Getting to know Andalucia

I arrived in Madrid one month before my classes started. Basically, I had two reasons to do so: to get to know Madrid better and to have time to travel a bit around Spain. In one of the trips I had in my mind, the plan was to see Málaga, Granada, Sevilla and Córdoba. I heard so much about Andalucia and the temperament of the people living there that I really wanted to experience it on my own. But because I was not able to get a host on Couchsurfing anywhere but in Malaga, I decided to only see the first two places mentioned above.

Day 1: Málaga

I woke up really early on the day I chose for going to Málaga. I took the metro to Plaza Eliptica where I met my Blablacar driver. The drive was long and it took around 5 hours. The driver was doing a trip this long because he was working in Málaga, so he was staying there during the week and returned to Madrid at the weekend. The ride was pleasant because I was able to talk to the driver a lot about Spain in general, Slovenia etc. and because the driver was kind enough to help me with my Spanish, so in the end it did not take too long.

From the main bus station I walked to the center where the Couchsurfing host had his apartment. I still had time at that day to go around and see the city as I arrived early-around 1pm. For the first day in Málaga I did not really prepare any big plans where to go and what to see, I just let myself to be driven by the city's atmosphere that was quite touristy and went to the tourist information office to obtain the map of the city. The host told me that the city was not really a very popular touristic place around 10years ago but after they started renovating the streets and building many museums there, the crowds followed.

A walk by the port led me to the Pompidou centre that looks like a big colored cube from the outside with transparent, light blue, red, yellow and green squares. It is a modern art museum with the same name as the museum in Paris. When I entered not so many people were inside. The museum was quite small but it was interesting. Besides modern art pictures one could also see something like a machine representing death, dead birds and the use of their feathers, faces with parts of different people moving, sculptures made of aluminum. The thing that I liked the most was a white balloon with David Bowie's head projected on it playing a movie of him expressing his thoughts. Among other, he also said that every moment of our life is equally important to another.

After that I returned to the host and we talked a bit. Later when it got darker he took me on a smaller mountain nearby (yes, the beauty of Couchsurfing where you can get surprised all the time) with his motorbike. He had an extra helmet and protective vest for me. The views on the way were stunning-I was able to see the sea, the small villages on hills with no more than 15 houses and curvy roads where you often could not see more than 20 m ahead. The view from the mountain was also something pretty special.

Day 2: Granada

Because I did not find a host in Granada, I decided to do a daily trip there as the place lies quite close to Málaga. Granada was the first option I chose for Erasmus + in the spring semester but because of the technical complications I was not able to go there so I chose Madrid instead. I do not regret spending one semester there as it was extremely special, but Granada really does have a special charm that is giving it the fairy tale look.

I went to the main bus station where I found the Blablacar driver after a few panicking minutes of trying to find the right car. There was already another girl inside. During the drive I started to have a conversation with her and I learned that she was also traveling there alone and that she will be staying with Couchsurfing hosts. After a while we decided to explore the city together. The driver has left us a bit out of the center and first we went to her hosts so she was able to leave her luggage there and greet them. Then we had a bit long walk to the center.

It was stunning. All those old houses, all looking like only one person has designed and built them with white faccades and dark orange roofs gave this place its character. Most of those houses had flower pots with flowers so we could see them growing everywhere. Also, the houses had ''azulejos''-black and white ceramic. There were many narrow streets and churches. We did not really have any much planned considering what we want to see. So we took a city map in one of the information centers and first walked through the lower part of the city that lies by the river. The main streets are touristicly colored with many souvenir shops, restaurants and tourists.

Then we climbed the hill from which one could have a really nice view of Alhambra, the fortress that invites crowds of tourists to Granada. On the way to the top we could see some less touristic streets and a few times we just walked into one of them and let it lead us to seeing people everyday lives. Once or twice we were not sure where to go as the road was not really marked that well, but at the end we reached the wanted destination. In such a nice weather we got a wonderful view of Alhambra extending far being surrounded by trees. We also grabbed beers in the bar just below the viewpoint from where we also had a great view.

The last stop on that day was Alhambra. We were trying to buy tickets before in the touristy part but the first available ones were in three days. It is a very known monument so do not expect to be able to buy your ticket when you arrive there. Buy it on the internet, better one month ahead if you want to be sure to be able to get the ticket. They told us that 100 tickets is sold for the same day each day but people go waiting in the line 2 hours before the opening time to make sure they will be able to buy them. Although we did not have the tickets we were able to see quite a large part without it as the yard, the walls, some gardens and smaller rooms and we got a great view at the other side where we were before looking at that direction. So, even if you do not get your ticket still go there and see what you can for free.

I had the appointment with another Blablacar driver that was waiting for me at the main bus station. It is a bit far from the main sights so I had to spare some time for that. I said goodbye to my new friend and went there. While I was waiting to be picked up it started raining a lot. Luckily for me, it did not start before when we were still walking around. I went into the car and drove back to Málaga.

Day 3: back to Málaga

For the last day of my trip I was planning to see the fortress and the castle. The fortress is called Alcazaba and was also built by the Arabes, just like Alhambra. That part was contrasting other more new parts of the city. Before the entrance, there were the remains of the Roman theatre. While climbing towards the top I was able to see the view of the city as I could climb on the walls. There were rooms filled with subjects from the Arab area and parts of history written next to them. It was a nice place to visit, like some sort of cheaper alternative to Alhambra, even though smaller and maybe not as magnificent as the other.

After that I want to the castle that is located a bit higher. On the way up I got a bit thirsty as it was a hot sunny day in September. The castle has a yard with some trees and fountains, a place where the knights' uniforms, their swords and other things are exhibited, but the thing that in my opinion really makes it worth the visit are the walls. As they are not very wide so you will probably have to withdraw to a side place a few times so the people coming from the opposite side will be able to continue their path. You will get the amazing view of the port, smaller hills and the city. Also, you can see the shape of parks and fountains well taken care of.

On my way back one older lady tripped. I asked her if she was alright and we started to have a conversation. She was also traveling alone coming from Canada. We did a short tour around the city center and then we walked by the port and had dinner together. She shared so many interesting stories of her life with me and we were laughing all the time. Then, I went back to the host and spent some time talking to him and watching Better call Saul and the next day I took a pleasant Blablacar ride back to Madrid early in the morning.

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