13th-14th August
We left around nine o'clock and drove out of Almerimar to El Ejido and on to the motorway. The usual poly-tunnels and bleak countryside until we got to Almería, round the town and then a left turn onto the motorway that leads to Granada. Up through the mountains we went.
Tony and I enjoy long drives and long drives through mountains are the best. The scenery... I was reminded of spaghetti westerns. Weren't a lot of them shot here? There was always something new to look at: rocks tortured into the most unimaginable shapes, barren slopes and valleys with only an occasional tree or cactus to break the emptiness and very occasionally, a lone house. Yes, I could definitely imagine a lonely cowboy making his way slowly along these canyons, winding up the hills.
Later, I was reminded of our visit to Matmata in Tunisia, to the troglodyte houses, the Star Wars bar, because here the landscape was equally out of this world and here, also, were troglodyte houses. We had seen troglodyte houses in this part of Spain before, when we were driving to Seville. Those first houses had been very lavish with extensive facades to them, all white pillars and arches, the gardens green and verdant, some even with swimming pools. But here the house fronts blended perfectly with the background so that it was easy to miss them. There were no well-watered lawns and as for swimming pools, not a chance!
And then we were back into lonely mountains, now climbing higher and higher, the last stretch of the drive. Here the mountainsides were lush, covered in trees. But we had a problem. The road was steep, the climb long, and our rental car was having serious difficulties making it to the top. Tony was down to second gear and it was a struggle. It was only a two lane road and we were seriously holding up the traffic. Huge lorries, cars pulling caravans, we were being overtaken at every opportunity. This was definitely not a highlight of the drive. We held our breaths, crossed our fingers... and we were had arrived, slowly descending to Granada (although still high in the mountains - Granada is built on a huge plateau high up in the Sierra Nevada.
I had spent hours the previous evening checking hotel reservation sites, looking for the best bargain, the most suitable hotel. In the end I decided it would be better to be out of town and take a bus into the centre. Reading the 'visitor reports' it seemed that the roads in the old town of Granada were as tortuous as some of the rocks we had passed. So I finally decided on a modern hotel with WiFi access 'in every part of the hotel'. It turned out to be an okay hotel, slightly reminiscent of the pictures on the web, and in a residential part of town. But our room had no WiFi available... The staff obviously thought we were crazy (or difficult customers!) but agreed to move us to a room that did have WiFi. Then we discovered that the hotel had no tourist information leaflets... can you imagine, a hotel in a town like Granada that probably survives on tourism... and no brochures! We even had to ask for a town map, they were hidden away at the reception desk. And when we asked about the Alhambra, well, you would have thought we were asking about a visit to the moon. However, we were given excellent information about where to catch a bus into town. It wasn't the best part of town to visit, but it was 'town'.
It was pretty much like any other large Spanish town: a wide boulevard lined by large buildings and a variety of shop windows to look into. We were hungry, it was already two o'clock and we chose the first likely-looking eatery we came to. The food was acceptable, nothing more, but at least the interior was cool. August isn't the best month for sightseeing, especially if, like me, you don't function well when the temperature soars.
We continued on our way, branching off down narrow alleys, all the shops closed now, siesta time was well underway. By chance we came upon the cathedral. It was closed, of course, every door shut, but we walked round it. It was HUGE. An enormous stone edifice, I don't think I have seen a bigger cathedral. Perhaps its size was enhanced by the other buildings, this part of town having seemingly grown around it. Of course, we found a square with restaurants and bars and of course we sat down to enjoy a glass of wine (perhaps not the best choice considering the temperature) and to take time to study the map and decide what we should try to see while we were here. We thought the old Arab Quarter would be the most interesting and so set off in that direction. As we passed the cathedral we noticed that it was now open so in we went. It was strange, considering the external size, this interior, although significant, was much too small... and then the penny dropped. We weren't in the cathedral, we were in a private chapel off the cathedral. So once outside we found the 'real' cathedral, paid the entrance fee (no queues here) and in we went. Apparently the design of the cathedral was based on St Peter's in Rome. It was large, it was cool and it was peaceful. We sat and absorbed the quiet atmosphere.
After the cathedral we didn't do much. It was hot, we abandoned the uphill walk to the Arab Quarter long and in the end we saw a bus stop... and stopped... and waited... and waited... and eventually a bus came along and in no time we were back in the hotel, back in the cool of the air-conditioned room. I looked up details of the Alhambra on the internet and was dismayed to discover that even if we bought tickets online we could expect long queues to get in. So, being me, I decided to put off making a decision, if we had to queue anyway then we may as well buy the tickets when we got there. Bad decision!
Next morning we had booked out of the hotel and were at the Alhambra shortly after ten. It was hot. There were queues, it seemed, a mile long. But there were no notices, nothing to tell you where to go, which queue to get into. We wandered around, looking at the queues, thinking, 'this is madness'. wondering how to get in to the public bit, the bit where you didn't need a ticket. We made no progress and I think, now, that there was a kiosk where you could get a ticket for the gardens only... but you had to join the general queue to get to it. Hmmm. Oh well, we were here, this is what we had come to Granada to see, so we joined a queue that was for the automatic ticket machines, the same ticket machines that was for the use of those people who had bought online, but they had priority. Does this make sense?
We had been standing in the queue, in full sun, for about ten minutes when there was an announcement. Tickets for the morning visit were sold out and there were only 650 tickets left for the afternoon session. We looked at the queues. Well, there didn't seem to be 650 people waiting, maybe 250, maybe less, so we stayed. The queue didn't move particularly fast. In fact, it didn't seem to move at all. After about half an hour there was another announcement.550 tickets left... then 500 tickets... 400 tickets... The queue just didn't seem to be moving enough for that many tickets to have been sold. I was getting a bit irate and assumed that while we were standing there, in the blazing sun, ticket were still being sold on the internet. Certainly, there were a lot of people going to the front of the queue to collect their pre-ordered tickets.
We were finally out of the sun but now there were only 250 tickets left for that afternoon. Obviously there were a lot of people in the queue who would not be getting tickets that day but no effort was being made by the staff to suggest where the end of the successful queue would be. We now realised that we would be borderline and wondered if it was worth waiting. By now I was furious. How dare these people treat visitors like this. If they didn't want to sell tickets on site then surely they should simply stop doing so, not hedge there bets and let people come just in case they had a slow day... Now there were 100 tickets left. It was definitely going to be a close thing but we decided to wait... after all, we had already queued for well over two hours. 50 tickets to go... I made another head count... 25 people ahead of us. But how many in the other queue? And would it move faster than ours? 4 people ahead of us... 2 people... now we were through but there wasn't a machine available... now at a machine, Visa card in... and then nothing. It spit the card out. Tony tried again. Same thing, back comes the card. I saw an attendant, the only one there. Grabbed her... we want a ticket, how does it work. Well, it seems that before you put your card in you have to touch the screen... it was a race to the end... she did it all for us... and we got the last two tickets! Phew... but such a disappointment for the Italian couple who were behind us in the queue... they got to a machine but like us couldn't make it work, not knowing the magic of touch. Others, more knowledgeable, got their tickets.
The next thing we discovered was that your ticket gives you a time when it is possible to visit the most important palaces, there is no choice. Our time slot was at seven o'clock... we would be on our way home by then! Well, it was the gardens I most wanted to see so I could live with that. But nevertheless, it seemed just another indication of the attitude of the management there...'We are one of the most famous, most visited sites in Spain. If you want to visit you will stick by our rules and we really don't care for your comfort.' I was going to write and complain. I was going to write to UNESCO and complain - this is no way to treat people and I felt strongly that UNESCO should re-consider their protection of the site - but of course I did nothing, except let you all know in this blog. And the solution was so simple: to man all available kiosks during the busiest periods (they had two open) and to install a host of automatic machines to add to the six that were already there, for which there was more than ample space.
The gardens are STUNNING. I am not a lover of Islamic or Italian style formal gardens, preferring a riot of colour to the elegance of greenery and manicured beds. Here there was such an intermingling of both it was a joy to experience. Elegant avenues of trees, olive trees, oleander in full bloom, the brilliant, deep cerise of bougainvillaea, water gardens, rose gardens, and everywhere, summer annuals, all in flower. The shade from the trees and the coolness of the water diminished the effect of the hot summer sun. In places an avenue or flight of steps would be edged by a small canal of running, cold water, perfect to trail a hand in, enjoy a moment's freshness. Drinking water fountains were everywhere and most people took advantage of them, filling water bottles for later use. From some of the walkways there were views over the gardens to the palaces of the Alhambra and then in the distance, the Arab Quarter of the city. On the other side the view was of the Sierra Nevada. Magnificent.
Yes, okay, I admit it, it was worth the wait.
