Granada, Spain

I’ve never really travelled on my own before (except for work – but that doesn’t really count) and its something I’ve wanted to do at least once in my life. So while Paul was away in Sydney I headed to Granada, Spain and spent an amazing week in this very diverse province. I spent four days in Granada, 2 in Las Alpujarras and 2 in Almunecar on the coast. Some highlights included: · View of the Alhambra from Plaza San Nicholas I came back twice to see this and spent hours just staring at it in awe. It was magical, probably one of the top 3 sights I have ever seen on my travels. · Las Alpujarras I stayed in the town of Capiliera for a couple of days and it was pure, heavenly, peaceful bliss. With views of the Sierra Nevada mountains I felt an instant calm wash over me as soon as I stepped off the bus. I braved a 7 hour, 19km hike on my own through isolated valleys without seeing anyone for the first four hours…which led to two thoughts constantly running through my mind: 1) “Am I going the right way?” and 2) “If someone jumped out of the woods and killed me no one would ever find my body” !!! The views of the mountains on the second leg of the route back were amazing – and nothing I could possibly capture on camera. · Spanish Tapas I ate so well in Granada. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to indulge in the tapas experience too often as I was just not comfortable going into a bar on my own, so most of the time I dined at those which had separate seating areas. The one time I did venture into a bar I was so creeped out by an intoxicated Spanish woman staring at me (I managed to pick the emptiest, least touristy tapas bar in Granada) that I legged it out of there after about five minutes. I got so used to eating on my own and didn’t think it was such a big deal – but I did notice the odd stare and whispered conversations directed at me from fellow patrons. I never felt unsafe travelling on my own, but I did manage to attract not one, but two creepy old guys (complete with walking frames) – one of whom wanted to take me back to his place in Capileira and the other who grabbed my arm and tried to pull me towards him, after he practically fell on top of me as he let go of his walking frame to sit down on a bench next to me. *shudder* I never got bored as I always had the camera, my diary or a book to keep me company but it did sometimes get lonely going out on in the evenings and I missed sharing such an amazing experience with someone else.