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Granada and the big huge old building

Friday, May 12th, 2006

Granada is basically all about this huge old Islamic/Spainish castle/garden thing called the Alhambra. Apparently its really well known and can be hard to get tickets for, which I feel bit guilty about because Ive never even heard of it! Anyway this morning we got up at 5.50am to get to there because all the pre tickets sell out before hand. So after a 15 minute walk up hill at 6.30am we joined the growing que for an hour before the ticket office opened…it was kind of like waiting for concert tickets although it was a historical site…a bit strange. We got close to the front and by the time 8am rolled by there were hundreds of people behind us, because they only let a certain number of people in each day. We got in fine and got our audio guides so we were super tourists! It was actually very amazing, spent about 6 hours there by the time we left. Basically it was a big palace and town when Spain was Islamic back in the day ages ago, so its all stuff about the koran and sultans, then as the other Kings and stuff came along they just added to it so its this huge place with all these different relgious styles etc. The big islamic palace was super impressive, just big and ornate and there was a big army barricks with look outs and huge gardens. By midmorning is was swarming with tour groups and school groups, a bit intense but its a huge place on this big hill so you could still find quiet bits. The audio guids were totally awesome, definitely designed for older travellers! kind of entertaining. but the whole thing was very cool…Probably not a great description but trust me it was cool.

Yesterday we had a pretty chilled out day at the hostel as mum was pretty sick with the flu, shes feeling better now which is good but yesterday we didnt do too much. The hostel is great, very noisy in the evening but cool. The first night they cooked a huge shared dinner, 3 course meal with a huge curry and free sangria and only cost 3.5 euros. And they have lots of stuff going on, good kitchen etc. We are catching a night train tonight to Valencia but cant afford a sleeper bed thing so its just normal seat and it’l be another sleepless night!

Europe…for more than one day this time

Wednesday, May 10th, 2006

Its been a few days since my last post and we´ve crossed over into Spain, into a clean country where stuff works, its kind of nice but soooo expensive. We left Chefchaouen and went to Tangier for one night. It was just a busy dirty town which seems to exist for people in transit. Had dinner which ended up being crazy expensive and not actually getting what we wanted, I know I dont speak much french but seriously this guy was not so smart, so we ended up with a whole lot of red meat which only Sarita eats, not so great. The next morning it was a early start on the ferry back over to Spain. These all these different ferries, some 1 hour, some 35 minutes and some 2 and 1/2. We somehow ended up on the long one despite the 35 minute one leaving at the same time. Not sure how that worked but we had the whole luxury ferry to ourselves for a few hours.

Arriving in Spain it was straight on a 2 hour bus to Seville, where we would spend the next 2 nights, such clean buses!
Seville was beautiful, amazing building, parks, cafes, little streets. And soooo hot, like 30 degrees at 8pm and it stayed light till about 9.30 so it was kind of weird. When we arrived a random guy came up and said he had 12 euro rooms, which was much cheaper than all the hostels so we followed him 5 mins down the road and ended up at the little rooms up in this building over looking a huge park, we got a room with a double bed and a room with 2 bunks for 12 euros each and our own sinks and showers which was pretty good and within walking distance to everything. Had nice dinner with an angry waitress and went to a bar to see some flamenco, Seville is the flamenco capital of Spain. The next day was super touristy on one of those hop on hop off city tour buses. Seville had some huge expo thing ages ago and its full of hundreds of churches, gardens, palaces and all these big Pavillions for each country. Its really pretty, everywhere is pretty, all the buildings are pretty. We tried to actually hop off the tour bus unlike the rest of bus who just sat on it the wholle time but we didnt really get off anywhere exciting so just hop back on. It was sooooo hot, so so so hot. Unfortunately not near a beach yet…Anyway after our bus tour we went to see the bull fighting ring (Seville is also the bull fighting capital of Spain) unfortunately the bull fights were only on Sundays, I really wanted to go see one, they seem pretty horrible but still be good to see. But we did a tour of the ring and the little museum which was still pretty interesting. and afterwards im not sure I could handle watching a fight! Spent the afternoon lying in the park eating cheese sanwhiches.

That night the guy from where we were staying convinced us to go to the flamenco show, which is put on for tourists. The tickets were originally 32 euros when we first arrived, then he said me and sarita could get a discount, then later on it was 2 for one then at the last minute when we were still saying no it was 12 euros. So we ended up going. Good to go see, beautiful dresses, cool music but very touristy, glad we only payed 12 euros for it! This morning we had a look around the big cathedral and then caught a bus to Grananda where we are now, mums feeling a bit sick which is not so good. Staying at a good hostel with free internet, cheap food and a kitchen. Well be here for a couple of nights before going to find a beach! Been in touch with the insurance company so hopefully will be able to buy a new camera soon, just got to do all the paper work…

through Morocco

Monday, May 1st, 2006
This is only our 5th day here in Morocoo but we've already done so much! Our first day in Casablanca we had cous cous for lunch with all the family, in a big shared plate, really good. Apparently that's what ... [Continue reading this entry]

Nearing the end of the first chapter

Monday, April 24th, 2006
Tomorrow I fly out of South America, which is sad but also exciting as I'm off to Europe! and seeing mum and my sister Sarita.

Since leaving San Pedro I had a ... [Continue reading this entry]

San Pedro, back into Chile

Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
Arriving back into Chile was a bit of a shock to the budget. Especially in San Pedro, the most expensive place in Chile. But I was only only here for 2 days and I couldn't be bothered worrying too much. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Would you like Salt with that?

Saturday, April 22nd, 2006
Uyuni is a small town pretty much only is existence because of tourists starting their Salar de Uyuni tours. And that’s what we were there to do. There are a million companies running the 3 day jeep tour which ends ... [Continue reading this entry]

Hi Ho, Hi Ho it´s off to work we go

Saturday, April 22nd, 2006
Its been awhile since I’ve updated this so I’ve got a bit to write because have had a great week! After getting back from the Amazon I jumped on a night bus (my favourite) to head to Potosi ... [Continue reading this entry]

The Amazon

Sunday, April 16th, 2006
Since everything in Bolivia is cheap I thought I would splash out and fly  up to Rurrenabaque which is in  the Bolivian Amazon. Its only a 1 hour flight but a 17 hour bus journey....so I didn't mind spending the extra cash. ... [Continue reading this entry]

The worlds most dangerous road

Sunday, April 16th, 2006

OK, I´ll be honest, I pretty much only did this because it sounds cool. I haven't really been mountain biking before and I don't really like going fast down hills on ... [Continue reading this entry]

La Paz, Bolivia!!

Monday, April 10th, 2006
Bolivia is so cheap, its good times. I spent yesterday just walking around the city, its pretty full on. Yesterday was palm Sunday and there was this big market on the main street. I saw probably the coolest band in ... [Continue reading this entry]