The Journey Begins!!

I am writing this blog from St Jean Pied de Port in Southern France. From here, I commence the long awaited Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Internet connection is a bit iffy but I will try to keep you all updated as to my journey as often as I can. French keyboards are set up differently to ours so if there are mistakes, please be forgiving!

Yesterday, I travelled by train from Stuttgart, Germany to St Jean, a journey of about 12 1/2 hours. Fairly tiring but I was getting excited by the time I got to Bayonne. The trip from Bayonne to St Jean is around 1 1/2 hours, through wonderful wooded and colourful countryside. There is a river alongside the train tracks and you start to get a glimpse of the Pyrenees and then think, OMG, I have to climb that in a couple of days. It really starts to make the walk a reality, I can tell you!

St Jean is a very pretty little medieval town at the foot of the mountains, with cobbled streets, old buildings and a veritable air of purpose and tranquility. I will have wonderful memories of this town. I have met some of my fellow pilgrims, a friendly, chatty bunch and the alburgue is excellent. It will be the perfect place to start this strange and fantastical journey I have decided to undertake - perhaps I am mad after all?

So, till next available internet, please keep me in your thoughts and if you have any spare energy, please send it my way as I will probably need it!

Highlights from London

Quick blog whilst I still have internet access to prove my tourist credentials. I think everybody who has been to London would have seen the following places so won't write much about them. Great place for a visit (not sure I'd want to live here).

London Phone Boxes

Marble Arch

Symbols of a Roman Past

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

Scene in Hyde Park

London Bridge

Tower of London

Now I'm a real tourist!

Well, being in London is a very different kettle of fish to being in Spain. For all my sight seeing in Spain, I kept convincing myself that I wasn't a real tourist, I was undertaking cultural tourism as part of my studies as I was in Spain as a student. Everything I was doing was just homework (including the visits to bars etc). I don't have that excuse here. Here I'm your ordinary garden variety tourist, from the Colonies no less. The typical Australian seeing "the mother land". I wonder if I will see any Corgis?

Good news! Went for a walk and saw a Corgi - very cute.

I've spent the last 4 days being very busy being a tourist. After arriving on Saturday, I went for a short walk, but due to the weather being wet and cool, I didn't venture very far. Just far enough to get my bearing.

Sunday dawned foggy but dry. I decided to spent some hours on the hop on hop off bus seeing as much as possible of the highlights of London before heading off to one of two museums. However, the day became  very lovely (even sunshine) so I ended up doing two rounds on the hop on hop off bus. I got to see the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, Westminster Abbey, St Pauls Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Harrods, Marble Arch, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, and lots more. I decided to test myself so did the first trip on the bus with the English commentary and the second trip with Spanish Commentary. Good fun. Afterwards, I went for a walk through Hyde Park which is very close to my hotel.

Monday saw me catching a train to Bath. I had a fabulous day walking around Bath. I managed to see most of the sights and having still a couple of hours free at the end, I then did a bus tour around the town as well. I have some decent photos which I will try to post as soon as I can.

Tuesday dawned foggy but expected to be fine. It ended up being quite a warm day. I was meeting some friends in the afternoon so decided to go for a walk and then go to a museum until time to get to Liverpool street station. However, the day was so nice, I ended up just walking and walking. My hotel was 10 mins walk from Hyde Park. Hyde Park joins onto Green Park and then St James Park. So I walked from my hotel, through the 3 parks to the Houses of Parliament, across Westminster Bridge, along the other side of the river Thames to Tower Bridge, back across Tower Bridge and then up to Liverpool Street Station to meet my friend Emma (from Valencia). All in all, it took 3 hours to walk the whole way and was wonderful. I saw many of the same place as on the bus, but from a very different perspective. 

Then, Emma, Stephanie (also from Valencia) and I went to a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Absolutely brilliant and a fantastic venue. Afterwards, we walked along the river a bit then found somewhere to have an early dinner. Steph had a Spanish class to get to and Emma had to catch a train back to Norwich. so, parting with promises to stay in touch, we all took different trains to our various destinations.

Today, I'm hanging out at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport waiting for my flight to Stuttgart and the long awaited start of my walk. Tomorrow I catch a train from Stuttgart, Germany to St Jean Pied de Port, southern France. Then the walk begins in earnest.

For those of you who have been following my blog, I will continue to blog as often as possible during the walk, but this will depend on reliable internet access as I go. Uploading photos will probably be difficult but I'll see what I can do.

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Friend I met in Hyde Park

 

Outside of Globe Theatre

 

Stage of Globe Theatre

 

View of inside of theatre from our seats for the play

 

Steph and Emma, friend I met in Valencia at
Don Quijote Language School

Finding Paddington (Bear?)

After my adventures at Madrid Airport, I'm happy to say after a two hour delay, my flight to London took off successfully, with only a bit of minor turbulence mid flight and a smooth touchdown. Getting to Paddington Station proved to be a very simple endeavour. Off the plane, follow the signs to baggage claim, through border control, customs and take the Heathrow Express which took me directly to Paddington Station in about 20 minutes. No fuss, no bother, easy peasy. Once at Paddington Station, I found the information desk and was directed to my street (Sussex Gardens) and within 10 minutes had found my hotel, checked-in and was enjoying a hot cup of tea in my room.

Only one complaint - in the British capital, the land of tea drinkers, there is discrimination. There is no less than 8 sachets for coffee but only 1 tea bag!!!! Shock and horror. I've fixed it though, I found the local Tesco's (5 min walk) and bought my own tea bags. Now I can have as many as I like, when I like (he he).

Despite a thorough walk around the neighbourhood, I didn't catch sight of that famous bear, Paddington Bear. Perhaps he is on holidays given that it is August? (seems to be the month for holidays in Europe). I've found the map, checked where I want to go, how to get there and I'm all set for tomorrow. I've even been back to the station to book my ticket to Bath on Monday. See, I can be organised sometimes !!

Adventures in the Aeropuerto (Airport)

No sleep and travel make strange bedfellows. They definitely aren't a match made in heaven. Well, that's my excuse anyway and they were only minor adventures. Quite funny really. I wonder what the shuttle bus driver thought!

This morning I left Granada on a 2 am  bus bound for Madrid Airport. This airport is huge but luckily the bus went directly to the terminal I needed for my flight to London, arriving approx. 3 hours before the flight so perfect timing I thought. I'd have time to get through check-in and security and have a leisurely breakfast and a walk before getting on the plane. I can only blame sleep deprivation for what happened next!

On arrival,  I got off the bus at Terminal 4 (I needed terminal 4). However, I somehow managed to get myself on a shuttle bus going to another terminal so ended up having a guided tour of the Madrid Airport. I think I must have missed the sign saying it was Terminal 4 and just followed everyone else onto the shuttle bus. To be fair, I'd only had a couple of hours of broken sleep (well dozing really) so wasn't at my sharpest. I only realised my mistake when we got to Terminal 2. I was able to take another shuttle at Terminal 1 back to Terminal 4 (a round trip of approx. 25 mins) and finally, went in search of my check-in counter.

Now, the check-in counters run at a perpendicular to the entrance hall at this terminal. Hence, as I wasn't wearing my glasses (not expecting to need them), I had trouble finding the British Airways counter. After several minutes of confused wandering, I finally spied a BA sign. Now, where was the check-in line? Usually in airports these days, you have to check-in via a machine and then go to the bag drop counter. However, I couldn't find a machine for BA but did find the bag drop counter and the Club BA counter. Neither of which were much use to me as I needed the normal check-in. Finally, I thought I found the line, dutifully lined up with up to 100 other people and did the airport shuffle. Getting closer to the front (about a third of the way there), I discovered I was actually in the Iberian Airlines line. So, now completely confused, I decided to just go to the Club BA line and ask. Luckily, I still had plenty of time before my flight (more than I realised at the time actually). The nice man at the Club BA counter told me I could check-in there and also drop my luggage. Wonderful! Now, relieved of my luggage, I just had to find breakfast.

Finding breakfast proved to be a bit more difficult than I expected from such a large and major airport. The first and only place in the main terminal appeared to be McDonalds. Now most of you will know my views on McDonalds - it is not part of the food chain! Decided to forgo breakfast and go directly to my gate. Perhaps they have a drink and snack machine there. Anything is better than McDonalds!  However, as I said earlier, Madrid Airport is very big. They use letters instead of numbers for the gates. Then once you find the right letter for your gate, you then have to find the right number ie S gate, but S51 for departure. Getting to my gate meant taking a shuttle train for 15 - 20 minutes. However, as my flight was delayed, they hadn't decided specifically which gate but it would be M, R, S or U which are all in the same area but once you get there you might still have to walk a long way to find your specific gate. No problems, still got plenty of time and the system is very smooth and efficient with good signage. Anyway, it's only 9.00 am and the plane now doesn't leave until 11.30 am. Except..... when I got to the gate area, there was a notice that it was delayed even further so new departure time was 12.30pm. Damn, really need breakfast and a toilet. Luckily, Madrid Airport is well supplied with toilets. Just have to get through passport control and find some breakfast.

Immigration is a very large area, with excellent signage - right is for all the EU etc citizens, left is all other nationalities. However, no people on the other counters. What were we non-EU people to do? Several non EU persons wandering around looking confused and lost was a bit concerning. However, as I couldn't find anything else that looked like where we should go, I headed to the EU counter to ask. Turns out today, we all use the same counters. A very nice man gave me a lovely smile, wished me a good trip and barely glancing at my passport gave it a stamp and I'm on my way! Next step, definitely breakfast.

Luck was in, after 5 mins walk, I found a food place but it was full. Decided to keep walking a bit and come back in the hope that somebody would have left. However, found another place, good food, excellent tea and hardly any people. Fed and watered at last, I was feeling more myself, despite my fatigue and lack of sleep. Now just have to wait till they decided my gate number, and time of departure. London here I come!

Just when you thought it was safe.......

Tired of hearing about Granada yet? Just when you all probably thought I'd exhausted all topics regarding Granada, I finally found one historic place I wanted to visit (it was a bit hidden) and went to a Flamenco show on Wednesday night. The show was absolutely fabulous. I haven't been a huge fan of Flamenco singing before as I find it a bit monotonous and loud - lots of wailing and I can't distinguish the words. However, after seeing the show last night, I have a different appreciation of Flamenco.

The Show was basically 4 people - two dancers (male and female), una cantante (singer) and a guitarist. Seeing them together made me realise that the words of the songs may not be so important, it is the profound expression of deeply felt sentiments that is the important thing. The music, the singing and the dancing appear sometimes to be completely random and over the top, but I now believe are in fact a controlled form of expression. I really liked the dancing and the music, but I think I'll pass on too much of the singing. Together it was an amazing experience and I'm glad I took the time to go.

 We were only allowed to take photos at the end of the show so I can't show you how amazing it all was. I promise my next blog will be from London, but as I'm about to start the Camino, you can be assured that there are more Spanish adventures to write about coming up!

 

 

The other place is El Bañuelo. This is the original Arab Bathhouse in Granada. It's now kind of inside and behind a building that doesn't look remotely Arabic and whilst there is a sign nearby with a short history of the site, it doesn't indicate the entrance. I knew which street it was in, but couldn't find the entrance until this week. Glad I persevered. The roof was different shaped holes that allow natural light to penetrate into the different rooms. Pictures below.

Simple things in life....

Sometimes the simplest things in life, things we take for granted, are not so simple after all.

In the last few days, I've had some new experiences in Spain.

• I went out for dinner with a friend, had a great time, came home and went to bed. Next morning I woke up as usual but to discover my watch had stopped. Okay, no worries, just get a new battery fitted and all's well. Full of confidence with my new language skills, I asked my Spanish family where I needed to go to get a battery. In Australia, we would go to a jeweller's and it would be done pretty well straight away. However, I have learned that not all things are the same in Spain (eg. you buy postage stamps from a tobacconist booth). So, back to the watch. In Spain you go to a Relojeria to buy watches, get them fixed and buy and get batteries fitted. These shops are much like jewellers, but not all jewellers are relojerias. By the way, the Spanish word for clock is a reloj and a wrist watch is a reloj de pulsera (literally clock of the wrist). So far so good, there is a relojeria close by. However, in Spain, August is holiday time. Therefore, lots of shops are closed for vacation. I eventually found 3 relojerias but all closed. I figured I could do without my watch for a few days and once I got to London, I'd try to find the relevant shop. However, when I mentioned the closed shops to Pepe, he insisted on taking my watch with him on his and Trini's afternoon walk and was lucky enough to find a relojeria open and 4 euros later, I had a functioning watch.  I offered to pay him commission but he wouldn't let me.

• At the post office:- Now this was an interesting experience. I had decided that I wanted to send some miscellaneous items home to Australia rather than keep lugging them around London & Germany. I was also conscious of the weight of my luggage and the need to manoeuvre it through more airports, bus and train stations. So, I found the local post office, worked out their opening times (only in the mornings in August, it's holiday time you know) and ventured in. Hmmm, lots of counters but no envelopes, boxes or the like to send things in. I also hadn't seen any shops selling these types of items so thought best go home and ask the all-knowledgeable Pepe. Armed with the new knowledge from Pepe, I returned to the post office and entered through the other entrance (below ground)  but on locating the counter, was told that I had to go upstairs to buy the boxes and then go to the postal counter. So, back upstairs, discovered you have to push a button to get a number first (after lining up for a few minutes). Okay, easy - got to the counter. No, wrong counter. Need to go to counter 11. So off I go to counter 11, got my box, then had to take it to be weighed, then back to counter 11 to fill in the declaration form, then, get my number and line up again to have it officially weighed and pay my money. Lucky I have enough Spanish to work this all out from what they told me as there was no signage to indicate any of these requirements. We'll find out just how successful this transaction was when my parcel arrives in safely in Australia!!

• I also had to go to the main bus station today to finalise my ticket to Madrid to catch my flight to London. Everywhere else I've been, the bus station is quite central and easy to get to and buying a ticket is very simple. In Granada, the bus stations is several kilometres away from the centre and you basically need to take a bus or taxi. Luckily, there is a bus stop just out the front of the building I've been living in so really simple to get a bus. Approx 30 minutes later I arrived and walked in expecting to be on my way again in 10 - 15 minutes. Don't know what was happening in Granada today, the but line up was very, very long. I stood in line for 40 minutes before I got to the window and I noticed a lot of anxious faces. I discovered the anxious faces belonged to people who had specific buses to catch and they didn't have time to get to the counter before the bus left. I was very happy to let a couple of elderly ladies go in front of me so they could catch their bus on time. Even so, when I left, the line was just as long. Maybe it's just that it's holiday time in Spain or maybe something wasn't working as it should. It appeared that a lot of people in the line already had tickets so maybe there was a major breakdown or something and tickets needed to be changed. It was all very strange.

Spain just keeps handing out different and surprising experiences to compare with life back home in Australia. That's part of the fun of travelling! I've been trying to consider our processes through the eyes of a foreigner. They probably have just as many funny stories to tell about how Australia functions as well. I guess it's all about what you are used to.

Saying Goodbye

Well, another week has flown by and I now have less than 5 days left in Granada. On Friday I head for Madrid and Saturday fly out to London for 4 days. It will be a bit difficult in some ways to leave Granada as I feel very at home here and even now, after nearly 8 weeks, there are still new things to discover and explore. I have really enjoyed my time in Granada and would really like to return one day.

So, England for 4 days. Lots of cultural tourism to undertake in London and  I have a trip to Bath planned as well. It will be a shock I think to be speaking English all the time after 5 months in Spain. Perhaps I will find some Spanish ex-pats in London to chat to?

My mind is definitely turning to the challenges and preparation for the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. I've been wearing my walking boots for a few weeks and packed the backpack with the necessary gear. I'm about as prepared as I can be. I officially start on 1st September from the south of France, but will arrive two days earlier to do some warm-up walks first. As the first two days are climbing the Pyrenees, I think I need to ensure the leg muscles are well and truly ready before I head off. Should be lots of fun.

Anyway, have a few chores to do today to ensure a smooth get-away on Friday. Next blog will probably be from London.

Tapas Tours, Granada

I've been a bit remiss in my posts about the food here in Granada, which I have found to be excellent. As previously mentioned in my blogs, I have been on two organised Tapas Tours and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, I mostly forgot to take pictures. However, last night I ventured out with a friend from the school, Ellie, to sample some more of these tasty treats that are a speciality of Spain. The good news is that here in Granada, tapas and drinks are very cheap. But you have to be careful, it's easy to keep having more. And, finally, I remembered to take some photos.

The tapas here are really varied, but will often include pork or chicken, seafood and berejena (eggplant). What you get depends on if you go to a bar that allows you to choose from a selection (of up to 25 different types in one bar I saw) or a bar that has set tapas for the evening. If you choose the second option, there is usually a different tapa for each drink you buy at that bar. It could be anything from jamon y queso (ham and cheese), aceitunas (olives), lomo (a cut of roast pork), to any manner of creative offerings. Given that the most I have paid for a drink (usually a glass of wine) and a tapa is 2 euros (approx. $2.90 AUS), I think that's pretty good value.

Whilst tapas is included in the price of your drink, at least in Granada,  you can just buy the tapa and forgot the drink or get a non-alcoholic drink. Given my explorations in this area, I have a new drink of choice when dining out on a tapas tour - Tinto de Verano. This is a mixture of wine and usually lemon squash type soft drink and served really cold. Very refreshing on a hot day. It also means that I don't have a lot of alcohol to drink in one evening! It makes a change from Sangria and would be easy enough to make back home in Australia. Next Spanish get together, I'll make some if anyone else is interested!!

So to whet the appetite of anybody thinking of coming to Granada, below are a few examples of the tapas to be found here. There are endless variety of others. Also, it is usual to move from place to place, have a drink or two and then move to another bar. This is a very pleasant way to have dinner, particularly if the company is good.

Tapa of lomo topped with a very small fried egg and tomato salsa

Bomba - basically a mashed potato ball filled with meat,
crumbed then fried. Spicy tomato salsa to finish it off
Served hot

Here's one we would recognise at home, smoked salmon and
soft white cheese with olives.

Berejenas - Fried eggplant with a sweet sauce
(usually honey but this sauce was smoky as well,) Served hot.

One of the interesting and cosy bars.

This very interesting dish (for 4 people) is basically fried baby fish.
The fish are similar to guppies. You just stab away with your fork
until you manage to eat them all!

Looks like soup but is actually a specialty white wine, very sweet
Normally served in bowls and you just slurp it up!
I had a taste but it was too sweet for me.

Tinto de Verano - mixture of red wine and
lemonade or lemon squash, served cold
with ice and a slice of lemon.
Very refreshing on a hot day!

Spanish Encounters: At the Pub

The last couple of weeks have been a bit quiet for me, not much cultural tourism nor social activities. Partly, it has been really hot and partly, I've just been too lazy or tired to bother going out at night. However, last week, a new acquaintance (Ellie) and I ventured out to a local bar quite near the school. This bar is really tiny and only seems to have 4 seats with standing room for another 4 people. If there was any more people in there, I think you'd have to be really good friends!. 

Ellie had found this place a couple of weeks ago as the lady who runs the bar is open early for breakfast and does coffee etc during the day and sells tapas and drinks at night. I imagine you can buy drinks during the day as well. Bars in Spain are not quite what we are used to in Australia and are generally a mix between a bar selling alcohol and a café selling coffee and cake etc.

Anyway, the owner is a very open and friendly lady so gradually, Ellie has been visiting for breakfast and having conversations with the owner and her husband. So, when she invited me for a drink, it was really for us both to have conversation practice. It was great fun. As it turned out, there were several "regulars" in the night we went and we had Spanish practice with all of them. They all seemed quite content to talk to us, even with our limited Spanish and seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. One chap, Antonio was born and still lives in the Albaicin in Granada (Arab Quarter), the other chap was from Seville originally but had lived in Granada for many years.

During the course of the evening, we managed to talk about our countries, their differences, where we live, what we like to do and our families, among other topics including the quality of the wine and the food. I think, apart from the families I've stayed with and the people on a tour I did to the Alpujarra, this was the most authentic Spanish speaking experience I have had to date. Real, normal Spanish people going about their ordinary lives and including us extranjeros (foreigners) without missing a beat. There was lots of laughter, a little miscommunication and plenty of Spanish lessons occurring over a glass or two of wine (beer in Ellie's case) and of course, tapas.

One other experience occurred about an hour before we left. An elderly man (probably in his 70s if not 80s) kept telling Ellie and I we were beautiful and asking where we came from (We decided he was a bit deaf). Then he decided he needed to know if I was married and when he left, wanted to give Ellie a kiss, not the usual kiss of greeting that the Spanish go in for, but a full on kiss. Ellie was a bit horrified by this and firmly told him the only man she kisses is her husband! Created a lot of laughter from the other people in the bar.

We went again last night and had another great time. I can see why Ellie likes to go there most days. If I didn't have a meal waiting for me with the family I'm staying with, I could easily spend a lot of time there - good company, great conversation, good wine and food. What more could you ask for from a Spanish encounter?

Views of the Alhambra

Below are some photos of the Alhambra as seen from various sites around the city. I hope you enjoy the view!!

From Barrio Albaicin, Alcazaba section



From Mirador San Cristobel

From Abadia del Sacramonte

View from Mirador San Nicolas

View from Camino de Sacramonte

View of Alhambra & Granada from Abadia del Sacramonte

Al Alhamba - Jewel in the Crown

As you all know by now, Granada is my favourite place in Spain. I've raved on quite enough about how much I like it. Time to share some thoughts, information and photos of this magical place. I'm rather proud of my photos of the Patio de los Arrayanes in the Nazrid Palace complex. Took a lot of waiting to get it!

Probably the most well known and visited monument in Granada is the Alhamba Palace. Well, it's not strictly a palace as it is more a city, with palaces, a military district, markets, parks and huertas (places where food crops were cultivated). It is a amazing place. In summer, around 8000 people per day visit and the rest of the year around 6000 per day.  I've been to visit twice and will probably find time to go again, next time at night when they light up the palaces and the gardens, or perhaps for one of their Espectaculos. At the end of July and for all of August each year, there is a huge production combining works by Federico Garcia Lorca, a well known 20th Centaury poet and writer, music by Manuel De Falla, a famous composer and contemporary of Garcia Lorca and Enrique Moriente, a famous Flamenco singer. All are from Granada I understand and died in the first half of the 20th Centaury. It's apparently a show worth seeing and as it is set at night in the Generalife Gardens inside the Alhambra complex, I'm fairly keen to go.

This place has more legends than just about anywhere else I've heard of (except maybe Ireland). One famous author, Washington Irving (an American) visited here in 1828 and published a book called "Tales of the Alhambra". He was allowed to live in the complex whilst undertaking research on the history of the site. There is even a hotel very close to the Alhambra today called  "The Washington Irving Hotel". Seems he was quite a celebrity. I only know of him as the writer of the short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" about Ichabod Crane and the headless horseman. Irving apparently also wrote a history of Christopher Colombus among other books.

Whilst the Alhambra was built by successive Arab rulers of Granada, there is also a Christian presence following the reconquest in 1492. Granada finally fell to the Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand on 2 January 1492, finalising the reconquest of Spain. Charles V (grandson of Isabella) built a palace inside as well by destroying the great mosque. However, after ordering the mosque destroyed, he promptly left Granada and never returned so never used the subsequent palace that was built.

I'm quite sure my photos don't do justice to the beauty and grandeur of the site. any internet search will probably give you better views. However, I've included some of my personal favourites so you can see where I've been. I've got heaps more for those who want to brave a slide show when I get home !!

Patio de la Acequia, Generalife,

 

Torre del Homenaje  & Torre del Cubo, Alcazaba,

 

Garden & Fountain, Nazrid Palace

 

Arab art work & writing, Nazrid Palace

 

Christian statue in Generalife Gardens

 

Patio de Arrayanes, Nazrid Palace

 

Patio de los Leones, Nazrid Palace

Finding the balance

Well, after taking a "mental health day" from my studies on Thursday and having another chat to the Head of Studies at my school, we've decided the best approach for me is to return to individual classes for the next 3 weeks. It's amazing how much this has taken the pressure off. My new teacher is none other than the Head of Studies herself (Laura). A bit daunting but as she has been very patient with me constantly changing my course and listened to my babbling attempts to explain my problem in limited Spanish, I think we'll get on fine. I will retain the 2 hours per day conversation classes which have been a hoot, and spend the individual classes with Laura plugging the gaps in my knowledge and confidence. She's even set me some tasks so I can overcome my difficulties with writing in Spanish. First two written tasks corrected with minimal mistakes. Phew!! 

So for me, the moral of the story is to be careful about comparing yourself with others, be aware of your own pressure points and find the balance. Luckily I have had some great mentors (I'm sure you know who you are) that have encouraged, taught and chastised me when necessary so I'm getting  better at "finding the balance". Thanks to all for your support and encouragement on this very interesting and at times, challenging journey.

Feels like Africa

The last couple of days in Granada have been really hot - above 40 degrees. I'm told that the final few days in July and the first couple of days in August are generally the hottest of the year in Granada. This is due to hot, dry air coming up from Africa (south) with little distance or sea to cool it sufficiently before it arrives in this part of Spain. Even in the shade it is hot and fanning yourself doesn't seem to do much by way of cooling.  I can vouch for the hot and dry part. It reminds me of one New Year's trip to Melbourne a couple of years ago (Beth will know what I'm talking about). In Melbourne, the hot, dry air comes from the north, across the dry interior of Australia and seems to suck all the moisture out of the air.

Yesterday, I drank close to 4 litres of water. Drinking this much doesn't seem to keep you from feeling thirsty. However, it is generally only for a few days and then reverts to normal heat around 35 - 38 degrees. The news today is predicting the same temperatures for 2 - 3 more days so I guess the plan will be to rest, walk in the cooler part of the morning or night, and drink lots of water. Having said that, at 8.00 pm last night it was still 35 degrees and only cooled to around 30 degrees overnight. Not the most conducive temperature for sleeping but bearable. The one thing absent here is the humidity for which I am very thankful. Drier heat is much more bearable when the temperature rises!  The poor little ventilador (fan) in my room is getting an enormous workout. I hope it can last another 3 weeks.