Spain 2011 Day 9 Tuesday May 31

Spain day 9 – May 31, 2001 – ALHAMBRA!! – Granada to the Torremolinas -- 104 miles

Hotel Melia Costa del Sol, Playa de Bajondillo, Torremolinos-Malaga E-29620

http://www.solmelia.com/hotels/spain/torremolinos/melia-costa-del-sol/home.htm

GLOBUS: “Sightseeing with a Local Guide features Granada’s main attraction, the ALHAMBRA COMPLEX, a fantasy of “lace in stone” surrounded by arabesque gardens and fountains. Also amble through the exotic WATER GARDENS OF THE GENERALIFE. Then, a short drive down to your hotel at the Costa del Sol. Tonight, why not sample the seafood restaurants for which this resort is famous? (Breakfast)”

Spain’s most visited monument is well worth its fame, the place is fantastic, not large, but exquisite tiles and carving in all the rooms and hallways, ceilings included. The gardens were lovely, with many roses, but impressed me less than the architecture and layout of the place, with courtyards between many of the rooms. This alone is worth a trip to Spain. We needed five hours there, not two, but back with the tour as the bus must roll on.

And the scenery of Andalucia, which Granada is in, is lovely, very rocky and hilly, with the bus going up and down all the time, through tunnels and out again to a lovely countryside. The highways here are excellent, very well maintained, and no signs or billboards on any of them.

After a lunch stop, where I had fish since we are near the coast, we drove down the mountain to the Costa del Sol and our hotel right on the beach, Hotel Melia Costa del Sol. It is HUGE, with two big wings flanking the swimming pool.

We were free from the tour bus until tomorrow, so we took the elevator to the top of the hill where the town is located. Very chintzy shops and cafes, but we finally sat down at one to have an ice cream—for dinner!! We then walked down the hill, through winding streets with more shops and cafes, rather cute but the same stuff everywhere – little bracelets, necklaces, magnets, magnets, and more magnets,