Day 14 - Valencia

August 08, 2022 by Alison Bryan

Our last day.

We had long sleeps and a lazy morning packing up the last of our things. We have a late flight, which seemed like a good idea at the time of booking, but in truth it meant we had a bit of hanging about in store for us.

We had cobbled together three things to see and set off for the old town.

Our first, very cute and quirky stop was La Casa de los Gatos. The house of the cats. It s a miniature house in the neighborhood of El Carmen that serves as a shelter for the neighbourhood cats.

According to the legend, during El Cid’s rule in Valencia, he ordered to make all the city’s cats disappear because the Catholics believed that they were diabolical and brought bad luck.

Allegedly, after that incident, only four cats still lived in the city. We haven’t seen that many cats at all, and you’d easily walk past this ornate cat flap if you didn’t know it was there.

There is also a marker here showing the height of the water during the great flood of 1957.

We walked from here to one of the main squares and to a very famous horchateria - Horchateria Santa Catalina. Horchata is a milk drink made from tiger nuts. It is a cold drink and is taken with a Farton - a kind of long thin doughnut covered in icing sugar. Andrew was the only one brave enough to try this. Oli had orange juice and I had coffee and we shared some churros and chocolate. The interior of the building is beautiful and has decorated ceramic tiles. It’s a real institution of Valencia and a must for any visit.

After that we were at a bit of a loss. We did have something else to see, but it was back near the hotel, which we didn’t need to go back to until 5ish for our cases.

Oli had an idea - let’s jump on the metro and just get off at any stop and then see what was there. So we did! We ended up at a lovely area in the outskirts of the city called Alboraia Peris Aragó and walked through the streets to a sweet square which had a cafe. So we stopped for a drink and played cards for a bit. Then we got the metro back to a stop called Alameda. The metro stop was beautiful.

The reason for the final stop was the flower bridge across the Turia gardens - Puente de las Flores. It wasn’t in full bloom, but it depends when you come I guess - such is the nature of flowers!

They did have some colourful benches too.

We then jumped on a bus back to our hotel. On our first afternoon we had bought three-day metro tickets which you can use on the tram and bus too. They were EUR 10.70 each and amazing value for money. We’ve certainly got our money’s worth!

We took a taxi to the airport, and waved goodbye to Spain.

It’s been a great trip. Tiring at times, but we feel we got the mix of rest and trips just right.

Day 13 - Valencia

August 07, 2022 by Alison Bryan

We woke up with alarms this morning as we have 10am tickets for the aquarium - L'Oceanogràfic.

This is in an area specifically for science and arts called Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. It’s a huge area very close to the coast and the architecture is stunning.

The buildings are made up of a concert venue, an opera house, a planetarium, a large conservatory with local plant species, a science museum and the oceanarium.

It was designed by two Spanish architects and completed in 2005. The buildings are surrounded by shallow pools and the tile work is white mosaic (very Gaudi) making the area look clean and bright.

We treated ourselves to a taxi to the oceanarium as the metro was going to take over an hour. The metro is clean and nice but the trains are quite infrequent, so given the early start this seemed the best option.

We arrived in good time and queued to get in.

We followed the numbers on the map to see each area. First area were the jellyfish and small sharks.

Jellyfish have no brain and are 98% water - they are basically just nerve endings. They are very graceful as they float around their tank.

Next stop were the turtles. I love them. So cute!

We then stood in a short line for the aviary. It wasn’t huge, which is good as it doesn’t have many birds which is a relief. They did have some beautiful ibis, and some ducks.

After that we are off for the seals. They looked very happy on their rock soaking up the sun, but most of them were swimming around in the pool.

As we were sitting watching the seals along swam a huge and graceful turtle! He was so lovely, and not at all upset about being in a tank of seals.

We made our way underground for the darkness of the tropical fish tanks. There are some odd sea creatures - spiky and spindly and usually camouflaged. We did see some beautiful sea horses.

It was really starting to get very hot now so dipping in and out of underground tanks (not literally) was most welcome.

Onto the flamingoes now and they were very busy pecking and eating.

A change of temperature now and into the arctic zone. They have two beautiful beluga whales here and they really do have the best faces. We watched them for ages, as they swam around and around.

They also had penguins, but they didn’t look particularly thrilled and some stupid people were banging on their glass despite being told no to, so we left the arctic.

We had tickets for a 4D film next. It was a very short film (maybe 7 minutes) and it was an extract from The Blue Planet, about octopuses. We put on our 3D glasses and we were soon under the water with the octopus and how he protects himself from sharks and also feeds himself. 4D means we were often sprayed in the face with waters or had the feeling of tentacles around our ankles!

We heard the noise from the dolphin stadium and decided to investigate. The dolphin tank and stage is huge. The trainers had them jumping and doing some great tricks for the fishy reward. I don’t know that the dolphins enjoy it. They are, after all, in captivity. But I know that dolphins do like humans. But do they really like jumping for fish?

It’s also the reasons I don’t like horse racing or polo, as humans say that the horses love it. But who really knows?

After getting back to the hotel and googling it, we now know that SeaWorld in the US no longer use orcas or dolphins for performing and that Tripadvisor have banned all sales to such venues. So we were right to feel odd about it, and we are really sorry lovely dolphins that we were part of it today.

Our final exhibit to see were the sharks. This was certainly a crowd puller and they have a huge tank, but even behind glass they are really scary creatures. They were swimming amongst huge fish and mantarays. You could walk through a glass tunnel on the way out with them swimming above you.

The facilities for the animals seem really good, and it’s a very impressive place. They do lots of work on conservation, which is good.

We took a slow walk back to the bus stop through the beautiful buildings and then had our last swim in the pool.

We got the bus into town and had a meal and an ice cream and walked back to the hotel for our last sleep in a strange bed.

We are ready to come home now. It has been a lovely trip. Looking back I can see how much I’ve mentioned the heat and the sleep! They have both been big factors!

We have one last day tomorrow and an evening flight home.

Day 12 - Valencia

August 06, 2022 by Alison Bryan

I slept well - Andrew did not! He hurt his back a day ago and was struggling to get comfortable. We got up and went for a quick walk to get him moving. Strong coffee from a roadside stall “holy coffee” and a quick pop into el Cortes Ingles, where Andrew bought some new shorts.

Back to the hotel to wake Oli up and we walked along the Turia Gardens into the old town. Seemed quicker than last night!

The park was busier with runners, cyclists and families.

The Turia river was diverted away from the town after a great flood in 1957, the river was diverted south leaving 18 beautiful bridges crossing this wonderful park.

Our first stop of the day was Mercat Central - the market. This is an indoor market selling fresh produce and drinks. I would say it’s 5 percent people buying and 95 percent taking photos! It is the largest market of fresh produce in Europe and its building is spectacular. It is iron and stained glass and certainly a sight to behold. There are over 1,200 stalls so the smells are quite overwhelming.

We found a cafe for some pastries for breakfast and then walked to our next sight - the silk exchange - La Lonja de la Seda.

It was free to get in, which seemed silly as it’s wonderful. The main hall has huge twisting stone columns up to a domed carved ceiling. It looked like a Harry Potter film set.

It was no accident or folly to make the room this grand - it was designed to convey a sense of prestige as Valencia really was a major place of trade in Europe. Two rooms upstairs were used as a prison for those that reneged on their debts.

It was a really interesting visit.

All of today’s sights are less than 5 minutes from each other - good planning for the weary and foot-sore.

Next stop was the cathedral. We are not church goers, and it feels a little odd, and even intrusive, to visit these places of worship. We can’t quite reconcile the apparent community of the church with the over the top riches it displays. Perhaps we miss the point. However, the cathedral is certainly a sight.

As you leave the cathedral there is an option to climb the bell tower. Fools that we are, we decided to have a go. It was 207 steps in a very tight spiral! Everyone seemed to be flying up them but us. El Miguelete is 50 metres high and gave us some great views over Valencia.

There is a one-way system on the stairs, which is really clever, so you wait at the top until you get a green light and then you all traipse down again. Worth every drop of sweat.

We got the metro back to our hotel and Oliver managed to connect the laptop to BBC so that we could watch the netball Commonwealth Games semi final between England and Australia. Unfortunately, England lost but it was great to watch it.

I had a dip in the pool while Andrew had a beer in the rooftop bar, and then we got ready for an earlier dinner.

We caught the metro to Maratim station - the beach! Even at 8pm it was still so hot. Valencia has a beautiful and huge sandy beach. We had a short walk along the promenade and found a nice restaurant for dinner.

Andrew and I shared vegetable paella and Oli had lasagne.

Paella (pah-a-ya) is a traditional Valencian dish. Usually chicken and rabbit with rice. It dates back to the Moors and is named after the dish it is cooked in. Paella is the Valencian word for “frying pan”. Eaten by farm workers for lunch, it now has varieties such as seafood and thankfully, vegetable. The restaurant made Andrew some fish to have on the side.

We caught a tram back to the hotel, because we hadn’t been on a tram yet. It took an age, was packed and hot, but still an adventure.

It’s been a really good day and night.

Day 11 - Murcia - Valencia

August 05, 2022 by Alison Bryan

This morning we packed up and got ready to leave Murcia. Andrew and I went for a walk in search of breakfast and found a shopping mall that sold great coffee and some pastries for Oli. We packed up the car and left the hotel and Murcia. Just as we were leaving and following the signs for Alicante, we saw a huge statue of Jesus on a mountain side, like a smaller version of the Christ the Redeemer in Rio, so we stopped for pictures.

The monument is called Christ of Monteagudo. The rather powerful figure has been there since 1926 but was demolished in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War. The son of the original artist rebuilt it in 1951 and there it stayed quite happily presiding over the people of Murcia until some lawyers tried to have it taken down in 2010 as they felt it was too religious (!) for what is public land. They lost their case, so there it stays, although he is now in a state of disrepair (apparently - we couldn’t see that from the road).

We had originally planned to stop enroute to Valencia for another seaside lunch, but I suddenly remembered that we had booked to drop the car back to the hire company at a certain time in Valencia. Lots of panic and checking of paperwork and we realised that we would never make it for the time we’d agreed to. We called them and they said it would be a EUR 50 penalty and another day’s hire EUR 100.

This meant that we had lost the enthusiasm for the seaside and just wanted to be in Valencia with the car back.

We passed Benidorm on our way to the airport and Andrew could now see why I didn’t want to stop there! It is way more built up now than ever, and that is just what we could see from the road.

Apparently Benidorm (which translates as ‘sleep well’) is just as popular with the Spanish as the Brits, due to its beautiful beaches and incredible climate. Not our cup of tea, but each to their own.

We soon arrived at Valencia airport and dropped the car in to the car hire office. The very nice man asked me what time we were supposed to be back and I explained that we had tried to call. We were two and a half hours late. He looked at me, and I must have looked pleadingly back as he just said “ok, you can go”. Relief!

We jumped into a taxi with a grumpy driver and soon we were at our hotel. Again, we had changed this hotel. We originally had a beautiful hotel in the old town, but switched to this big ugly one further out as it had a pool. I admit to feeling a bit disappointed, as this is our last stay and it would have been nice to have something traditional.

We put our cases in the hotel (after changing one of our rooms twice as they smelled of cigarettes) and set off for the old town. We bought a three day metro ticket each, as we have tired legs now!

We waited for the metro train and got on to a nice air conditioned carriage bound for the centre. Masks are compulsory on the metro. We got out at Xativas station next to yet another bullring! I’m collecting them!

We ate a light lunch at a cafe and wandered around for two hours. It’s my second time here and it’s so nice. A bigger feel than Seville. More chains such as Starbucks and Burger King.

Returning to the metro station we looked around the magnificent mainline Valencia Nord station. The interior artwork is beautiful.

Back at the ever so slightly crummy hotel, we went up to its roof-top pool for a dip, which felt pretty good after another day of 36-39C heat.

A swim and a shower, then, after an hour or so of rest, we set off again for the centre of the city for a meal; this time by bus. The bus was very modern, complete with USB charging points!

We found a ‘make your own burger’ burger bar, which filled whatever space inside us we could find, and then explored the city for an hour or so. Being Friday night it was probably busier than usual, but we think Valencia is in any case bigger and has more of a younger crowd than any of the other cities on this trip. There are big, busy plazas with fountains and light shows, and bikes and scooters whizzing around, but all surrounded by beautiful churches, hotels, restaurants, theatres and bars.

We chose to walk back to the hotel this time, strolling through yet more places thronging with people, but, for the last mile or so, through the almost deserted park stretching around the northern part of the city, which follows the dry course of the River Turia since it was diverted in the late 60s due to flood-risk. It is a good 100 yards wide and stretches for several miles. All of it is planted with trees and shrubs, and, with many lit walking and cycling paths, it was quite an experience at midnight, with almost nobody else around.

Back at the hotel we nearly fell asleep in the lift.

Day 10 - Granada - Murcia

August 04, 2022 by Alison Bryan

Up with the larks today! We took breakfast in the hotel this morning. A lovely spread of fruit and cold meats and breads and decent coffee.

We checked out and a grumpy taxi driver took us back to the car park where our car has been resting for a few days.

We are on the road today to Murcia. Valencia is our final stop, but it’s quite a stretch to drive that from Granada in one day. Murcia is a good stopping point. Quite a major town with lots of choices of hotels. We had originally booked a hotel near the cathedral but changed it a few days ago to large hotel with a pool. The pool is such a nice thing to have after a day in the sun. It also included parking, so no more pulling cases through cobbled streets.

Our route took us around the northern border of the Sierra Nevada National Park - quite a long dull motorway, with barren, craggy landscape either side.

We were heading to a seaside town called Águilas. I had picked this out from a map as a midpoint and as it has some notable rock formations on the beach. Not that we are into rocks particularly, just that it seemed more interesting than a normal beach.

We stopped at a service station for a drink and the lady that served us was fascinated with Oliver and how tall he was! She even offered to marry him!

Just before and after Águilas we started to pass lots of white tented fields. Acre upon acre. Oliver had studied this in Geography and told us that around Almeria the majority of Europe’s fruit and vegetables are grown. These “greenhouses“ are just plastic tents. Such is the size of this sea of plastic that sunbeams reflected off it are said to have caused the local climate to cool. Think about that when you are next tucking in your tomatoes imported from Spain. A rather unsavoury by-product is the plastic, much of which ends up in the sea.

Interestingly, my friend Lisa, who moved to the Suffolk countryside last year sent me a picture of her crop of tomatoes today. Makes you realise that growing you own has to be a good alternative. (photo shared with her kind permission)

We arrived at Águilas just in time for lunch, and thanks to Andrew’s expert driving we found our way down the narrow streets to the car park. This is not your usual package holiday part of the coast.m, but where the Spanish spend their holidays - leaving the hot cities to us crazy tourists. They were bobbing around in the sea and sitting under their colourful umbrellas.

We walked along the promenade and found a nice restaurant looking over the harbour. We had salads and Oliver had chicken. Delicious! The flies tried to enjoy it with us. Oliver said the flies in Spain are very confident! I just think they are a pest!

We walked the rest of the harbour, through a closed up fairground (sure to open later) and marvelled at the wonderful lighthouse guarding the rocks.

Águilas really was a happy accident. A beautiful little town. By the time we walked back, the beach was empty, all the clever Spanish tucked away in their cool apartments until later in the day.

Back to the motorway and an hour to our final stop - Murcia, which is a University city.

We have now left Andalucía. We covered 5 of the 8 provinces - Sevilla, Cadiz, Malaga, Granada and Almeria.

The hotel is huge. Very much a conference centre hotel, but the room is big and clean and the pool was most welcome.

We walked the 30 minute stroll into Murcia old Town for dinner. The outskirts didn’t feel so safe, or clean. But the main square and beautiful tree lined boulevards are lovely. It’s a quiet city (not sure if it always is). We sat in the plaza in front of the theatre and ate a delicious meal of pasta and pizza and took a slow walk back to the hotel with ice cream. Oliver had an ice cream sandwich (ice cream in two cookies) which he said was phenomenal!

It seems a shame not to have seen more of Murcia but we think we have the balance right between travel and relaxing.

It’s been a lovely day.

Day 9 - Granada

August 03, 2022 by Alison Bryan

This morning Andrew and I were up early (9am). This area, with its Islamic roots, has quite a few Hammam baths. We really liked the sound of them and had passed one by our hotel so decided to treat ourselves. Oli had no interest at all, which is no surprise. So off we went to Hammam al Andalus.

We were greeted by Monika, who had the softest voice and talked us through the different areas. There was a very cold pool, a warm pool and two hot pools, plus a sauna. The interior was like a cave, with lots of tiled arches and walls. Not dissimilar to the Alhambra itself.

Andrew had a ticket for the baths and a 30 minute massage and I had the baths and a 15 minute exfoliation and 15 minute massage.

We floated around in the pools, spent some time in the sauna and before long, Monika came to find us for our treatments.

Mine was amazing. First my masseuse cleaned me with lavender soap and poured bowls of warm water over me to rinse (I was lying on a bed with holes in) and then she started to scrub me with a rough mitten and eucalyptus soap. It was rough! Then she massaged me with lavender oil (you could select from a variety of oils). It was amazing. Such a treat. Very relaxing.

Andrew said his was wonderful too. Then we showered in the changing area (and I used every cream and lotion supplied) and we slid our way back to the hotel - chilled and sleepy.

Getting Oliver out of bed is becoming more of a challenge and the cleaner was actually waiting for him today. I should imagine they’ll be glad to see the back of him!

We made our way to the main square - Plaza Nueva - and sat down for breakfast (12:45). The poor waiter was not having the best day - no orange juice, no waffles - but in his defence it was lunch time! Oliver had a croissant and Andrew and I had Spanish omelette on toast. Yes, you read that right.

Our plan for today was to walk as little as possible.

So we boarded the Granada sight seeing “train”. It is an electric car/van that pulls behind it two carriages of people. It has a circular route, starting at the Alhambra, and finishes at Calle Molinos, and then starts again. For EUR 9.00 you can ride it all day, or hop on and off at your leisure.

We had headphones so that we could listen to facts about each stop. It passed the cathedral, university buildings and the bull ring among all sorts of interesting places.

It took around an hour and 15 minutes for the full circuit and was a very pleasant way to see the city (and totally met our ‘no walking’ requirement for the day).

After disembarking, we set off for el Cortes Ingles. This is a chain of department stores that are family run and the only remaining chain in Spain. They have a great feel about them - very “Grace Brothers”. We spent an hour browsing their air conditioned store, even looked in their food court and bought some sweets (me and Oli) and some sardines (Andrew), and I also treated myself to some perfume.

We took a slow walk back to the hotel and found some beautiful squares and alleys. Granada really is full of surprises.

It’s been quite an odd day. Oliver has been in a mood where all that I say is wrong. Just in case, dear reader, you thought our family of 3 rub along quite well, there are times when things aren’t so good! So Oli went back to his room alone, and Andrew and I went for an early evening drink to stay out of his way!

We are packing up again tonight, off tomorrow for the final stretch!

Day 8 - Granada

August 02, 2022 by Alison Bryan

Andrew and I woke quite early, the sun streaming in through a naughty gap in the curtains. We decided to let Oli sleep in and made our way, with two bags of dirty washing, to a laundrette. We had hoped to get a service wash and had checked it out last night, but when we got there the place was just the washers - no staff. So we stuffed our clothes into two washing machines and left them to do their magic while we had a little explore.

We found a coffee and cake shop and ordered some coffees. Andrew had a ham and cheese croissant (with a take away one for Oli), and I had a chocolate palmier (a kind of biscuit crossed with a croissant). After a wander around, we went back for the washing and set it off on a drying mode! Life on the edge in Granada! The laundrette was, unsurprisingly, baking hot. We got everything dried and folded and walked back to the hotel to collect Oli. It was midday and he was still not awake!

Finally up and ready, he joined us for our walk up to today’s star of the show..The Alhambra.

The Alhambra is a palace perched high above Granada’s old town that was once a walled castle. By 1237 it became the seat of Granada’s Nasrid emirs.

According to the guidebook, the Palacio Nazaries are the finest Islamic buildings in Europe. Quite a claim!

Alhambra means ‘Red Castle’ in Arabic. It had parts added on right up until 1492, when the Christians moved in and took over. By 1829 it had fallen into serious disrepair until America wrote Washington Irvine rediscovered it and by writing about it started a chain of events that led to it being restored. It is absolutely huge and the restoration continues.

It is the only surviving large medieval Islamic palace complex in the world.

It’s designers were supremely gifted, using pools and running water to integrate nature and buildings.

I had first seen parts of the palace when Michael Palin visited it for a BBC travel documentary and I remember how moved he was and how he had hoped that nobody else would ever visit as he wanted it all to himself.

Tough luck as it is Spain’s second biggest tourist attraction after Sagrada da Familia. You have to book well in advance, which we had. It’s quite the climb up, but it’s under a welcome canopy of trees. Oliver described the walk as the pinnacle of awful. Drama!

We walked to the back of a queue (even though we had time tickets) and waited for around 15 minutes to enter the Nasrid Palaces.

Oh wow - what a sight. You are not allowed to touch anything, even the door frames, but it’s hard not to. You just want to feel it. Beautiful coloured tiled walls, white plastered walls and ceilings engraved with delicate fretwork and Islamic script. Not forgetting the marquetry wooden ceilings. It’s beautiful.

Each doorway has arches made of ornate stucco - no basic lintels here!

The Patio de los Arrayanes is in the centre of the palace with a beautiful pool surrounded by white marbled floors and myrtle hedges.

It was a lot to take in, each room more beautiful than the last.

After leaving the palace you find yourself in the vast gardens. The Generalife was the Sultans’ summer greens and they are huge. We sat in the shade for a while, it was 5pm and the temperature was still around 40 degrees. We decided that the garden were maybe a little ambitious for us, so we explored some of the closer parts and then head to the exit. It’s like a town within a town, with other palaces (built later by Charles V) and small shops selling souvenirs. It is beautifully kept and a real credit to Granada.

We took a slow walk back down the hill, popped into a bar for a cold drink and then relaxed with our books before heading out to dinner.

We ate at a rather mediocre restaurant. Which is a shame, as there are so many great ones to choose from. It’s just trying to find something that we all like is hard aometimes.

Walking back from dinner with our ice creams (Granada flavour - pomegranate) we saw a band getting ready to play. Around 15 young men with various types of guitar and tambourines. They are called Tuna - a group of students dressed in traditional costumes serenading young maidens. Really lovely upbeat music with the odd flourish of tambourine acrobatics thrown in. A wonderful way to end the evening.

I will leave you with some more photos of the beautiful palace. Michael Palin was right to be bowled over by it.

Day 7 - Benahavis - Granada

August 01, 2022 by Alison Bryan

Up with the builders this morning. There is a new house being built up the hill from the hotel and they were at work early. It’s a Monday - we have totally lost track of days of the week. We packed up our final bits, collected Oli from his room, paid our bill and loaded up the car.

Off to the next stop - Malaga.

Malaga is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso. We have always loved his art works, so this was a must for us (maybe not Oli, but we are sure that some of what he sees will stick).

Coming into Malaga was a bit of an eye-opener - leaving behind the green hills of Benahavis, we were greeted with a sprawling city and McDonald’s signs. However, deeper in to the city in search of parking and we found a nicer, more traditional set of streets. Lined with palm trees and beautifully clean, we quickly re-evaluated our first impressions.

The name ‘Malaga’ comes from the word meaning salt. The area was a major port in Roman times and they had a custom of salting the fish that arrived here.

Despite being on the Costa del Sol, Malaga has managed to retain its old town charm and resist the over-building that other areas on the coast have succumbed to.

We parked in yet another tiny car park (not sure how Andrew’s nerves are coping to be honest), and found a nice cafe for breakfast. Eggs and Spanish ham with delicious fresh orange juice. And decent coffee - no more hotel Nescafé.

We made our way to the end of the short queue for the Picasso musuem and within minutes we were at the front and in. The museum itself is in a 16th century palace, and I can think of a no more fitting place to display his art. The whole collection is on loan from his grandson and daughter-in-law and they have some beautiful examples of his fine art as well as the more recognisable pieces.

It was worth the trip to Malaga just for this. Oliver pretended not to like it, but we did catch him taking some photos of some paintings, so it’s not all lost on him.

We walked from the museum back to the car, by street signs that showed the temperature to be 41 degrees.

Back in the car we headed for our next stop, Nerja. Nerja is a seaside town, but it has something more…CAVES. I love a cave. When my sister and I were small our parents took us on holiday to Spain, and one of the trips from the hotel was to some caves with a music and light show. I was captivated! It’s such a strong memory. So show me a sign for caves, and I’m there.

The Cueva de Nerja were discovered in 1959 by 5 young men looking for bats. What they found was a whole lot more! - 5 million-year-old caves hollowed out by water and once inhabited by Stone Age hunters.

The coolness of these beautiful caves was most welcome, even if you don’t like a cave, you’d have loved the respite from the heat they offered.

Back in the car for the final drive of the day to Granada. The scenery was breathtaking. We followed the trail of the Las Alpujarras, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (translates to “snow capped mountains).

It’s hard to capture the beauty of the area in a moving car.

Soon we were at the motorway exit for Granada. Again, a shock. We hadn’t expected Granada to be so huge! Signs for Primark, Sports Direct and Burger King were a worry, but again, pass those and we were rewarded with large open streets and old white buildings.

We followed the Satnav to the hotel address and what followed was 30 minutes of driving hell! The cobbled roads got narrower and narrower, and we were holding our breath trying to find our way around. After trying this for a while, we pulled into a shady side street and when preparing to call the hotel, found some detailed instructions on their website on how to get there if you come by car. As it’s in the historic area, they suggested we park at the shopping area car park and take a taxi to the hotel. It took us ages to park as the car is huge and the spaces are tiny, but we did it. Well, Andrew did it. We just provided moral support. A taxi took us to the hotel and we settled in. We have the most amazing views of the Alhambra. More on that tomorrow.

It’s been a lovely day. Varied. Often stressful. But we’ve made it here and for three nights this is our home.

We had a delicious meal at the first restaurant we came to tonight (Italian), and then had a walk around the town. It has a lovely feel - lots of bustling restaurants and bars. We will explore more tomorrow. Until then…bed.

Day 6 - Benahavis and Ronda

July 31, 2022 by Alison Bryan

We all had another deep sleep and dragged ourselves out of bed at 10am to get on the road to Ronda.

We popped to the local supermarket for pastry and juice to eat enroute. Today was my day for driving. Not sure why I picked Ronda as my chosen destination because it is set on the top of a mountain and in a deep gorge. Think winding road after winding road, hairpin bends, the white knuckles of Andrew …you get the picture? It was 21km of winding roads and I managed just under half before my co-driver’s (definitely not a passenger) nerves could stand no more. So we swapped!

The drive took us past some stunning scenery - green as far as you could see and the bluest skies.

We soon came to Ronda - a very nice town, quite big, with parks and wide open roads. We found a car park and set off on foot for the old town. We found a lovely shady park and walked around there and took some pictures of the gorge.

We walked past Plaza de Toros - one of Spain’s oldest bullrings. It is also the largest and most dangerous. We didn’t go in.

We were headed for the main attraction, and the reason that Ronda was on our list - Puente Nuevo - the New Bridge. It is the reason that Ronda has so many visitors and it’s easy to see why. It straddles the dramatic gorge and links the old and new towns. It is not actually new (built in 1759), but it replaced the Puente Viejo (the old bridge). You can still see the old bridge and the even older Roman Bridge.

We walked down a side road and were soon on the old bridge looking back at the new.

The issue with walking down is that you often have to walk up again! We huffed and puffed in the now hot sun and took a walk around the streets of the old town - deserted (t’s Sunday and it’s hot).

We found a nice little pedestrianised street and sat outside a sweet little resturant where I had revuelto de setas (mushrooms and scrambled egg) and Andrew had tortilla with chorizo (Spanish omelette). Delicious. Oliver did not eat - not hungry.

We walked back to the car and tried to get in it - it was baking! 49 degrees in the car - I had to empty my bag and sit on it as the seat was so hot and I was wearing shorts. Air-con on and off we go - back down the winding roads and back to Benahavis and the refreshing pool.

Andrew found a German TV channel showing the England vs Germany Euro 2022 final, which England won! and we relaxed in the room for a while.

Dinner was in a small restaurant that we had a drink in last night. Run by a lovely lady from Manchester who had lived here for 20 years. Delicious food and drinks. We walked one final time through Calle de Malaga ( the main restaurant strip) and took in the friendly and happy atmosphere.

We are all packed up again and off on the road to Granada tomorrow. Benahavis has been a really nice stop, the days are relaxing, the hotel is nice (although the wifi is shocking), and the pool has been a god send.

Day 5 - Benahavis and the Costa del Sol

July 30, 2022 by Alison Bryan

We had breakfast booked in the hotel at 10am, so more alarms! We literally cannot stop sleeping. We managed to wake Oli and sat by the beautiful pool with some fruit and some eggs and toast. We watched the birds busy themselves eating crumbs from our toast. It is quite cloudy today, but still hot.

We collected the car from its parking space and set off for Marbella.

When planning this trip, the coast had not featured massively, but Andrew had expressed a desire to see the Costa del Sol for himself.

As a child, many of our Read family holidays were spent here (and the Costa Blanca) - package holidays in hotels with food laid on and they were great. My dad had a real desire to give us a good life - to have all that he had not, and to experience different places. He was very much ahead of his time, and probably means, and he worked really hard for our two week holiday. I have very happy memories (and photos) of us playing cards, playing on the pool, buying Spanish dolls and donkeys to take home and dancing in the hotel with my mum to the hotel entertainment. But I have not ventured back to this part of Spain for a holiday. Mainly because of it’s reputation for beer swilling, football shirt wearing English men that only want to eat egg and chips when on holiday.

So I gave Andrew fair warning and off we set to Marbella.

Marbella was probably a good choice as it tends to attract a more wealthy crowd and maybe an older set of people. I know it has featured on The Only Way is Essex on occasion. Within 30 minutes we were parked in the smallest car park ever in the old town Marbella and set off for the seaside.

There were row upon row of sun beds and sun shades, but it was not at all busy. We kicked off our shoes and trotted into the sea and took a slow walk. There were mainly Spanish families on the beach, which we hadn’t expected.

We walked to the marina to look at the rather lovely boats and then sat down for a light lunch. Very pleasant. There were lots and lots of shops, and some very tall hotels, but no signs for ‘beer for a euro’ or any kind of English grub at all.

Before we set off back to the hotel, we walked around the tiny old town, the main square, Plaza de los Naranjos and looked in the shop windows at Spanish souvenirs.

We negotiated our way out of the tiny car park and back to the hotel via Acequia del Guadalmina. This is a hiking trail very close to where we are staying. We had seen people walking there on our way out in various states of undress and wondered what was happening. After parking and walking up hill in the heat for ten minutes we saw a nice bridge and the reason for the lack of clothes - a river! It looked like a great reward for making it to the end of the trail and it also looked like a wonderful way to spend a day. We spent some time watching the fun and then headed back for the hotel.

There was no one around apart from the owner setting tables for dinner, so we changed straight into our swimming costumes and took a nice long dip in the pool. We then had a long nap and booked dinner - Korean tonight - that well known cuisine for a Spanish rooftop village.

Day 4 - Seville to Benahavis

July 29, 2022 by Alison Bryan

Up with the alarms today as we needed to be on the road. I think we all struggled with that a little.

We took a taxi to the car rental office at Seville station and spent 30 minutes sorting that out. it’s always a little stressful. We have quite a big car, which is necessary for three big cases (though they still didn’t all go in the boot) and three people, but might be tricky on small Spanish hilltop roads. We shall see!

Andrew got us out of town and we stopped 20 minutes later at a service station for a coffee and pastry for breakfast.

We are taking the road to the Atlantic coast today - Cadiz.

Cadiz (according to Lonely Planet) is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in Europe. We took the sign for the centre and crossed the most amazing bridge. Cadiz was originally an island. It has four quarters to the old town, so we parked near the cruise terminal and headed for Barrio del Populo, the oldest quarter.

It was a really pleasant walk along the sea-front and there were lots of people making the most of the sun and sand. We got to the cathedral and its square after about 20 minutes. The cathedral was ok - not overly inviting, but definitely dominating the skyline.

We took a slow walk back to the car through the cobbled streets and said our goodbyes to Cadiz.

It’s lovely and definitely a place we could revisit.

We drove south from Cadiz for an hour and stopped at the most beautiful village called Vejer de la Frontera. There was a fair amount of swearing and breathing in as the roads to this white-washed hilltop town got narrower and narrower. We found a great parking space and walked back up to the town. So stunning. All the houses are white and in tiny cobbled streets. The main square has a tiled fountain in the centre. We found a nice-looking bar and ate tapas and had a cold beer - toasting the fact that the car was still in one piece!

We had originally planned to drive to Gibraltar next. However, it was now around 5pm and we (well Andrew) decided we probably didn’t have time. I was quite disappointed, but I often make the mistake of thinking everything is 10 minutes from each other and over commit in the itinerary. So I had to settle for seeing the famous rock from the car window at distance.

Somehow we managed to end up on a windy country road to our final destination of the day. So we did take a little longer than planned, but by 7:30 we were checked in to our hotel in Benahavis.

Benahavis is around 30 minutes from the Costa del Sol - now beside the Mediterranean Sea, rather than the earlier Atlantic Ocean. It was a bit of magnet for wealthy second home English golfers in the 1980s and we were not too sure what to expect.

We stepped out for dinner and the restaurants were all packed! Lots of very glamourous Essex people, but also lots of equally glamourous Spanish. We let Oli choose dinner - pizza! It was delicious actually, and after that we had a walk around the streets. There was a Spanish band playing in the main street and lots of lovely singing and dancing taking place. We stayed a while and watched and then headed back to the hotel for a sleep in our rather rustic, but lovely rooms.

Day 3 - Seville

July 29, 2022 by Alison Bryan

After another amazing night of sleep, Andrew and I got up and went for a little walk around the area near the hotel. Being up and out before 10am was an eye opener - the Sevillians were bustling around doing their shopping, opening the bars and getting their coffee fix.

We passed an entrance to a beautiful looking, small palace. We read the sign at the front and noted it was called Palacio de las Dueñas. We decided to come back to that after breakfast.

Waiting for Oliver to wake up is a thankless task. We finally got him up and out and were at our favourite breakfast spot at midday! Oliver had the same as yesterday, today I had pesto toast with mozzarella, walnuts and rocket. Andrew had eggs benedict with Salmon and a bloody Mary! After saying goodbye to the lovely happy man we headed back to Palacio de las Dueñas. We paid our EUR 11 and wandered around the beautiful gardens, stables and stunning rooms. The palace is privately owned, and still lived in, but lots of it was open for the public to view. It is beautifully kept, if a little over-full of knickknacks.

The most recent duchess to live there was rather eccentric and also rather plastic looking in her later years!

The temperature today is high again, 40 degrees, which is a struggle to walk around in. But we made our way back to the old town as we had plans to see the Real Alcazar (Real = Royal, Alcazar = Palace (in arabic)). This is therefore a royal palace, or at least it was until 1931, when it was handed over to the citizens of Seville. It is beautiful. Full of the most intricate iridescent tiles and gold ceilings, some dating back over a thousand years, but empty of any belongings - so it is hard to imagine anyone living here - especially as recently as 1931. The grounds are vast, mainly fruit trees, which fed the inhabitants of the palace.

We wandered happily around the palace and grounds for an hour and then decided that it was just too hot to carry on, so we set off back to the hotel and went for a swim in the second rooftop pool. It was just what we needed. We had an early start to the evening planned and took a taxi back across the river to Triana to Baraka Sala Flamenco.

I have been here before and I hoped that Andrew and Oliver would love it as much as I had. It is a small traditional flamenco “tablao”, which is a venue that specialises in flamenco performances. We were seated right at the front on some chairs that look like they came from an old abuela’s house and waited for the lights to go down. Flamenco is a complex art form incorporating poetry, singing (cante), guitar playing (toque), dance (baile), hand-clapping (palmas), and finger snapping (pitos). It often features the call and response known as jaleo, a form of “hell raising,” involving hand clapping, foot stomping, and encouraging shouts.

First on was the guitar player - he played ten minutes of the most beautiful, romantic Spanish music. He was then joined by a small Spanish man with a VERY tight shirt who started the singing. Now when I say ‘singing’, it is more of a wailing. That sounds mean, but it’s not meant as such - it is just so you know how it sounds. It’s quite maudlin in style. I did wonder if the buttons would pop off his shirt, as Oli was in the firing line for that. Another, thin, Spanish main joined them and he started the pitos and they both clapped along. We were asked at the beginning not to clap along as the beat was their own and very intricate. We could applaud whenever we felt like it, though.

Then came the dancer, in the well-recognised long layered skirt and traditional shawled top. She was amazing - when she stamped her feet, the whole place shook. It was very emotional to watch, you had to keep reminding yourself to breathe! She was joined by the non-singing, clapping man and they danced a very sexy duet together. She then took his seat and he danced a frantic and energetic dance - I have never seen anyone’s feet move so fast. He was incredibly elegant. She heckled him from the chair - I assume words of encouragement.

We were asked not to take photos or video until the last 2 minutes, which everyone stuck to and that really did add to the enjoyment. You could just sit back and enjoy it. I cried, Andrew cried, Oli said it was amazing.

What a wonderful way to end our time in Seville.

We walked back via the bull ring area; there was a bullfight on tonight and the area was packed. It’s so odd to me to think that people still flock in their hundreds to see this. But they do, and the Spanish clearly love it.

We had gourmet, posh burgers for dinner, and then a delicious ice cream to walk back to the hotel with. We sat on the steps under the mushrooms and watched the comings and goings of Seville.

It feels like a very safe and laid-back place - clean and tidy with happy people.

We will be sad to leave tomorrow, but it’s time to move on.

Mint choc chip - the Queen of the icecreams

Day 2 - Seville

July 28, 2022 by Alison Bryan

After lots and lots of deep and satisfying sleep, we dragged ourselves to breakfast/brunch. We walked back to the Mushrooms and sat at a very sweet cafe called La Mala. An unfortunate name that translates to ‘bad’.

The food was amazing. Oliver had a bacon, chicken and cheese roll, Andrew had spinach and eggs on toast and I had the vegetarian bagel (mushrooms, avocado, tomatoes and honey dressing). So delicious.

All nourished and ready for the day, we walked the 20 minutes to the old town, and the cathedral.

Seville cathedral was built in 1506 on the site of the former Great Mosque. It is the largest Gothic church in the world. I have been to Seville before, but we didn’t go to the cathedral, so we bought a ticket this time to the cathedral and the bell tower.

The cathedral is vast. I am not a huge fan of wandering around churches, but they feature heavily in catholic countries and there’s no denying how impressive they are. The cathedral houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

There were lots of statues, lots of robes, lots of gold and lots of scary looking figures of baby Jesus. We spent half an hour trying to translate Spanish tomb inscriptions and then made our way to La Giralda - the Bell Tower.

The tower is accessed by ramps rather than stairs. It is a square tower and the ramps were built so the guards could ride up on horses rather than walk. It was quite a slog, but we paced ourselves, stopping at little windows pretending to be taking in the view, rather than sneaking a rest!

The bells do ring whilst visitors are at the very top and we were lucky enough to be there at 2pm, so not too many ear splitting peals.

After looking at the beauty of Seville from up high, we made our way back down to a sweet little bar for a drink and some shade. The heat zaps your energy!

Our next stop was the Plaza de Espana. If you had 2 hours in Seville, this would be the place I would suggest you visit. It’s beautiful. It is surrounded by lush, green parks, so you can have a relatively shady walk to it. It was built between 1914 and 1929 as one of the main constructions of the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It is a semi-circular area made up of beautiful ceramic tiled ‘benches’ each one representing the provinces of Spain. There is a little river in front where you can row a boat and with ceramic tiled bridges above leading to a central fountain. The acoustics of the covered area mean that there are usually some guitar players and flamenco dancers entertaining the tourists. It is just a place to walk and to marvel at the beauty of the decoration. It’s free, there’s nothing to read about, or learn - it just is.

Not us

We had a slow walk back to the hotel, slurping on our slush drinks (mine cola, Oliver’s kiwi and Andrew’s..nothing - he had a bottle of coke) and took a long dip in the hotel pool.

For dinner, we decided to commit to tapas! We pledged to go into the first restaurant and just eat what they had on the menu. The two waiters in the tiny little tapas bar didn’t speak any English, but we muddled through and tried: Panko fried chicken (more Asian than Spanish?), anchovies on toast, Patatas bravas (spicy potatoes), bread and a HUGE glass of Sangria.

We left there and walked back to the old town where we found another restaurant for our main dinner! I had (another) Spanish omelette (not much choice for veggies here), Andrew had beef cheeks and Oliver had ham hock and mash potato. Rounded off with an ice cream and a walk with round bellies back to the hotel and another well earned sleep.

Seville really is beautiful.

Day 1 - Seville

July 27, 2022 by Alison Bryan

We had an early start and arrived at Gatwick airport at 7am.

After having had our flight cancelled a few weeks ago, I had been obsessively checking our new carrier, Vueling, for the status of the flight to Seville. Gatwick airport was busy, and we took our place in the end of a long long queue to check in our bags. It was very well organised with staff checking people were not going to miss flights and were in the right place. It took us around 90 minutes to get from here to the departure lounge, which given recent news reports was great.

Our flight was comfortable (seats with extra leg room are always worth it) and after 2 and a half hours we touched down in Seville airport and were met by a blast of 46 degree air on stepping out of the plane! We took a taxi to our hotel. The driver, with a smirk, said 46C is normal for Sevilla, not normal for you.

The hotel - Posado del Lucero is beautiful. A very old building with high vaulted ceilings (XVI century inn, with recent modernisation). Oliver has his own room, which means no more sofa bed sleeps for our not so little boy.

La Posada del Lucero (the Inn of Brightness) - the interior exterior

We set down our bags and braved the extreme heat (no exaggeration) and walked 5 minutes to the Plaza de la Encarnacion. This used to be a large open square with restaurants and shops around, but now has beautiful, huge, wooden parasols covering the whole thing. They are called the Metropol Parasol or Setas de Sevilla - or known locally at the ‘mushrooms’. The area was originally a market and when it was decided to build an underground car park for the market they found architectural remains dating back to Roman times to that put a stop to that. The remains are now a museum and after a competition to design something for the square, the wooden mushrooms were built.

It is the largest wooden structure in the world.

We bought tickets to walk up (it’s actually a lift) and the ticket office lady warned us of the extreme heat so only charged half price, but hey, an Englishman abroad and all that, we ploughed on ahead. Oh boy, it was HOT. We wandered around the platform at the top and enjoyed the beautiful views across Seville.

A little hungry and in need of shade we walked down some cute cobbled streets and found the small Bar el Comercia serving tapas and sandwiches. It was tiled inside, beautiful and COOL. Oliver and Andrew had ham sandwiches with cheese and I had a ‘Spanish’ omelette. Two cokes and two beers later and we crossed the street for an ice cream, which Oliver ordered for us in the most wonderful Spanish.

We wandered around, a little lost, with a map, trying to get our bearings. We finally found the main part of the old town, with the cathedral and tower.

Back to the hotel and we unpacked our bags and donned our swimming costumes and had a long dip in the hotel pool. It is a vey small, long pool, on the roof of the hotel, but we three fitted in nicely and spent a most welcome 30 minutes chatting and splashing and laughing. When I say small, I mean you could touch both sides at the same time.

We decided to cross the river for the evening meal, via the Puente de Isabel II (Puente de Triana), to Triana. This area of the city is very important in the history of Seville. It is very much it’s own neighbourhood and is the birthplace (although many towns in Spain claim the same) of Flamenco dance. It is also where the colourful ceramics of Spain are produced. The hotel had told us it was the last day of the Feria de Triana - a festival of 5 days of celebration. Music, dance, sports competitions are held on the banks of the river. It was busy and full of people having a great time with friends. We spotted lots of people in the water and later learned that this was the tradition of “la Cucaña”. This competition requires participants to walk along a boat’s bow covered with grease in order to catch the little flag placed on the very top of it. If you can do it, you win and take a prize. If not, you end up in the drink.

After wandering around and taking in the atmosphere we settled on an Italian restaurant (!!) for dinner. Oliver not so sure about Tapas - which he says he will try tomorrow. The meal was very nice, not very Spanish, but welcome after a long day of travel and us all feeling weary (and me a little grumpy).

We walked back to the hotel and poured ourselves into the huge beds and the air conditioning on full blast. No alarms now, just rest.

A pleasant start to our Spanish adventure, and feeling very happy and very lucky to be here.