Andalusia

Preamble

How hard can it be to arrange flights to the south of Spain? Harder than I thought if you want to travel outside the main tourist season, which as far as the airlines are concerned ends on 31^st October! This trip needed to take place during the Autumn half-term break, which in 2012 included the first few days of November. In the end the best solution turned out to be to take a one-way flight into Malaga and another one-way flight out of Madrid. Actually it was to a little more complicated than that, while Lynn would indeed fly into Malaga and we would both fly out of Madrid, I would be arriving in Spain by surface transport from Morocco.

The plan was that we would meet at Hotel Las Americas, chosen for its location in the centre of Malaga very close to both the train and bus stations.

The plan for us to meet in Malaga works out perfectly, the journey from Morocco went fine with just a small wrinkle, I mistakenly got the ferry from Tangier to Tarifa instead of to Algeciras. I still managed to arrive in time to meet Lynn at the airport only for her plane to be an hour late. We didn't get to checkin at our Hotel until nearly midnight. Nick, my travel companion from Morocco, joined Lynn and I for a snack and a drink before we parted ways. Nick and I had left Chefchaouen before 07:00WET and the clocks in Malaga were changing as we drank so when you called it a night at about 02:00CET I had not the slightest idea how long we'd been on the go! Goodbye to Nick and back to our hotel.

We've joined up and it is now time to set off for the sights of Andalusia!

View Spain 2012 in a larger map

Afterword

We travelled ~350km (~220miles) by bus and about the same distance by train. The terrain and scenery was attractive and both forms of transport were comfortable, on time and resonably priced. I supect that one day we will return to Andalusia and visit Seville, Toledo and some other places that were not considered for this trip.

The Good

I found this trip to be very enjoyable. It was unhurried and the public transport meant that even the travelling was relaxing. I liked the city of Granada, not too many tourists and plenty of places to eat that were frequented by local people working and living in the city. I am glad that we opted for Cordoba in preference to Seville, the Mezquita de Cordoba exceeded my expectations.

The Bad

Nothing particularly bad comes to mind though the Alhambra and Generlife of Granada did not quite live up to expectations. Don't get me wrong, it was magnificent and I do not regret visiting but my expectations were high.

Barcelona - what makes a difference

I have just returned from a long weekend in Barcelona. Both my wife and I have been before but not together and it seemed like a nice destination for an bit of Autumn sunshine. The trouble is I'm not a fan of crowds and the main tourist areas of Barcelona are heaving!

Las Ramblas is a popular part of the City but in the main streets and squares you can hardly move. There are some quieter squares where you could manage to swing a small cat and some obscure alleys that have some small and reasonably priced cafè and bars. The city beaches were very good though I imagine that they too would be busy in the summer months.

On my previous visit to Barcelona I only saw Sagrada Família from the outside and was not impressed. I was prevailed upon to visit again and we had to queue for ages to gain entrance. Ok, I have to admit that the queueing was worth it, the inside is spectacular! The inside was very busy getting ready for a consecration service to be performed by Pope Benedict XVI on 7^th November.
It is hard to believe that the outside and inside of Sagrada Família were designed by the same person, i.e. Antoni Gaudí. While the outside looks like it has been fashioned by toddlers playing with mud, the inside is a beautiful forest of supporting columns that branch like trees supporting the roof, elegant spiral staircases and stained glass.

Since I am averse to crowds, particularly crowds of tourists, we stayed at NH Cóndor on Via Augusta, just a couple of km walk, or a short bus ride, from Plaza Catalunya. There were several small establishments nearby for variety at breakfast or an evening meal and all but one were good. One of the rudest waiters it has ever been my misfortune to encounter worked at Tris Tras on the corner of Plaça Molina. However, to balance the scales, we had superb service a little farther along Via Augusta at Bar Maria Castaña.

We ventured a bit father inland and visited Monestir de Pedralbes which was founded by Queen Elisenda de Montcada in 1327 and occupied by Poor Clare Sisters. It is set in the hills overlooking Barcelona and the sea and since 1983 it has been a museum open to the public. It is a nice peaceful place but not as big as I had anticipated, it mostly consists of the three storied cloisters surrounding the garden, part of which is given over to medicinal plants. The Church of Pedralbes adjoins the Monastery but a service was in progress when we arrived and it was closed when we left so no idea what it is like inside.

We had left a trip to the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres until Monday in the event of inclement weather, unfortunately it is closed on Mondays, fortunately we learned this before taking the two hour trip.

So for our final point of call we visited Park Güell, another Gaudí related place in the hills of the Gràcia district above Barcelona. The park entrance is flanked by two Disneyesque buildings which opens on to the Monumental Core, an ornate structure that was crowded with people. I have come to the conclusion that I do not like most of Gaudi's work!
We enjoyed exploring the more peaceful wooded hills that form the bulk of Park Güell. In the hills we visited the Casa Museu Gaudí, which was the home of Antoni Gaudí, it is not very big and not a terribly good museum.

I know that when it comes to some aspects of culture I am a bit of a Philistine but I still enjoyed my trip to Barcelona and the inside of the Sagrada Família left me with the view that Antoni Gaudí isn't a complete waste of time.

photos . . .