Hola everyone. Well I did go up that hill (very slowly) and it was cold once I was up there but it was worth the view because we just sat up there and watched the sun set. Later that night was a paella night at the hostel so I just hung out with a few people I have met here after eating the yummy paella. We even went a bit wild and played a couple of games of Uno. Fun (and late) night though and for once I didn´t go to bed smelling of cigarettes (they smoke everywhere here in Spain).

Yesterday I had to decide if I wanted to go up to Madrid today or hang around Grenada for another day. I decided to stick around but when I went book in I had to wait until this morning but its all worked out OK. I have now booked in to my accommodation in Madrid for Saturday night and decide how long I want to stay once I get the lay of the land. From there I will head up to San Sebastian and then across to Barcelona. San Sebastian will be more of a veg out stop but its supposed to be quite lovely around there so will probably go for a few walks around the place and take a day trip to Balboa to see the Guggenheim museum there. Then its across to Barcelona for xxx number of days (yet to be determined) before I fly back to London then home. Yep I only have a bit over two weeks left then its back to Oz for me.

Anyway back to yesterday after umming and arghing about what I wanted to do I spoke to a a kiwi couple I had spoken to previously who were going to catch a local bus out to a town in the Sierra Nevada mountains. They were happy for me to tag along and in the end there were five of us. Got the directions from the hostel on where we needed to catch the bus and went down to the bus stop to catch the bus out to the main bus interchange. First hitch was that there was a demonstration going on in the main street that was blocking traffic and we couldn´t see them from our bus stop so we were waiting about fifteen minutes for this phantom bus that never arrived. Decided to walk to the bus interchange - was only 3km so no big deal - but once we got there we found out the bus we needed didn´t go from the bus interchange and we needed to catch another bus over across the other side of town (it turned out to be about 10 minutes walk from the hostel). Once we got off this bus we weren´t sure where our bus left from so we wandered around for another fifteen minutes asking people (actually the other two guys were Canadians who could speak Spanish so they were doing the asking). Finally found the bus stop and had to wait another 25 minutes for the bus and then we were finally on our way. Was funny in the end and once we got up there we were so hungry we headed straight for the bar and ordered a drink so we could get the free tapas. In the end we stayed there for a little while and went to another cafe and had a bigger meal and then caught the bus back.

You would think that this would have been enough of us goofing up where we needed to go but we saw a bus that we knew went past the hostel and thought lets jump on that - only problem was that it was going the wrong way so we got to the end of the line and the bus driver made us pay again to get back. As I said before it turns out we were only about ten minutes from the hostel so we could have walked it but none of us were sure where we were on the map. Very much an adventure yesterday but we had fun and saw alot more of Grenada that we probably would never have seen otherwise.

Last night was a tapas tour night but you had the option of going to see flamenco after the first tapas bar. I had already seen flamenco in Seville but went anyway. Glad I did because this one was much better and I was able to see a lot more. Buggered after this and went back to the hostel and went to bed.

I have yet to figure out what adventure I will get up to today but since its cold outside I may just do a bit of shopping. Who knows what will happen.

bye for now.
Toni
xxoo

Its me back again already. Just a quick update - went out for tapas again last night with the hostel. Had a ball but since it was 9.30pm before we left I was starving and already had had a few sangria´s to kick off proceedings. Once out we got free tapas if we ordered a drink. Some bars let you could choose while others you just got what they served up. Since it was so late before I ate I felt off once I actually put food in my stomach on top of that sangria.

Woke up this morning to the usual zippers and plastic bags as nearly everyone in my room was leaving. Funnily enough I have noticed that the guys tend to be quieter than the girls. Gave up and went down for some brekkie and then headed off to Alhumbra. This is a islamic palace at the top of the hill (and I mean the top) and it has some fantastic islamic wall plaster work along with patios that have beautiful fountains and gorgeous gardens. I broke my rule as well and actually hired the audio guide (normally I don't bother since they are usually a waste of money). This one though, while it probably was a waste of money, gave me a laugh because it gave new meaning to 'waxing poetic'. The person who 'discovered' Alhumbra again back around the 1850's was a guy named Washington Irving. He was a writer and painter (I think) but this audio guide took it as if it was him speaking so to say it was verbose is a bit of an understatement. In the end I found it quite funny if not necessarily informative.

I spent a good four hours looking around the Alhumbra but found initially it was quite stressful in the way they allocate the tickets. There is a certain Palace in the grounds you can only visit at times specified by the people allocating the tickets so I didn't get the chance to say I wanted it later. I only had time to get the audio guide and was told that the palace was at least a 20 minute walk away and I only had 30 minutes before I would be refused entry. Needless to say I got lost straight off but still made it there in plenty of time. The palace itself was great - a definite plus to visit there.

Anyway am off to climb another hill so I can see the sunset over Grenada - a few people have just asked me to join them so why not really!!

toni
xxoo

Hola everyone,

I have suddenly become bi-lingual (I wish). Apart from picking up some key words (not phrases) I have been mucking about trying to speak to the locals. Have managed a few conversations but its usually them understanding me rather than the other way around.

The tapas night turned out to be a blast. Met alot of people and after hitting a few tapas bars we went and saw some flamenco. Very interesting to watch and they really get into it. Finally got back to the hostel in the wee hours after going to a club afterwards and had the roommates from hell doing their usual zipper and plastic bag routine the next morning i.e. if there is a zipper on their bag they open and close it ten times and if they need to get anything out of their bag you can gaurantee that its in a plastic bag and they need to scratch around in it.

I gave up in the end and decided it would be better to join them and got up and went to see Alcazar which is like a palace/ mansion built about 500 years ago. Was very nice and spent about 30 minutes wandering around the formal gardens out the back. After this I wandered around the town for a couple of hours before heading back to the hostel to grab something before going out for a late lunch. Ran into a couple of the guys from the night before and we went to a few tapas bars for lunch.

That night was paella night at the hostel. €5 for as much as you could eat. Went a bit nuts but so be it - I love paella. Next morning I packed my gear and headed to the bus station since I was going to spend the night in Cordoba. The Mezquita Cathederal in Cordoba was the main reason for going and I was glad I did. The Cathederal was originally a mosque based on the main mosque in Damascus Syria. Its hard to explain but to see Jesus on the cross in the middle of what still looks very much like a mosque is a bit surreal. I thought it was great - Italy meets the middle east!! After checking around Cordoba I decided I was still a bit weary and headed back to the hotel (yes hotel - no real hostels to speak of in Cordoba) and grab a nap. Along the way I ran into one of the guys I had met in Seville and we decided to catch some dinner together later on. Which we did and it turned out we didn´t chose the best one - very ordinary food.

Got up this morning and did some further wandering around Cordoba and then went back collected my bag and headed to the bus station and jumped on the bus to Grenada. And so this brings me up to date on my blog.

Good for me.

catch you next time my loyal 2-3 readers.

Toni

Completely ignoring the fact that I have just spent about five weeks going around Ireland and Britain and haven't updated my blog how about I start with Lisbon which I just left and one day I may get around to the Ireland and Britain leg of my trip.


Flew into Lisbon and couldn't be bothered with catching public transport to the hostel for once so caught a cab instead. Cost me 15 euros but for the hassle it saved it suited me fine. Stayed at the Lisbon Lounge hostel and it was great. The staff cooked a three course meal each night and you only needed to pay 7 euros so since I arrived bang on dinner time I was able to have dinner without any hassle. Met some great people there and everyone got along fantastically.


Next day I went exploring around Lisbon - saw the Castel on top of the hill overlooking Lisbon, wandered around the centre of town then took a tram to this area about 5-6km away where the Contemporary Art Gallery and a few other sites are. Loved the art gallery and after this walked over to xxx (can´t remember) ....Belem. Is supposed to be on the listed with Unesco as a world heritage site but it was OK with me but have seen alot by now so I suppose am a bit over it. After this I went wandering down the water front and saw this huge monument. Still not sure what it is supposed to represent but it was definitely big!! Wandered back across the road and was going to miss the monestary but thought why not and was glad I didn´t. It was great - haven´t seen anything like that ever. Definitely different to the other churches I have been to in the past. I was going to go into the cloister but they were closing so I missed out there.


Next day I decided that I would see a bit more of Lisbon then book my ticket to go somewhere.... Somewhere turned out to be Seville but will get there in a minute. I had to catch the metro to get to the station and after asking a quick question found the international ticket office without any hassle (remember this part - no HASSLE). After this I booked my accommodation and then went off to find some lunch since it had taken me awhile to do this. Had a great seafood gumbo type dish - not sure what it was called but it was yummy. Wandered around the city for a couple of hours and found a few more sites then took myself to try the custard tarts again (did it the day before as well) that Portugal is famous for. I don´t like custard much so it was probably wasted on me but everyone assures me that they are fantastic. That night I had dinner back in the hostel again and one thing lead to another and wine was drunk and I ended up going out and drinking more. Although not completely drunk it was not fun to get moving the next morning knowing that I had to sit on a bus for seven hours to get to Seville.


Remember the no hassle part previously mentioned - well when you are tired and emotional and had to be at the bus station at a particular time and plan it so you get there bang on time but once you get off the metro take the wrong exit and can't find the bloody bus station you start to get a bit aggravated. I was near manic by the end because I kept going back into the train station but couldn't find the exit I had used the day before to get out and find the bus station. In the end after several abortive attempts to get directions off the locals I found my way there - 15 minutes late and with only 10 minutes to spare before the bus left.


The bus ride was boring to say the least but one thing I did find interesting was this bridge I went over just outside of Lisbon. Not sure how long it was but I would say at least 4km long if not more. It just kept going and going.


Got into Seville last night and went out for some yummy tapas then went back to the hostel and crashed. Got up this morning and after brekkie went to see the cathederal and the bell tower associated with the cathederal called Giralda. You can defintely see the islamic influence in the Giralda since it was originally a minaret. The cathederal on the other hand was this huge gothic thing that just seemed to go on forever - normally I love gothic but I think this one goes WAY over the top. On my way down the Giralda mum rang and after a few minutes she told me about the federal election. Little Johnny didn't even win his own seat - big blow there I would imagine. After this i went out for some more tapas for lunch - can't get enough of the stuff and to have this change instead the usual British sandwich for lunch is definitely working for me.

Just to let you know before I forget - the buildings around Seville are gorgeous. Makes it fantastic to walk around and just do that.

After lunch I went back to the hostel to grab a few more layers because the breeze here was starting to get a bit cold and checked a few things out there - including the tapas night that the hostel runs on a Saturday night. Needless to say count me in. This afternoon I wandered around the a big park and checked out Plaza de Spanga which was interesting. Having had enough for today I sent a text to Daggy saying should I wait until I get to Madrid where it may be cheaper before buying the leather boots that are fantastic in Seville. FYI Daggy was seconded to Madrid for a couple of months so I figure she would know about this sort of stuff.

I also checked into doing a day cooking class in Spanish food. So far I have asked three people - two from tourist information - and each one gives me this blank look. I thought it would be a cool thing to do but apparently not something that is very routine. I know they do it in Madrid so may have to wait until I get there.

That ought to do for now. Have a few more things to check into on the net before I can head off. Hope everyone is well.

Toni
xxoo