GRANADA, SPAIN

The ferry from Tangier to Tarifa was nearly empty on my return voyage. Once again, this is off-season and the tour groups tend to go to Tangier in the morning and return to Tarifa that afternoon, so a midday ship is going to be empty. It was the same Norwegian crew, but they looked very bored since there was nothing to do on an empty ship. We arrived in Tarifa and were off the boat quickly. We had to go through customs in the terminal, but that was fast and efficient and moments later I was sitting on the free bus bound for Algeciras.

It’s a windy road that connects the two towns and it passes through vast fields of giant windmills just like those found near Palm Springs, California. When we got close to Algeciras I became aware of why Rick Steves pushes Tavira instead of this town. Algeciras is a large, generic commercial port town like you might see in, say, Delaware. It seemed to all be fairly new, but cold and utilitarian. The one interesting thing about the town is that it is across the bay from the Rock of Gibraltar. I was sort of interested in seeing it close-up and to get the combined experience of seeing the tiny English-run village that surrounds it, but I’ve read that it’s expensive and I wanted to get some miles behind me.

The bus dropped us off right in the huge port so I had to walk through the parking lot and cross the street to where the bus station was located that had buses going to Granada. There are two other bus stations in town, but luckily the closest was mine. I bought a bus ticket for the 4-hour journey for about €17 and climbed on board when the 4 p.m. bus arrived. The trip was uneventful and the bus only stopped once along the way so before I knew it I was at the station in Granada. There was a line of taxi drivers out front, but none spoke any English. I had booked two nights in a 3-star hotel from the same Australian Web site, but I only had the hotel name with no address or telephone number. Thankfully the third guy in line had heard of it and 10 minutes later I was there.

The Universal Hotel Residencia was very nice and located on a main street just a couple blocks from the main town square so it felt like a good bargain for €40 per night. I didn’t feel like going out for dinner that night so I went to a grocery store a few blocks away and got stuff to make sandwiches in my room and I went to bed fairly early. It didn’t really occur to me right then, but that was my 8th different hotel room in 7 cities in the previous 9 nights. I woke up the next morning feeling a little burned out and not really looking forward to exploring the town too much.

Coffee throughout Spain consists of a very small shot of fairly strong coffee and if you order it ‘con leche’ like I do, and most people do, it comes with the rest of a small glass filled up with hot milk. I prefer mostly coffee and just enough cold milk to cool it off and give it a smooth taste, but you can’t get that in Spain outside of the Starbucks that are quickly multiplying throughout the country. I also don’t like standing at the bar when I drink coffee. I’d rather take it back to my room or even sit down, but neither or those is usually an option in Spain either.

I noticed a McDonalds across the street from my hotel when I checked in the previous night so I thought I would go there for breakfast and get a normal, if mediocre, coffee to take back to my room. I bounded out the front door of the hotel and across the street, but noticed the McDonalds was not yet open at 8:30 in the morning. The sign on the front door said it opens at 13:00. Have you ever eaten at McDonalds before 1 p.m. before? I know I have. This was madness! I walked a block down the street to the Burger King I had also noticed, but I knew it was futile and sure enough it also opens at 13:00. I ended up getting a small coffee con leche at the stand up coffee bar attached to my hotel and went back up to my room, dejected.

Now I was really feeling the effects of the whirlwind traveling and it was compounded by the fact that I couldn’t even eat at McDonalds when I had finally broken down to do so. Granada contains only one major sight, but it’s a biggie. It’s a Moorish castle called Alhambra that I hadn’t heard of before I left the states, but actually saw a documentary about while I was in South America. They say it’s one of the top tourist attractions in all of Europe and they only allow 8,000 people in per day so you have to have reservations, especially in season. I had reserved a ticket online the previous day to arrive at the main palace at 3 p.m. I decided to set my goals low for Granada and only see Alhambra and just relax in town the rest of the day.

I used the Internet around the corner from my hotel for a bit and time flew. It was soon 2 p.m. and I walked to the main square in town to get the special tourist minibus that goes to Alhambra. I paid the €1 and got on board for the 5 minute journey up the steep hill. I jumped off the bus and found the entrance and got my ticket. It turned out I didn’t need a reservation off-season like this as other people just walked up and bought a ticket, but it was actually quite crowded and I felt better knowing I would be able to get in at exactly the time I wanted.

I first zoomed right in and up the sidewalk that leads to the first area, but I saw that many people had paid for the Audioguide so I decided to go back and ask about it. It was only €3 and it REALLY enhances the visit there. It’s the size and shape of a cell phone and when you get to a number along the path you punch that number into the keypad and listen to a delightful explanation by an English man and woman with nice music accompanying them. I was extremely glad that I did that. At first I was a little disappointed with the Alhambra, but after you get inside it really is impressive and lives up to the hype. Once again I was seeing Islamic architecture and art and since they aren’t allowed to use images of any kind it all seems very plain on the surface, but the decorations are very ornate when you look closely.

After about 90 minutes I had gone through most of the grounds and the main palace so all that was left was the Generalife (pronounced henaraLEEfay). The Generalife is the huge garden on the hill next to the palace that was evidently the getaway for the kings and such. It was fairly impressive when I went although it was obvious most of the garden had just been pruned and replanted so most things were very small and immature. I am sure that in a month or two or the rest of the year really it will be amazing looking and even have the incredible fragrance they talk about in the guidebooks.

After I left the Alhambra I took the shuttle bus that goes back to the main square and I walked a mile or so through the shopping district to go to a bookstore someone at the Tourist Information office told me might have some English books. I had finished the book I was reading and was very anxious to get something new. Granada has an extremely nice downtown shopping area that I was also happy was on a predictable grid system. I think I have read that the Islamic city planners purposely design their cities in a maze for security reasons, but it’s an incredible shame if that’s true that they had to design a city out of paranoia. A grid system with small streets woven between the occasional main street is so much more pleasant and obviously easy to navigate.

I found the shop, but it was closed when I arrived. I looked at my watch and it was just after 5:00 p.m. I had temporarily forgotten about the maddening siesta closing of almost all businesses. A girl walked up just as I was walking away and opened the store and she was followed in by an English expat who runs the shop. About a third of the store was English language books and I quickly found a book that I had wanted to read. It’s hard to describe the relief I felt after finding an English language book and even talking to an English person for a bit. In Morocco English is spoken by many people, but it’s hard to relate to the Moroccans on any level and in Spain very little English is spoken. It’s like being lost at sea and finally seeing a small island.

I was getting pretty burned out from changing hotels and cities every day or two so I just went back to my hotel to read and relax. The next morning I had to wake up early to catch the 8 a.m. train to Madrid so I turned in early.