Granada - or Morocco?

In Almeria, contrary to my original plan, I didn't stay long - to be precise, I only walked once from the harbor to the bus station at six o'clock in the morning and took the first bus from there to Granada.

In Granada, I had a great centrally located hostel that left nothing to be desired. It was really great at that moment because I had caught a cold on my last day in Morocco and spent my first afternoon in Granada in bed.

The next day, I had enough medication (and resting certainly helped) to visit the Alhambra. After my internet research had shown that it was imperative to pre-order tickets even in the off-season, I did that the day before. The climb to the fortress was quite exhausting (especially with a cold) and I arrived a bit out of breath at the top.

There are parts of the complex that can be visited without a ticket. However, I had booked a ticket with everything, which is quite expensive (for a backpacker), but it was worth it. The fortress (Alcazaba), the Generalife, and the Nasrid Palaces are truly impressive and it is really worth seeing everything.

From the fortress, you have a great view over the city and the palaces are beautifully laid out and decorated. And the visit to the Alhambra made the transition between Morocco and Spain a bit easier for me: because (not surprisingly) many things in the Moorish fortress reminded me of the art in Morocco, such as the colorful tiles and the elaborately decorated wooden doors.

But the rest of Granada is also worth seeing. In the afternoon, I strolled through the narrow streets of Albaicin and treated myself to lunch on Carrera del Darro. The food there was expensive, but you had a nice view of the Alhambra and my lunch was accompanied by great street music. That was the end of my visit to Granada - short but very nice!

The next day, I went to Murcia for one night. Murcia has a large university and so I also met some Erasmus students in my hostel who were starting a semester abroad in Murcia. I spent my time strolling through the city and letting the city simply have an impact on me. There is a beautiful promenade along the river and in the city, there are numerous old buildings to admire. I also indulged myself in gastronomy and, among other things, tried the typical 'Marinera' for Murcia (a potato-fish salad in mayonnaise, served on a cracker and garnished with a sardine).

And then it was time to pack my backpack again and get on the bus to Valencia. There, I wanted to meet my parents at the airport the next day and we were going to drive to my brother and his family together.