Granada

Am I in Spain or am I in North Africa? I'm hearing more Arabic than Spanish. It feels like I'm in Morocco instead of Granada, but I spent half the day at the Alhambra, so that's how I know.

Took the overnight bus from Valencia at 11 o'clock and woke up this morning careening through the Sierra Nevada mountains. This was the best plan, really, to arrive early in the morning, saving the cost of overnight accommodation, lock up my rucksack at the bus station, buy a ticket for Malaga, and head straight to the Alhambra before it gets crowded.

And man, does it get crowded. They have 8, 260 available tickets per day, and they save 2,000 to sell on the day. The rest they sell online or through agents for up to a year in advance. Apparently at peak season you have to queue up before 7 o'clock in the morning if you want a ticket.

Get this: the 10 euro entrance fee only allows entry into Los Palacios Nazaries (one of the areas) in the space of a half-hour period (in my case, between 10:30-11:00), and the ticket is only good until 2pm! If you arrive later, it's even more crowded, it's considerably hotter, and your ticket is only good for the afternoon. The gates only open at 8:30, which sounds early except the grounds are extensive. To see everything before 2pm means you have to be moving all the time. I've been taking a tonne of photos and some video, too, so I had to move extra fast. This is the best place to use the swivel screen of the Canon A80 I just bought. I can't post any photos now, but I managed to get some ground level and high-above-my-head shots at the Alhambra that I would never have been able to get with my A60.

The place is crawling with tour guides for all major languages, but most of the visitors today are Spanish (or, at least, speak Spanish... I can't distinguish the Central and South Americans, and only possibly the broadest-speaking Mexicans, from the Spaniards). More on this later.

The Alhambra is a 13th century Arab fortress that was reclaimed by the Spanish. You can Google it for more historical information, but I will say that learning the Islamic symbolism (particularly with water and visual art) behind the architecture and design of the buildings makes the early morning trip worthwhile. I splurged 3 euros for an audioguide, which made it easier to understand (most of the archaeological information is in French, Spanish, and Arabic). And, if you're into photography, it is definitely worth your while to come early, because it is MUCH easier to set up your trickier shots and there aren't hordes of people's heads in your photos. I can see why they only let a certain amount of people in at one time, they would sacrifice the individual experience otherwise.

I wish I could display the photos right now, the Alhambra is absolutely stunning with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains as its backdrop.

Am off to Malaga in a couple of hours... Adios amigos!