Great Expectations

Tuesday 2nd January started with, if not great expectations, then certainly half decent ones. But as is so often the case in this world of travel, expectations are frequently not met, and today was one of those days with the only recovery from an otherwise disappointing day coming at my very last stop, but more of that later. 

The experience Rachel and I gained over our many years of travel should have taught me a lesson but sometimes I think I’ll never be old enough to know better. During our last couple of years of travel Rachel would sometimes say “But will we be able to see that”? It was a lesson I should’ve taken more notice of, but yet I continue to this day falling into the same trap. Still, you’ll never really know if you don’t go, but Rachel’s valid point was based on photographs taken either from a drone, with a fancy lens or had been enhanced to such an extent as to make them seem far more appealing then they truly are, a bit like all the photographs we now see of the Northern Lights, as the camera takes a more dramatic photo than the eye can see.

Back to today’s shortfalls.

#1. Bateria de Castillitos

#2. Las Gredas de Bolnuevo

#3. Cortijo del Fraile

All these places I’d earmarked due to my research on the internet, something that is all part of my enjoyment of the whole travel experience.

Bateria de Castillitos

A 20 minute drive from the main road, the first half of which is on a dodgy surface but hey, I laugh in the face of dodgy surfaces even if Herman doesn’t? Unusually the second half was surprisingly good due to it being recently resurfaced, most strange!

As is typical of my ‘just go and think later’ attitude, I headed up to the highest point which wasn’t actually the place I should’ve gone, but better to do the hard stuff first. There are three ‘sites’ within the site but I won’t bore you with the finer points unless you plan on going?

Briefly I would skip the ‘high’ one and save yourself at least a mile’s walk. In total it took three miles to do them all and I was left a little bit underwhelmed by it, although it’s still in my travel ethos to visit places even if they turn out to fall short.

Las Gredas de Bolnuevo

Two funny shaped eroded sandstone rocks supplemented by a few hundred metres of a supporting cast. OK, not out of my way so worth popping in for a deek.

Cortijo del Fraile

Of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly fame. Another 20 minute dusty drive to a film location which failed to live up to its ‘billing’. The tree has since ‘passed away’ and the building is now fenced off. Oh well, another never to be revisited.

But the day ended well 🤗

No hotel booked so just rocked up at one from the Barcelo chain at Retamar (just outside Almería), very nice indeed and I got B&B for slightly less than off Booking.com, I was well impressed with this one which ended up finishing off the day rather nicely.

Castillo de la Calahorra (3 Sept)

Definitely not a let down en route to my next overnighter. I’m not the sort for museums and the like, my limited attention span doesn’t allow for such things, what really captures my appreciation of travel is seeing places the like of which do not exist elsewhere, or at least not closer to home. In the main I’m a scenery person, but impressive buildings with dramatic backdrops is something worth travelling to see, which was the case with this latest castle.

Herman grumbled a bit on the drive up as his tyres fought for grip even with traction control on, but we made it unscathed (again). Not for the first time on this trip has his lack of ground clearance caused me a little concern! 😆

Today’s a first! (Saturday 4th Sept)

No longer am I waiting for the restaurant to open for breakfast and out before any other guests have surfaced, and no longer am I on the road by 9am, for today Herman’s wheels will not turn.

It’s the first time that I’m doing more than a one night stand and I’m here in Granada for two.

Yesterday’s visit to the Alhambra didn’t quite work out, “No tickets available until 7th” which meant I missed out on the Alcázar and gardens, however it is free to walk around the grounds, so all was not lost after the rather arduous steep 2k walk up from the centre.

The little I’ve seen of Granada I very much like, very busy maybe partly due to the holiday period and this weekend’s Three Kings celebrations for which Spain is renowned.

The place has an air of sophistication about it, as is typical of many European cities people seem to take pride in their appearance and those of all ages get dressed up for an evening out, whether it’s the younger generation going out for a lively evening or those even older than me having just a stroll and late dinner! I feel very under-dressed, and it highlights the cultural differences between the likes of Spain and Italy compared with the UK, it makes me think…🤔

Although the Alhambra is the big attraction to this city, for me the district of Albaicin has been the highlight, possibly because I never actually got into the Alhambra properly? But like I say, viewing it from Albaicin and the contrast of this suburb was worth the trip here alone! I hope to get some better photographs later but for the time being you’ll have to make do with these: