Bujaraiza to Granada...

We were up and off sharp. It makes a difference when we don’t need to go to the supermarket in the mornings. I feel like we’re more of a support team when we’re actually not far behind or in front of the boys. If there’s a problem, it means we can catch them up or nip back without too much difficulty.

Alas the hot water wasn’t exactly hot this morning so I had a very, very quick, very, very cold shower before we got off. The hotel was cute and the surrounding scenery was spectacular so I had a very nice birthday. Although no presents yet… well apart from the sticker book from the boys so that I could change the ‘Paris’ on the car to say Marrakech instead. People keep looking at us like we’re lost!!

These eagles were flying in Segura National Park just outside Cazorla so we stopped for a while so I could indulge in some long lens action. I’ve not idea what sort of birds they are, other than pretty huge birds of prey but hopefully someone will know.

Dad and I arrived into Granada and followed the rich bitch mobile satnav towards the Alhambra. The road it told us to go down had barriers over it and the little road at the side looked like it was a one way street so we decided to scrap that and follow the google maps on my phone. This turned into something of a nightmare after it sent me down a street that was so narrow there were barely two inches each side of the wheels.

It’s fair to say I was bricking it by the time I got to the bottom of the steep hill which had the option of a hairpin left turn or a straight over in the wrong direction and no idea whether it was one way or not. Scary! I went for the straight over option and found myself in a square with a spot to stop the car at the side which I did rapidly and abandoned the broom wagon in favour of a nicotine hit to calm my once again fraught nerves. Dad decided the only course of action was to find a taxi and pay him to let us follow him to the hotel. Genius! I made Dad drive… poor soul has had to put up with a shitload of uptight. Ary generally told me to shut the fuck up at those moments but my poor Dad isn’t that brave.

The taxi took us right back to where we started with the rich bitch satnav and the one way street was in fact two way, just confused by the entrance to the car park of the Alhambra. Typical! We probably could have been there an hour before!! I decided that I was going to treat myself to my own room. There’s only so much time I can spend with other people before I turn into something of a nightmare and I don’t even want to be with me, never mind inflict myself on someone else and it was a good decision. Being able to breathe alone was definitely welcome.

This was the longest day. I can’t remember where we had lunch but I know that the weather turned for the first time during the whole trip. Apart from two very spitty showers, we’ve had brilliant sunshine the whole way so I dare say we can’t complain about one day of rain. However, leaving the hotel at 8am and arriving at the hotel at 10pm, the day off tomorrow is a welcome change. Sadly the restaurant was closed when we got to the hotel so we had no dinner again and went to bed empty. The boys will no doubt make up for that at breakfast.