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31 March & 1 April 2024 - Plymouth to Santander, Spain
We live a 40 minute drive from Plymouth so Brittany Ferries' sailing from Plymouth to Santander is very convenient for us. The voyage takes about 22 hours and it saves 2 to 3 days of driving. I have driven from the UK to north west Spain twice before and the scenery isn't that great.
We booked a 4 berth cabin with a window as all the 2 berth cabins had been reserved. It wasn't cheap as the cabin cost £160, but it was worth having a private space with a view and some daylight.
The return voyage cost £1,000 so we may not be saving much by taking our own car instead of flying and renting cars. However, the ferry is much more pleasant than taking an early morning flight. It is also convenient having everything in our own car for the entire 10 week trip. I just hope our 2013 Ford Focus doesn't have any mechanical problems!
The voyage went well and although the weather wasn't bad the ship did sway a fair amount when crossing the Bay of Biscay. Brittany Ferries use their largest ship for the Plymouth to Santander crossing and it's more stable. Unfortunately Lani went to the bathroom in the night and fell into the shower. I am glad that we weren't on the previous sailing as there was a storm then.
We arrived in Santander at 15.30 the next day. It didn't take long to disembark from the ferry and to get through Immigration and Customs. From there it was a 4 hour drive to Salamanca and we arrived at the Parador de Salamanca around 20.00.
We haven't stayed in a Parador before and this is the only one I have booked for this trip. It is a modern Parador about a 20 minute walk to the centre of Salamanca. I booked a superior room as these rooms have a good view of the cathedral and it cost of £87.50 per night. We were very pleased with our room at it was quiet, spacious and had a good view.
2 April 2024 - Salamanca, Spain
We booked 2 nights at the Parador de Salamanca so that we would have a whole day to visit Salamanca. Rain was forecast from mid afternoon so we had breakfast as soon as the restaurant opened at 07.30.
As it was our first stay at a Parador we were given a voucher that gave us one free breakfast and that saved about Eur 40 for the two of us. It was a very good breakfast and we ate far more than we normally would. Usually we would just have a bowl of porridge but the food was too tempting.
After breakfast we walked into the centre of Salamanca over the old Roman bridge. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy and dreary but good weather was forecast from tomorrow.
The cathedral is the main sight in Salamanca. It is massive as it consists of 2 cathedral joined together. The old cathedral wasn't demolished when they built the new one in 1513. For an additional fee we also climbed up the tower and onto the roof of the cathedrals. The views weren't great but it was interesting see how the 2 cathedrals were joined together.
We also paid to enter the Universidad de Salamanca as its buildings date back to the 12th century. The library, chapel and one old classroom were the main things to see but we weren't that impressed.
The other sights in Salamanca were the Casa de las Conchas (House of Shells) which is now a library and the Plaza Mayor. The Plaza Mayor is very elegant as it enclosed by a continuous 4 storey building and the town hall.
We walked around Salamanca until 15.00 when it started to rain as had been forecast. By then we had seen everything that we had wanted to see. Soon after we got back to the hotel the weather cleared and the sun finally came out. That wasn't forecast!
In the evening we walked back into Salamanca and had a seafood Paella for Eur 36. It would have been much more expensive to eat at the Parador.
3 April 2024 - Salamanca to Toledo, Spain
When we arrived in Spain we were lucky to have missed several days of wet weather that had spoiled many of the Easter religious processions in Spain. The weather forecast was for sunny and dry weather from today and it turned out that the forecast was right!
We left Salamanca at midday and arrived in Toledo at 15.00, which was our check in time for our next apartment. We had booked a 2 bedroom apartment in Toledo for 1 night through Booking.com for Eur 90. We were pleased with the modern apartment and importantly we had a parking space for our car in the basement of the building.
It was about a 15 minute walk in to the historic centre and we visited Toledo Cathedral first. It was constructed over 2 centuries and opened in 1493.
We bought a ticket for Eur 12 that allowed entry into 7 of Toledo's historic buildings. We managed to visit the following ones before they closed at 18.30:
11th century church of Saint Tome. The main attraction here is another El Greco " The Burial of Count Orgaz" painted in 1586.
Sinagoga de Santa María built in 13th century but converted to a church in 1411. There are 25 horseshoe arches and 32 columns, creating a sense of space.
Real Colegio Doncellas Nobles founded in 1551, an educational institution promoting women.
Monastery of San Juan de los Rey.
Iglesia de los Jesuitas,
We didn't visit Toledo's Alcazar (fort) as it is now an Army Museum and the Alcazar was rebuilt between 1939 and 1957 after the siege of the Alcazar during the Spanish Civil War.
4 April 2024 - Toledo to Cordoba, Spain
It was sunny again today and we drove for 4 hours from Toledo to Cordoba. It seems that our car's air conditioning isn't working and we will have to try and get it fixed before we go on to Morocco.
I had booked a 3 bedroom apartment in Cordoba for Eur 62 but unfortunately the sound proofing was poor and we could hear our neighbours very clearly. Fortunately they quietened down for the night and we managed to get 7 hours sleep.
It was a 40 minute walk from the apartment to Cordoba's historic centre. As it was hot we took a bus in and walked back in the evening.
We first visited the Mezquita as it is Cordoba's main attraction. The Mezquita is Córdoba's famous mosque which was completed in 787. In the 9th century it ranked third in sanctity in the Islamic world, behind Mecca and Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque. When the Christians conquered Cordoba in the 13th century it was converted into a cathedral.
We then went to the Alcazar (fort), which is a Spanish fortress of Moorish origins, which was built in the 14th century. When we got to the entrance there was a long queue, probably about 70 people! We decided to wait and it turned out it was that busy because entry was free that day!
The Alcazar housed the Inquisition (1428 to 1821) and it was then a prison until 1951. The buildings aren't very interesting but they contain some very fine Roman mosaics and a Roman sarcophagus. There are beautiful gardens surrounding the Alcazar.
We finished the day by walking over the old Roman bridge and having dinner in the old Jewish quarter of Cordoba.
5 April 2024 - Cordoba to Granada, Spain
It was a hot 3 hour drive from Cordoba to Granada. The car's air conditioner definitely wasn't working and needs to be fixed. I had rented a 2 bedroom apartment through Booking.com for 4 nights at a cost of Eur 488. The price included parking which can be very difficult in Granada.
After the disappointment of the apartment in Cordoba I was relieved that the apartment in Granada was very good. It was on the 2nd floor of a modern apartment building and had a small balcony. The only drawback was that it faced onto a busy street and there was a lot of traffic noise.
My priority was then to have the car's air conditioner fixed. I found a car repair chain called Feu Vert which had a workshop near us. I tried to book online and they an available slot at 17.00. Unfortunately booking online was impossible as they didn't accept British registration numbers and required a Spanish tax identification number.
Luckily Lani has been learning Spanish and phoned them. We got the 17.00 appointment but it cost about 50% more as we hadn't booked online. Anyway the main thing was to fix the air conditioning as it wasn't pleasant driving in the heat.
6 April 2024 - Granada, Spain
We explored Granada today and visited the cathedral first. We thought it was more impressive than the guide books said.
By the time we left the cathedral the tour groups were in full swing and we had to queue to get into the Capilla Real. This is the Royal Chapel built as a mausoleum for Isabel and Fernando, the Catholic monarchs who liberated the city from the Arab rulers. Their coffins are in the crypt below and their figures, carved in marble from Carrara in Italy, lie behind a beautiful grille. Sadly photos are not allowed
After that we visited the:
Corral del Carbon dating back to the 14th century.
Palaccio de la Madraza. It is now part of Granada university but it was originally an Arab university. It has a finely decorated Mihrab (prayer niche).
Monasterio de San Jerónimo, The courtyard is filled with Orange trees and there is a beautiful church.
Casa de los Tiros (the House of Shots) named for the muskets projecting from it's battlements.
7 April 2024 - Granada, Spain
I booked our tickets for the Alhambra in January as they often sell out way in advance. You have to select a time for visiting the Nasrid Palaces which is the main attraction of the Alhambra. I got tickets for 08.30 which is when the Alhambra opens in order to be able to see the palace before it became too busy.
It was therefore an early start for us as the Alhambra was 45 minutes from our apartment. We arrived early at 08.00 and were first in the queue. That worked out well as when they let us in at 08.30 the people behind us had a problem with their tickets and we had the Nasrid Palaces to ourselves.
We quickly walked through the palace to take photos before other visitors arrived. Then we went back to the start and spent an hour slowly walking through the beautiful palace that was built in the fourteenth century.
The other 2 main sites in the Alhambra are the Alcazar and the Summer Palace. We went to the Alcazar first and climbed up 2 of the towers. It wasn't busy at all but unfortunately the weather was hazy and the views were spoiled.
The Alhambra is a large site and it took about 15 minutes to walk to the Summer Palace. We stopped off at a church and hammam on the way.
We found the summer palace to be a bit disappointing. The gardens weren't that impressive and nothing like the magnificent gardens in Cordoba's Alcazar. The buildings that we were allowed into weren't special and the views were spoiled by the haze.
We spent 3.25 hours walking around the Alhambra and afterwards walked down to the historic centre of Granada. The owner of our apartment had recommend the Los Manueles restaurant for lunch.
When we arrived at 12.00 the restaurant was empty but within half an hour it was completely full. It was an authentic Spanish restaurant mainly visited by Spaniards. The food was good and not expensive.
In the afternoon we walked up to the Albaicin district of Granada. There is a mirador outside San Nicolas church with views over to the Alhambra. As it was Sunday it was busy and some guys were playing traditional Spanish music and a few girls were dancing to it. There was a nice atmosphere.
8 April 2024 - Granada, Spain
This was our third full day in Granada and we took it easy in the morning. In the early afternoon we walked to El Ladrillo 11, a restaurant in the Albaicin neighbourhood, for a late lunch. We arrived at 14.30 and there were only 2 other people there. We were surprised that by 15.00 the restaurant was almost full.
The restaurant had been recommended by the owner of our apartment and the food was very good. As often happens a street guitarist came and played a few traditional songs.
After lunch we continued walking around the pretty streets of the hilly Albaicin area and then continued on to the nearby Sacromonte district. The Sacromonte area is also on a hill and is known for its cave dwellings but we didn't see any. There was a museum with several of these cave dwellings but we weren't interested in visiting a touristy version.
Another attraction of Sacromento are the excellent views of the Alhambra. Yesterday our views were spoiled by haze but the weather was much clearer today. We could clearly see the snow covered Sierra Nevada mountains.
We finished by walking back along the pretty Rio Darro to the centre of Granada.
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