Andalucia - Down Under

This trip started with the possible start. 4 of us were initially going to go on this one, but the other three could not make it due to separate reasons. All plans were disrupted, but I thought to myself; lgo ahead with this. Andalucia is something I always wanted to see and as I return back at 300 km/hr on this super train to Barca, I’m glad I chose to do so. Everything went perfectly and even though there were many instances when things could have gone wrong; somehow, everything got solved and fell into place.

I reached Malaga on Friday at 4 pm and headed straight to rent the car. Varnika had told me how parking was a huge problem and I soon realized that. I had no place to park the car when I needed to check into my hostel. The hostel was in the city centre where no car could go and thus I had to leave it somewhere. I found a paid parking whose rate was 2 euros per hour. If I was going to park the car here, it was going to turn out to be more expensive than the car itself. Still, I headed to the hostel. After checking in, I asked them a place for free parking and I was so happy when she told me about a spot where everyone parks their car for free except for some Saturdays or Sundays; the Estadio de Football J (Football to the rescue, again). This was 15 minute walk away from the hostel, the walk I was indeed happy to make. I quickly left the hostel, to take my car to the parking area.

Having your own car does have its benefits; no place is far away. So, I decided to go to the very famous botanical gardens of Malaga. As I headed there, I predictably got lost on the way and after asking for directions at every signal, I finally managed to reach the place. It was closed!! So, I made my way to a place just 5 minutes away that I had mistaken for the gardens before. It was a huge park with trees, jogging track, swing, kids play area, skating arena, benches to relax and a fountain as well. The place was so relaxing that I decided to sit there for an hour or so. Ate my food, made calls to pals and also managed to enjoy the swing for a few minutes (I remembered Dad pushing me on the swing when I was young in a park somewhere in Mumbai (do they exist anymore?). After that refreshing time, I headed to the hostel and checked in. Courtesy Lonely Planet, I searched and went to a vegetarian restaurant there and the ambience was amazing. It was a typical weekend at a European city centre (something I have witnessed for the past two months), with one difference however. Here, for the first time there were more locals and less tourists. The locals were having so much fun; singing away in restaurants, having a nice evening beer at the bar while watching Football, going to cinemas and so on. It seemed like the entire city had come out to one huge get together. So, after an amazing Paella (the most famous Spanish dish) and trying a dessert called Malaga (another specialty), I headed to my hostel at around 11: 30 pm.

Next morning was the visit to the Alhambra palace in Granada (some 140 kms from Malaga). Granada was first under the rule of Islamic rulers from Africa for many years befire it was captured by the Christians. So, this place has a wonderful blend of Islamic and Christian culture. And the main symbol  of this unique blend is the ‘La Alhambra’; the palace which was constructed by the Islamic rulers and then used by all the rulers of Granada henceforth. It is simply huge. The rulers actually built weekend getaways within the castle in the form of Gardens where they could come out to relax. The entire place is getting renovated and thus I could not catch everything, but it was a wonderful experience none the less which involved some other interesting moments as well with one of the longest and most thrilling parking I have ever made and also becoming a black ticket seller in between, etc. Remind me to tell you these stories when we meet. When reading about Granada on Lonely Planet, one place that had caught my attention was Albaysin. It is a place which supposedly had the best view of the Alhambra in the night and was also a place for Live Music, special Granadian Tea; a place where you could relax after walking the not so tiny Alhambra the entire day. My friends who had gone there last week said they had met a superb Spanish Guitar player when they had gone there and had also asked me to surely visit this place. I managed to find this place by luck, while searching for a famous tea place and once there, was just sitting there for the next hour. The Alhambra was fully lit by now and in the backdrop lay the amazing Sierra Nevada mountain range (gradually transforming from being fully snow clad on the left to the barren ones on the right) and coupled with the sunset. This definitely was the best sunset I have seen in a long time. Only thing missing was the Spanish Guitar, guess what, he had just arrived. The next hour was spent just listening to the wonderful music he was playing. However, I realized it was my day when he co-incidentally played the song that was playing in my head since morning, when I heard it in the car. Shit, I forgot to mention the road trip???

The car was even better than the one I had got in Norway, a gorgeous black Seat Ibiza. My friend Neeraj had burnt a CD for the road trip they had done last week and I can’t thank him enough for it. It had some of the best English songs of the past 30 to 40 years with bands like Pink Floyd, Oasis, Coldplay and the one and only, The Beatles J. I remember an uncle telling me that Beatles plus Road trip is the best thing that ever happened to him and I realized why. The songs were so amazing and they somehow seemed even better as I maneuvered my ride on the autovia (highway) at high speeds. They say Spain is one of the best places to drive a car, now I knew why. With the Sierra Nevada as a constant back drop and smooth roads with minimum speed limits of 120 km/hr, you know you are on some ride. The song I was telling you about was Imagine. When I heard it, I just kept on playing it again and again. Little did I know that my mind was going to set it on continuous play mode for the rest of the day; Kolaveri Di was finally out of my mind J

Back to Albaysin, as Andy (the guitarist) started playing Imagine, I could not even Imagine how lucky I was. As I sang that song once again in my mind, this time with real live music, my evening was made. Satisfied and somewhat lifted by that experience, I again got into my car and cruised gently back to Malaga. Scuba Diving was on the agenda for next morning and I had mailed the agency here before leaving to Granada. Being winter, almost all the water sport activities were closed and hopes of managing to dive looked slim. However, they did reply with affirmatively, quoting a very steep price, since i was alone and not in a group as initially promised. As it is, it wasn’t the best time to dive, so I decided to go enjoy on the beach rather than going Scuba Diving.

Back at the hostel, I had befriended a Brit from Sunderland and he too joined me to a beach on Torreslimos (a place 15 kms) away from Malaga, which had a bigger and a better beach (the car to the rescue again). This place was simply scintillating with one of the best beaches I have seen ever; very wide, very lively and the super shaded blue Mediterranean did make for an amazing combination. Add to that a sunny day and there cannot be a better place to be on. We walked and chatted (abusing our common enemy Newcaslte United along the way) and enjoyed the beachside. He had come all planned with a plastic bag as a seat, some fruits for food and a book for reading. I too had come planned, I had come in my shorts J. The waves were ferocious and the water temperature, cold but bearable. The moment I had stepped on the beach, I had made up my mind that I was going in. So, as Greg settled into his perfect beach mode, I settled into my beach adventure. The next hour was the best on this trip, maybe even the Euro Trip. I have done everything possible with the waves; swan against them, swam with them, jumped beneath them, across them, over them, sat facing the waves waiting for them to literally overwhelm me and also showed them by back, only to be taken in by surprise every 10 seconds. At that time, I was the only crazy enough person to go in what was according to them freezing water. But after half an hour, man others had too joined the party J. After that super Mediterranean bath, I started my walk back to the place we had parked our car, hoping that the sun would dry me on the way back. 10 minutes is all it took (2 minutes for my water proof hair). After an Italian lunch in a nearby restaurant, I headed back to the railway station, where I had to return my car and board my train back to Barca, my home, as of now.

This trip south of Spain had indeed turned out very well with amazing adventures and experiences. It would have definitely been much better if I had my friends along as originally planned but it was super fun none the less. As this Euro Trip nears its conclusion, my only hope is having the same amount of fun as I have had on this trip as well as this wonderful Euro Trip.