption), queue for ages to get in (while hungover), and was forced to talk to a German Physics teacher that was standing next to me in the queue (I don't think I need to explain why that one was bad). But it was all worth it as I have to say that the Alhambra is probably the most spellbinding tourist attraction I've ever seen....

The "Red Fortress" is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish rulers of Granada which was constructed during the mid 14th century. The Nazaries Palaces, where the king and other powerful rulers lived is decorated with endless intricate stucco carvings, spectacular arches and beautiful paintings. The palaces also featured lots of beautiful fountains, all connected by little channels running through courtyards and along the paths feeding water to these decorative water features. The palaces (and the whole fortress) are built around beautiful colourful gardens which are perfectly maintained and perfect for a summer afternoon stroll.

Another main section is the Alcazaba (citadel) which has tall towers and ramparts that allowed me to walk along with a swagger, look down on the town below and pretend I was an important Andalucian ruler! The last main section was the Generalife (summer palace) with endless beautiful water gardens and even some water stairs! This place also had more beautiful gardens and a huge courtyard that would host dancers and other entertainment for the King. Another building of note is the Palace of Charles V, the Roman emperor who decided he wanted a palace with a Catholic influence when he took over the region after the conquest of 1492. The palace is a square with a circular courtyard inside that is rimmed with huge stone columns on two floors - no expense was spared there!

The rest of my time in Granada was spent hanging out with the other guests at the hostel, eating some amazing free tapas (a beer for €2 comes with a free plate of tapas....every time!), visiting the caves in the hills behind the city walls and teaching Europeans how to play conkers (the hostel was surrounded with conker trees)!! I am hoping to start a conker revolution in Hungary....

So that was it - after an amazing 3 weeks I headed to the airport for my flight back home to Stanstead. The only good part of the journey back was throwing away the rubbish sandals I bought in Morocco...

Peace out 'til next time....