🎼 Great Service You Get, Renting Your TV Set From ….. Granada 🎼

The hook-line from the TV rental company, an advert that played when I was a schoolboy, ran through my head a few times as I drove three hours from Mazarrón (near Murcia on the map) to Granada (with a confusing amount of Alhambra’s)We rented our TV set from Granada and paid weekly from the monies in the slot-meter fitted on the back of the TV set. Nice memory flashback of my Dad being returned the foreign coins he used to keep ‘Correy Orrie’ on for my mum when times were hard. 

Guadix is on the route, about halfway, and the cave houses there line the motorway. I missed the chance to stop for pics so am posting an on-line picture to show them. I will stop there and explore next time through as it looks amazing

Alhambra is the only place to be in Granada on a Sunday. After parking in the city my translator, car DJ, photographer, Spanglais instructor and Salsa dance partner, made self-stabbing and throttling signs as I mis-pronounced any Spanish words I used! It was going to be a struggle for survival in this fourteen hour day for Prisci. 

From the city car park it was a climb up to Alhambra through Moroccan street markets 

It’s an hour walk to the castle and gardens, with lots of shops, plaza’s and tea rooms on the route that must be tried

Halfway to the Alhambra there is a long plaza that borders what seems almost a moat. Lots of bars and very impressive hotels here. The empty streets in Granada Centro had me thinking it was a quiet out-of-season day. How wrong I was when we hit this area!The views of the castle are starting to look impressive from my pedestal 

At this point the directions on my phone took us to the far side of the Alhambra, adding 30 mins to the walk in the midday sun. My smiling companion was searching the market for a weapon now, oh oh. 

We made the palace/fort/gardens and I clambered around 

It’s an impressive place, but to see it all you have to buy tickets that mostly are bought up to two months in advance. In one section your ticket has a time stamped on it, this is the only time you will get through the door.

The hall was  interesting, big square building with a two tiered circular inner

The palace pair of hours (ticketless, but I was happy with missing the long queues into those halls) was up, time for tapas. We started the downhill stroll and had omelette, mixed tapas, melon and cerveza on the way through narrow streets

Back in the Volvo, air con blasting and Prisci half-sleeping, we got out of Granada. The drive is fantastic I think. Mountain passes, Great Plains, Forrest’s, constant blue sky and empty roads all the way (not a bad job of the music by Prisci either). 

My Spanish didn’t impress too much today, but I did order breakfast and lunch without the waitress looking sorry for me and helping in English. Only seven ‘Hangman’ mimics by Prisci to my pronunciation, so a successful day then 👍