Day 7 - Benahavis - Granada
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.