We arrived in Granada after lunchtime, so that we could check in straight away and put the car in the secure car park.

Sadly, once more it was raining heavily, so the rest of the afternoon trudging around the city wasn't particularly fun.

The Lonely Planet offered a reasonable walking tour, which was pleasant and well thought out, so we tackled some of that and were rewarded with a great view of the famous Alhambra Palace at what would have been sunset if it hadn't continued to drizzle.

Whilst trying to make the most of the photo opportunities at the viewpoint, I managed to almost get robbed. A guy had tried to grab my bag, but I had been careful (as always) and had it across my shoulders, so he was only able to pull it and shove me, and leave empty handed before snatching another woman's bag. I then had to give a statement in my pigeon Spanish to a policeman who didn't speak a word of English, so completely pointless!

I'm a bit deflated, as that's more bad luck (what is number 3?) and although he didn't take anything, he did rip the side of my bag, the one my mum made for me (see it here) :(. I expect she can fix it, but I'll have to do a amateur job on it in the meantime!

Friday

Today we awoke to drier weather and a forecast of some sunshine. Thankfully, we had already purchased advance tickets to the place recommended to see before you die... The Alhambra Palace.

You can buy tickets in advance on the internet or at the Libreria de Alhambra, on Reyes Catollicos (bookshop in town) for just €1.30 more than on the day. It is worth doing, particularly during peak season but also so that you can avoid the queues to get in. The only down side of this is that you get a ticketmaster ticket rather than the official printed one... and for a scrapbooker (like me) I would of course prefer the one with the nice picture! However, the problem can be rectified if you scour the bins on your way out ;) (!), as we even found an official ticket for the exact allocated time we had for the Palacio de Nazaries (which is the only part of the site where they restrict visitors to a 30 minutes time to access).

The Alhambra speaks for itself in terms of its beauty. Split between 4 main areas, my favourite other than the Palacio Nazares (Nasrid Palace) was the Generalife (gardens)... so well maintained and with a watery feel throughout.

They recommend 3 hours on average for a visit to Alhambra, but we were there for about 4, but that was probably due to hiring one of the guided handsets and having to keep stopping. I would recommend having some sort of guide, otherwise the beauty of the place cannot really be fully appreciated in the context in which it was built/lived/maintained.

The city

Besides the beggars and thieves (!), there seem to be more in Granada than any other Spanish city we have been, the city is truly beautiful, even in the rain.

The Spanish vibe is significantly influenced by the Arabs, with an Islamic feel, and there are particular areas of the city where it feels like you're in a mini version of Istanbul. They even have areas with Souk like alleys selling Moorish souvenirs and burning incense!

Granada is one of the few remaining cities that offers free tapas with every drink. However there are a lot less actual tapas restaurants, with most places serving menu del dia (a fixed price set menu) or main courses or paella.

I'm happy making the most of the tapas whilst we still can but would still recommend trying some of the other offerings too. Particularly as there are a number of areas throughout the city which are know for their restaurants and so much choice if you are prepared to give things a try.

Flamenco is also a popular after dinner experience in Granada, with many bars and restaurants offering nightly performances. I'm sorry to say that we never made it to a show here either, but at least its something I can return to see another time.

As we are now heading home, I'm expecting my entries to be limited on detailed info, so apologies in advance for that. I do hope to visit at least a couple of places I had originally wanted to cover, so watch this space for more.