Travel Day to Granada

A short two hour train ride through olive groves. Oh, the nostalgia, I always love walking through olive groves when on camino. Some people find them boring, but I just love them. Riding on a train through olive groves just isn’t the same. I couldn’t even do my normal loud camino rendition of Andaluces de Jaén, a song by Paco Ibañez of a slightly subversive poem by Miguel Hernández. I love it and sing it every time I walk in an olive grove!

It was a nice walk down promenades from the train station to our hotel, which is on the Gran Vía. It’s in the Renaissance monastery of Santa Paula. Great location, very comfortable. Good fitness center. :-) The reception guy was very nice and put us in a room in the old part overlooking the courtyard. When I told him it was great except for the step up to the bathroom (night-time fall alert went off), he put us in an even nicer little suite with a similar view. No complaints.

Joe decided to nap on arrival, since he hadn’t been able to sleep in till his normal decadent wake-up time. And his stomach was a bit off. So I went to exercise and walk around a bit. I thought that Fanta de Limón would be just the thing for an upset stomach, and once again I was transported back to the camino. It’s my favorite post-walking refreshment, nowhere near as sweet as US soft drinks.

After a quick lunch, we walked up to the Mirador San Nicolás, the iconic viewing spot in the Albaicin (moorish quarter) back over the Alhambra. Dinner in the hotel, nothing great, but it’s convenient. Temps are still ridiculously low, and the sun is brilliant. So lucky.Read more