Granada wasn’t quite what I was expecting, it was much much larger than I thought it would be but you can’t deny the dramatic setting, with the Alhambra keeping it’s eye on the town and the mountains rising up dramatically behind. The main draw is the Alhambra and quite understandably so. Walking around the General Life gardens is beautiful but it’s when you get inside the Nasrid Palaces that you are really blown away. We went to the Palaces twice, once in the night time and once in the day, both times totally totally crowded with tourists – oh if only I would be allowed to go in just on my own!

Tip: If you have pre-purchased your Palace Night Visit tickets, don’t wait like we did at the main entrance for 30 minutes waiting for it to open only to be told that the entrance to the palace is down the road!

Having a drink at sunset on the terraces at El huerto de Juan Ranas (by Mirador San Nicolas in the Albaycin) was another highlight of our trip – the mojitos were amazing. We then stayed for dinner and the food was delicious, especially the Lamb with couscous.

Another thing that totally blew me away was the stunning grafitti, there certainly is some talent there, here is one of my faves.

_Ah Seville what an amazing city you are. I hadn’t planned to visit Seville until my return from Morocco but we had seen a fair few of the ‘white villages’ and wanted a change so decided last minute to divert there for a couple of nights and I am so glad as it has been the highlight of my trip to Spain.

Seville is a wonderful place, even when it is baking baking hot! I’d love to know how may tapas bars/restaurants there are, it seemed to be one after another after another, not that I’m complaining. We only had a couple of days there but did ourselves proud with the amount we managed to fit in food wise! Some of my favourite places were:

El Rinconcillo (Calle Gerona, 42), Seville’s oldest bar founded in 1670 – very atmospheric.

Bar El Commercio (http://www.barelcomercio.com/en-index.htm) where we had the best churros with chocolate although it didn’t seem quite right having them for breakfast.

Casa Tomate (Calle Mateos Gago 24) in the Barrio Santa Cruz and with the largest ‘half raciones’ I have ever seen. We ordered 3 plates for the two of us and could barely get through one of them.

Vineria San Telmo (http://www.vineriasantelmo.com/) - delicious tapas and lovely desserts!

Aside from eating and drinking it is such a great place to just wander around, the buildings are beautiful and the atmosphere very friendly, The Alcazar is also definitely worth a visit, the interior rooms are stunning.

We popped over to the Triana District to The Santa Ana church which is the oldest parish church in Seville, dating back to the 13th century. It holds the lauda sepulcral where legend has it that it assures marriage to women by giving it seven taps with the feet. I only wished I knew what I was tapping as sadly it wasn’t until I left that I realised I had been tapping the wrong thing, oh well just means I will have to return to Seville and that is something that I will definitely be doing.

_25 hours of travelling non stop and I arrived at the most beautiful train station I have ever seen.  Jerez train station was apparently designed by Gustave Eiffel, the man that designed the Eiffel Tower.  I say ‘apparently’ as I was told by a local but can’t find any information on the internet about it.  The beautiful coloured tiles were certainly a nice welcome after such a long journey. I had arrived quite tired from my long journey, I don’t think it helped that the bed on the overnight train felt more like a park bench so I really didn’t get that much sleep.  David, the owner of the place I stayed at suggested I went to the Arab Baths to recover (www.hammamandalusi.com). It couldn’t have been more perfect.

The 18th century palatial town-house has been beautifully refurbished using traditional stucco, tiling and carving techniques. I booked in for a 2.5 hour session thinking there was no chance I’d survive that long, I felt sure I’d get totally bored in the water for an hour and a half. Cut to an hour later when one of the masseurs had to wake me up from my deep slumper in the warm pool! I was then taken for an exfoliation, all over mud masque, hair wash (at which point I was so relaxed I thought my head was going to snap off my neck as I had no strength to hold it up!), a lovely cup of ever so sweet mint tea and finally a massage. What 25 hour train journey?

Jerez is a city in Andalusia famous for its sherry, flamenco and Andalusian horses.  I did try a glass of Fino at the Feria and I can’t say it was exactly to my taste, but everyone else seemed to be enjoying it! I also saw a great little Flamenco show (not put on for tourists) and visited the beautiful Andalusian horses at the stud farm (www.yeguadacartuja.com). On Saturdays they do a very interesting tour (where I learned that they artificially inseminate the horses and don’t do it naturally so the horses don’t get damaged!) followed by a show with dressage, free running colts etc.

My accommodation (http://www.lafondabarranco.es/EN/Welcome.html) could not have been more perfect. It is very central, beautifully furnished and with a lovely little roof terrace where breakfast is served. David, the owner, was so welcoming and gave loads of good advice and local tips.

I really enjoyed my stay in Jerez, it was certainly a good introduction to my first stay in Andalucia.