September 23
Today was a traveling day. We left our apartment in Córdoba in time to catch a train for Granada. The taxi driver wanted to tell us that he could not go the direct route to the train station because of construction but we had a little bit of a communication problem before we straightened it out. He was helpful in working with me on word order in Spanish, too, with a number of “por ejamplos” for me.
The train system in Spain seems to be pretty good–with one possible glitch being the route between Córdoba and Granada. The first part of the trip was done by train at speeds of up to 300 kph. The second part, however, was done at speeds of no greater than 100 kph (62 mph). That’s because the second part was done by bus! At the Antequerra station we got off the train and entered the scrum to get on a bus. At least this year we knew it was going to happen. Last year we were completely confused by this process. While on the bus we observed a huge construction project that stretched for miles and miles. We think that it is a rail replacement project, possibly to bring the line up to the high-speed standard. The bus trip was OK, though; we got to see a lot of agriculture.
Our apartment in Granada (we are using Airbnb for most of this trip) is not too far from where we stayed last year. It is higher up the slope in the Albaicín district and that means hillier streets and more steps. Then there are even more steps up to our floor. We have plenty of space and and truly outstanding views of the Alhambra. The sitting room is completely fronted with windows oriented towards the fortress.
Since we were in the area for a couple of days last year, we were able to get out and walk right away. I only got us lost a little bit on the last street before the apartment.
Tomorrow we plan to spend most of the day at the Alhambra and the Generalife gardens.
