Wednesday 17 October 2012

Granada redux

Tuesday

We had a short drive through the olive fields and hills, back South towards the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and Granada. We drove right into the Alhambra and into the Parador de Granada. It was a little early to check in, so we visited the Alhambra museum. Although this was my tenth visit to the Alhambra, this was the first time that I'd found the museum open, due to its bizarre hours and frequent closures. There were a few interesting artefacts in the small museum. Then we checked in to the excellent hotel, in the building of the Convent of San Francisco, built after the reconquista in the early 15th century. The room was excellent, and the staff provided a free bottle of cava. We ate lunch in the Parador restaurant, then went down into the city to sort out a few chores and then visit a couple of our favourite tapas bars from the last visit.  We saw some friendly waiters from last time, although Javier and friends in Meson de la Abuela were a bit busy being threatened by gypsies, so it was difficult to chat with them.

The Parador was the perfect end to the holiday, a slice of luxury in the middle of a beautiful palace.

Wednesday

We drove to the airport, dropped off the hire car, where they gave us back the deposit without inspecting the slightly damaged vehicle, then boarded the flight to Madrid. A quick turnaround there, and we were en route to Heathrow. The UK was completely covered in cloud, cold and damp, and we saw our first traffic jam for three weeks as soon as we reached the M25 on the bus. Welcome home!