Madrid to Granada, May 9

Monday, May 9

We are to pick up our car this morning on Calle Princesa, which is a quick 10-15 minute walk.  At  8:30 they are not open, so we find a nearby bench and cafe for coffee.  It is raining a bit.  The Hertz gal arrives and apologizes (traffic!) and after lots of paperwork, we hike to the parking garage nearby where we pick up our small silver Fiat 500, diesel.  Hertz had no map of Spain, but did give us directions for getting out of the city to A4 south.  Greg gets to brush up on his shifting, but we go through a long tunnel, and soon are sailing south.

First stop is a picnic area next to a field of wild flowers.   Quite colorful! We have seen the red poppies often.

Greg makes a few adjustments and we are back on the road.  It is overcast, but no rain.

The terrain is fairly flat as we are in the central plateau area.

 We enter La Mancha province and take a short detour to the town of Consuegra to visit their windmills and Castle.  We have seen several windmills along the way but here there is a line of about a dozen.  Appropriately, it is quite windy as we wonder among the windmills and rocks. This is Don Quixote country and you are reminded of it often.

our fiat, plus castle

Only one of the windmills actually works, grinding grain to flour, but each of them is named. Most of these date back to the 16th century, with refurbishment along the way.

We pass another of the large bulls which dot Spain.  We have seen about 5 of them so far. The bull represents Spain.  (Later, in Barcelona we learn that Catalonia is represented by the donkey.)

Back on the main highway, we begin to see many vineyards and olive trees.

vineyards just beginning to grow out

thousands of olive trees dot the countryside

Next stop is for a bite to eat at a service area restaurant.  As in the US they have service areas every so often usually with a restaurant, gas station and few shops.  We get a bolladilo which is a ham sandwich in a sub-type roll, and some potato puffs - like cheezits only just potato.

We see occasional groups of wind turbines, as well as some solar panels. The countryside is becoming more hilly and mountainous, still covered with olive trees.  We travel through several tunnels.

We have passed several rv's as well as signs for camping.  The rain begins again, and follows us into Granada and the Guadaloupe Hotel!

Nice room with a balcony, across from a major parking lot for the Alhambra, which we will visit tomorrow.

View from our balcony


The folks at the desk are pleasant and helpful and speak English. The hotel has gotten tickets for us, but we need to go to the Alhambra office to pick them up.  It is only 10 minutes away and there is no line this time of day - easy peasy!

 We decide to head into the old town of Granada which is a 15 minute walk downhill, alongside the Alhambra.  Wider roads here with quite a few shops selling leather goods, arab knick-knacks, spices, wine and food,  ice cream, clothing and several guitar-makers.  The rain has stopped, mostly, and the sun peeks out occasionally.

We bought some baby shoes for our new grand baby

Many spice shops

We go by the cathedral - (more street performers) - and other parts of town.

Lots of orange trees around the plazas.

 After wondering the streets here, we decide to go through the Albalcin, the old moorish part of town, up to a viewpoint at St. Nicholas Church.  This part of town is a warren of cobblestone streets, alleyways and walkways, with mostly old white stucco buildings.

Glad we aren't driving these streets!

Practically all the walk ways are patterned with stones.

 We get kind of lost, but eventually find St. Nicholas atop a hill across from the Alhambra.  Nice views!

 We head back into town and find dinner at La Nueva Bodega, where we have an assortment of tapas along with our wine and beer. Ham croquets, ham and green beans (which look like giant peas),  meatballs, pork stew,  potato salad, calamari and bread.

The streets are busy with tourists and others as we climb back up the hill to our hotel.  They have great wi-fi, so we relax, catch up on emails and finally get to the blog till eyes are toooo heavy....  Quiet and comfy bed!