Caught my flight to Gatwick and wandered around Oxford street picking up some last minute items before heading up to Luton to catch my flight to Madrid.
Slept most of the way, and before I knew it we were touching down in Spain.
Walked what felt like a marathon through the terminals, to find the metro (which I found out after was accessible from every terminal and I didn’t have to walk through all 4 terminals to get to it!)
Where I spotted a guy with a metro map in his hand, complete with Mohawk.
He just happened to be another Aussie, and also on his way to the same stop, and then on the same tour I was doing as well… how’s that for luck!
Worked our way to the station we needed with only one mistake, parted ways him to his hostel, me to my hotel… (all class this time for me, actually the hostels were all booked out in the area, and since we had to be there at 715am, I thought the closer I stay the better.) the hotel itself was rather seedy, with random gangs of Spanish boys lining the street..
Sun 7th
Up nice and early and bid farewell to my hotel.
They have strange pillows in Spain, not fat ones, but long skinny ones… totally uncomfortable to sleep on.
Headed to the metropoli hostel our pick up point for the tour.
We were all standing around downstairs amusing ourselves with the local prostitutes that just happened to be positioned directly outside the hostel… coincidence perhaps?
But I was surprised by how many males came along and bargained for a bit then wandered off with one of them…
There’ 26 of us on the tour, a mixture of Aussies, Kiwi’s, South Africans, Americans, and a token Brit. The usual one would say.
First stop of the morning was in Toledo. Spain capital for sword making, and marzipan.
Had a quick orientation tour with Renee before we were let loose to wander around the cobblestone streets on our own.
It’s such a quaint little town, with sword shops dotted around the place, a mix of masses of tourists and the locals in there own little world.
Sat in the square for a bit people watching. The little Spanish men, sitting in the sunshine, chatting away and doing crosswords,
the crazy American tourists that kept complaining about everything… the stairs are too high, there’s no star bucks… etc.. as they looked around.
Could have spent a bit longer here, but it was off to our next stop at Consuegra.
The setting for such tails as Don Quixote and the famous fight of the windmills (he thought they were giants).
I’m a sucker for windmills, it’s no secret, I loved that these ones were all over the place, there’s 11 in total, and each come complete with it’s own name.
Had our token group picture taken with the bus and the windmills… cant miss the big blue bus we were on… came in very useful many times I tell you.
Back on the bus and onward to our resting place for the next few nights, Granada.
Arrived about 5pm and settled into our hotel.
Sharing a room with Carmel and Casey.
Before heading out to enjoy the sunshine and get some bearings as to where we are in relation to the rest of the city.
Met in reception to be taken on a mini guided tour of the city at 730pm, before hitting a delicious tapas bar for dinner, over some freshly made sangria… none of this out of a carton stuff here, they made it fresh in front of you, and it was pretty potent!
It’s true when they say :
1 sangria
2 Sangria,
3 sangria
Floor
We got a selection of cheeses and cold meats as our tapa’s and every time we ordered drinks we got more plates of mini tapas, and the more drinks we ordered the better the tapas seemed to get.
Headed down the road to another bar, which had some delicious sangria on tap.
Before heading up to see a fantastic Flamenco show in the Sacromente caves.
Nothing like a free drink, great dancers. The only disappointing thing was that we weren’t allowed to clap along (as that would put them off), but it was a great night.
Headed back to the hotel around 2am..
1 comment:
That's right it was Granada that you were at not Marocco :D. What an adventure. I'm looking forward to spanish food.
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