We noticed that when we arrived in Seville in the rain that the footpaths were all brown and extremely slippery from a mixture of the rain and very fine red dust. Our clothes ended up with dust spots when they dried, and cars were filthy. I just put it down to the fact that nobody had a parking spot, let alone a garage to wash their car in. It was even worse when we got to Cordoba. Walking down the hill on cobbles after rain was like trying to walk on ice, and when it dried, all the footpaths looked dirty. Shop windows look dirty. I just thought that was they way it was in Spain.
However, news today explained it. There has been a huge dust storm in the Sahara, which has reached the upper atmosphere and drifted northwards as far as Paris, London, the Swiss ski slopes, and even Iceland, but Spain being closest has copped the brunt of it. Ah well. Might as well add dust storms to the war and plague that we are already coping with.
Visited yet another plaza in Cordoba after breakfast for our morning coffee. Seems like its been the city’s bull ring, hat factory, town hall and prison. Sounds like some town planners I know. We tidied up the apartment, and rolled our bags down to the station, where we waited patiently for our afternoon train to Grenada. The train had started its journey in Barcelona, so we were near the end of its voyage, and was only half full. A luxury AVE train which made only one stop on the way to Grenada. Moped along at 300 km/hr for most of the journey on a dedicated high speed line with no crossings. Amazing feat of engineering, with tilting tracks, long tunnels and elevated lines when needed to keep the track flat. Hate to think how much it would cost, but its certainly an amazing piece of infrastructure that will serve the country proud for many years.
Arrived on time to the minute (all our Spanish trains have departed and arrived as timetabled), and we headed off to our apartment having 45 minutes to get to our next walking tour. You guessed it. Yep, our hosts don’t work for the Spanish railways, and after having promised to be there to meet us, were 25 minutes late. Just as we’d given up, and chained our cases to leave them, a very pregnant host turned up, not the least bit fussed, and proceeded to go through the whole check in process.
Trotted down to the plaza, arriving just in time for the walking tour. Took us first through Albaicín, protected as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1994. Also known as the old Muslim Quarter, it contains labyrinthine streets and many steps, and large numbers of old Muslim buildings now converted to Catholic buildings. You get to recognise all of the elements – a square minaret now whitewashed with a bell installed and a cross on top, a plaza just next door with a water feature that used to be for ritual cleansing, and brick arched entrances. The streets are mostly one way, and often only 1800mm wide, so you scatter into doorways when a car comes along. Eventually we arrived at the Sacromonte viewpoint where we had an amazing view of the Alhambra.
Then it was into the Sacromonte or gypsy Quarter, which contains more than 3,000 caves and panoramic views from lots of viewpoints. Seems that quite a proportion of the people in the city actually live in caves hewn out over the centuries. Most look like genuine houses as they have built a front facade and door just like any other house, and added a roof, at least over the front, to keep the water from soaking in. If they are built within the city limits, they will have water, sewerage and electricity connected, but lots out further in the hills don’t have any facilities connected (but then don’t pay any rates). The tour ended at St Nicholas’ church with the best sunset views of the whole city and nearby hills.
Picked up groceries and supplies on the way home before a late tea.
C. Darro del Boquerón, 6, 18001 Granada, Spain