Granada

For once we made a good decision. Normally, I would choose to fly out of Heathrow, almost wherever I was going, but this time we chose to fly from Gatwick: and were grateful to have done so when we heard of the fire which halted all movement from Heathrow for almost twenty-four hours!

Gatwick was easy: easy parking, easy check-in, pleasant lounge for breakfast and an easy short walk to one of the nearest gates. Reaching that point we were surprised to see the Uber logo until we realised it was the ‘bridge’ not the plane!!!

No hassle about luggage. I like travelling light these days and the underseat carry-on was just right. I think I slept for most of the flight so must have found the seats comfortable enough on Vueling.

My only concern was that we would have enough time at Malaga to catch the bus. I needn’t have worried!

We had passed through immigration, collected our luggage and were out of arrivals within about half an hour, so even had time to eat a sandwich before checking that we could get our bus at the airport (the tickets said ‘Malaga’ which I had assumed meant any point in Malaga, but I was advised that we should go to the central bus station. That was easy, too – a local bus goes direct and cost 5euros, dropping us with about 10 yards of the spot where our bus would arrive. Granada was though quite a hilly area with lots of fruit trees: very photogenic had there been an opportunity to stop.

Despite the forecast and the sometimes ominous clouds, we were hopeful of decent weather for at least some of our stay!

Arriving in Granada, finding a taxi and getting to the hotel was quick, easy and amazingly inexpensive. Now to get to know the city!! But first a meal and a good sleep.

There is a little cluster of restaurants on a square just between the hotel and the Cathedral and Los Manueles offered a very satisfying tomato, avocado and prawn salad and an opportunity to meet up wit two of the others joining this trip, after which we were all set for a good sleep…..