27th May to 4th June
Hmmmm what to say about Almerimar? The marina is fine, the staff the friendliest and most helpful we've met so far with marineros to help with lines when first arriving and help booking a car. The place itself though is a bit odd. There is no town to speak of, just lots and lots of hotels, gated communities and apartment blocks that were all empty. Over half of the retail and bar units at the marina were unoccupied. The surrounding landscape doesn't help either, miles and miles of plastic greenhouses crowd the land between the sea and the mountains. It felt a bit like a ghost town, the perfect place to film an end-of-the-world movie with its deserted streets, which would be in keeping with this area's use in movies. The marina staff told us lots of western films were made in the countryside around there and only recently Christian Bale stayed in Almerimar whilst making his latest film.

On the positive side there are plenty of marine services people and chandleries where we were able to buy the few bits and pieces we needed for the usual ongoing boat jobs. There is a Mercadona supermarket in the marina but unfortunately it was closed for refurb whilst we were there. We can recommended the fish and chips in Leo's bar and at the same place Groovy Phils Friday night kareoke was fun for people watching and a boogie.

One of the main reasons for coming to Almerimar was its closeness to Grenada so we hired a car along with Pat and Duncan from Red Snapper and headed off on 'holiday' for a couple of nights.

1st June
The drive inland from Motril is scenic with views of the snow topped Sierra Nevada and an amazing viaduct way up in the air above a reservoir. Despite all the warnings we'd seen about driving in Grenada, getting to the centrally based hotel Juan Miguel hotel was quick and easy with good directions to the hotel car park. We were pleased with the hotel and the staff were friendly and helpful. For €35 a night for a room it was good value, although we had to pay €20 a day for the car parking too.

After checking in we rushed out to pick up our tourist cards before the kiosk closed for siesta. When we'd tried to book into the Alhambra we were too late to get tickets online for the days we were there. One alternative option was to get to the ticket desk for 8am and queue to see if we got the daily allowance but that seemed like a bit too much of a risk and we were supposed to be on holiday and it would have meant early starts. So instead we went for the 'bono touristico' card which got us into the Alhambra, a few other sights, some bus journeys and a ticket for the hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus.

On the drive up we saw some very big, black clouds looming out to sea (friends on Riverdancer ended up sailing through the storms). We were a bit naive in thinking we'd miss them as the forecast said so and headed out in shorts and sun tops. As we waited at the ticket kiosk a cloud began to move in like an alien spaceship, covering up the sun. A few drops began to fall and we huddled closer to the kiosk willing the people in front to hurry up. Pat came up with an umbrella she'd just bought and with tickets in hand we legged it to the safety of a shop awning just before it really chucked it down and the thunder and lightening began.

We squeezed in with all the other people sheltering and in a brief lull the boys ran across the road to a cafe. A bit of hail followed and another lull and we decided to go for it too. Good job too as it set in heavy for a while after that and our coffees would have gone cold. Having stretched out the coffees it was still raining so time for wine-o-clock. The wine came with tapas of patato de la pobre - slow fried potatoes in olive oil with pepper and egg. Nice but a bit mushy.


Love the stained glass lights

After a clothes change it was back out to the cathedral, entry included on our tourist card. The Royal Chapel was next where the coffins of Ferdinand and Isabella lie. Next to the the cathedral is a little souk selling tourist stuff; I did like the stained glass lamps. With the sun now out we moved on to walk along the Rio Darro and the winding streets of the Albarin area with views across to the Alhambra.



Monday was Alhambra day and the sun was now out. I could gush for hours about the Alhambra, suffice to say it was rightly on my must see list. The only downside was the number of people inside the Nazarin Palace which made it a bit crowded at times. The rest of the grounds were much more relaxed.


Bucket of beer refreshment after the Alhambra

The hop-on hop-off bus was disappointing as it mostly goes around the outskirts of the city. We learnt a few things from the commentary and saw some areas we hadn't been to but it wouldn't have been worth paying for.


On the bus

Tuesday was leaving day with just enough time in the morning to visit the Monesterio de Jeronimo which has an impresively decorated church and a walk back up the Albarin to the Mirador de San Nicolas viewpoint to see the Alhambra with its Sierra Nevada backdrop.