Three dream cities in Andalusia

This time I'm spending 5 days in Andalusia. My journey begins in the beautiful city of Seville. I am thrilled with the city, especially with the Plaza de Espana, a 50,000 square meter, very atmospheric square where you can even go boating, and with the Alcazar, the medieval palace of Seville with its wonderful garden. Even at the end of October, it still has 26 degrees, which of course attracts a lot of tourists. When I see the queue at the entrance to the Alcazar, I am overjoyed to have already bought my ticket online in advance. But even so, the entrance takes about 20 minutes. I stroll through the city for 2 days, visit the highlights, but also take time to visit the numerous small handicraft shops and of course the many tapas bars.

Then I go to Cordoba, a good hour's train ride from the Andalusian capital. Here I enjoy myself for 2 days, enjoy the late summer temperatures, take pictures of the wonderful narrow streets of the city, each of which is a little different, discover the castle Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos as well as the impressive Mezquita-Catedral, which was built as a mosque from the 8th century and has been expanded several times. Until the end, it remains a challenge for me to find my way around the winding streets, often I walk in circles and take unnecessary detours. But at the same time, I also enjoy drifting, not having to hurry, and discovering a new church and more small craft shops in the remote corners of the city.

I have saved Granada as the last highlight. From Cordoba, it can be easily reached by train as a day trip: I go there in the morning and hope to get a ticket at the box office for the Alhambra, the famous fortress. Everything was already sold out on the internet 3 weeks before my trip. Unfortunately, I am disappointed: there is no more box office, only huge signs with the inscription "Tickets sold out" are waiting for me at the entrance. So I climb up to the historic district of El Albaicin on the opposite hill and at least get a wonderful overall impression of the Alhambra. After that, I stroll through the city, which fades somewhat compared to Seville and Cordoba. And then it starts raining, so I use the time for souvenir shopping.. that has to be done too :-)

Andalusia is a wonderful piece of land with strong Moorish influences, an ideal climate for sun worshippers, great food, and many more highlights than can be discovered in just 5 days. Reason enough for me to return :-)