We left San Jose and had a great drive up the A92 highway, through spectacular scenery that looked like it was out of the American West. We started out near Utah with red bluffs and canyons, moved into the grey, barren Nevada Mountains, and then into pine forests and high peaks along the Sierra in California.
In fact, part of the time we were in the Sierra Nevada Natural Park area, and the high peaks still had patches of snow on them.
We came to an interesting and striking castle on a hilltop at La Cahorra. The little town is quiet and has a cathedral and fancy hotel, but the castle on the hill is the attraction.
We stopped for a drink at a cafe by the cathedral, before hiking up above the town to see the troglodyte cave houses carved out of the volcanic rock.
When I heard about this, I thought about Göreme, Turkey, and what a cool area that was. We were not disappointed in the cave houses here, and in fact I would like to spend more time exploring this area sometime. There are little white chimneys poking out of the ground here and there, and most of the cave dwellings are faced with a modern looking house front.
So we walked through the streets, and up to the top of the town, to a set of stairs up to a viewing platform. This part of town looks a little strange, because, while you see the house fronts and the ventilation chimneys, you don’t really see houses, or buildings, so the streets look a little empty.
At the Granada Airport, we said a sad goodbye to little Henry. He was a great ride, except for the “going uphill” part (which was 50% of the time) when he just could not maintain any kind of speed. Poor little underpowered, but cute, Henry the Fiat 500.
Anyway, it was a hassle free rental from Avis, and I am impressed.
Just outside the arrivals there is a blue bus that goes direct into Granada, for €3. The bus dropped us at the Catedral stop, and it took us less than five minutes to walk to our hotel, the Puerta de las Granadas. We have a nice upper room with balcony, view of the Alhambra, and it is on a quieter street near a plaza and streets full of little cafés.
We unpacked and set out to get a drink, pick up our reserved tickets for the Alhambra, and explore the neighborhood. It’s a good thing we decided to get the tickets today, for tomorrow’s visit, because there was only one person in the ticket office, and though we had reserved and paid for the tickets and just had to pick them up, it took over an hour. Pity the poor people standing in the longer, much longer line waiting to actually purchase tickets… they weren’t even being serviced at all, as they just kept our reserved line moving.
We went into the Cathedral, looked around, then went to another wine bar where we were having a good time until some guy came along who could not play the same two songs on his accordion, though he kept moving up and down the street trying. He might have been singing as well, or perhaps he just had a tooth pulled, but at any rate it was pitiful.
The northern Africans are out selling the fake watches and purses, and the Roma (Gypsies) are running the “Give you a sprig of rosemary” scam. They give you a sprig of rosemary, when you reach out to take it they grab your wrist and turn you hand over and tell you your fortune. Then they want a tip. But, the rule is, coins are bad luck. The smallest paper bill is €5, or about $6.50 at today’s exchange rate. They don’t let go till you pay.
You should hear the shouting and arguments… it is pretty fun to watch.
Anyway, suddenly the street cleared; the Roma ran into and across the park, the Africans pulled these drawstrings which pulled their tarp of goods into a bundle and they ran off up the street… because here come the cops. They just make the rounds, three of them, walking and looking official.
All in all, it was an interesting day.