Cordoba, Granada and the first real trouble (pt 2)

Ok I have some more time. So here we go on.

Granada:

My second andalucian stop was Granada. For the first time in my trip I deliberately took a bus instead of a train. Spain´s railways are not developped as much as the other major European countries (still 3426% better than Turkey´s) and as a result of this; they do not have direct connections between some cities. Anyways here are my impressions about Gradana.

- I totally loved this city as well. I guess I ve been lucky in picking up my destinations in the trip. I never regretted going to some place so far and this was no exception.
- Granada was the las surviving city of the Andalucian Arabs. It still has a substantial muslim/arab population and they are still mainly living in the historical arabis neighbourhood.
- This part of the city has narrow streets, 2 storey white houses with brown brick roofs all over and stil is far from being a usual european city.
- Mehmet Abi, Ender: Pack your things, we are moving to Granada. For good... I have only two real good reasons to do that but it is more than enough: They give free tapas when you order a drink. And drinks are really cheap there.
- I ate some Mediterranian fish in a side street restaurant. By the way, in Albayzin, the muslim quarters, there are many places to have a drink or snacks.
- There is a watch-spot somewher up the hill of Albayzin where you can see the city and Alhambra. It is so beautiful there especially during the sunset. People play flamenco and a lot of people go there just to sit down and enjoy the scenery.
- All the streets around my hostel were so alike, I got lost like 100 times although I had a map all the time. I managed to get to the hostel withoiut the help of my map or a person only in the last day. Getting lost in this lovely neighbourhood was quite fun in the beginning but it gets into your nerves after spending 20 minutes wandering around only 1 block away from your hostel.
- The highlight of Granada was without a doubt Alhambra (Kalaat al-Hamra in arabic, kalaat is fortress -kale in turkish- and hamra is crimson) This was a simply spectacular and beautiful building. And not only a fortress, it has the most beautiful palaces i have ever seen: Nasrid Palaces. ´The place has gardens, fountains and pools all over and a very green haven in an arid land.
- Amazingly detailed arabic innscriptions and carvings on marbles decorate the rooms. There are fountains all over the place and the view over Granada is great. I spent all of the day there and it was really good.
- People from non-muslim countries were always asking and even whining about why the palaces did not have any paintings or frescoes like in churches. The guys I met in the hostel were also not aware of thefact that the moors see painting as blasphemy and thus they carved phrases in arabic instead of painting the buildings. This, in my opinion, gives the islamic buildings a really cool atmosphere.
- The audioguide was the worst one ever. And a funny one. There lived an american poet who wrote about the alhambra and made it famous in the modern world. The audio guide was him spekaing about how he spent his time there using really cheesy lines and rhymes. He addresses us as "my friend" and uses the phrase in every oher sentence.
- Tourist groups rule Alhambra. They are all over the place and they are enbearable. I was lucky not to have any groups during the time of my visit because people who went in amongst a group simply wanted to kill themselves.
- Granada is not as hot as Cordoba. It was even ok in the shade so I would have really enjoyed my walks there if my first real trouble in ths month long trip hadnt occured:

Lucky Cagdas:
- I was thinking to myself the other day, no really upsetting thing happened to me in this month. Of course I missed trains, stayed in the stations and etc but they were fun experiences and part of the deal when you have interrail pass. But what happened in Granada really made me angry cause it kinda ruined one of the best places I have visited.
- The fucking ATM in the bus station took my bank card on a lovely Sunday morning. Since they were not working on Sundays, I could not find anyone to talk to on the other side of the emergency line.
- I had some cash so made it through Sunday with no trouble.
- The nex morning the guys in the hostel called the bank for me only to learn that he cards eaten by the atm s are collected and broken into pieces as a measure of security and my card was also shattered. Well this news really fucked up my world since that little tiny green Nordea card is the only wy that I can access my bank account -which nowadays is running low
- I went to the bank straight away and tried to find an English speaking person. I did, but the meeting did not end very promising either. She said the card is probably gone. And Nordea does not send cards abroad, so I thought I wouldnt have any money until I got back to Goteborg somehow.
- Without any cash, travelling is not fun; believe me. At least the guys I met over there were lending some money to me with the hope I can find a solution.
- I was about to apply for Mehmet Abi grant which is only given to extraordinarily successful and bright backpackers once in every 10 years.
- But I again got lucky. The lady I talekd in the bank managed to contact the guysd who are responsible for breaking the cards on time. So when I went there the next day she just gave it to me. Out of happiness, I caught a train right away to Sevilla.

Last stop?

Well, Sevilla might be my last stop before my real last stop Lisbon. Or I can go to Cadiz or Faro in Portugal just before Lisbon. I dont know yet. Sure feels sad to come this close to the end. But dont worry, I still have Sevilla and maybe one more place to talk about, and Lisbon also. So watch out for the final post of my blog in the upcoming days.


Cagdas