Five Cities across Three Countries in 1,000 Words or Less

We are back after an unplanned lengthy absence.  Since our last post on Barcelona, we have visited Sevilla, Granada, Madrid, London and Johannesburg without a post to show for it.  We do have excuses, though: Spain just did not inspire us to write, and internet access afterwards was expensive or inconsistent.  To catch you up, here's a quick rundown of what we have been doing for the last couple of weeks.

From Barcelona, we took a twelve hour train ride to Sevilla.  After being spoiled by the Italian and French countrysides, we really were not that impressed with the scenery on this trip and I spent my time drifting in and out of sleep and reading instead of looking out the window.  Of course, there were two crying children seated close to us.

Sevilla has many of the characteristics you think of when you think of Spain: elegant, pastel-colored buildings, Flamenco shows, ubiquitous tapas restaurants and constant sunshine.  It also has a great, relaxed vibe, with lots of outdoor cafes and bars.  We visited its cathedral, the third largest in the world after St. Peter's in the Vatican and St. Paul's and London and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, did lots of walking, saw a Flamenco show of dubious quality (although we saw that coming since it was free and the venue was packed with eighteen year old tourists dressed like a cross between Lady Gaga and 80s Madonna) and ate tapas often before taking off for Granada.

Magge in front of the Sevilla Cathedral

View of Sevilla from the cathedral's tower, named La Giralda

It doesn't get any more Spanish-looking than this

Granada was a big disappointment.  The city usually gets rave reviews from travelers, especially for its main attraction, the Alhambra.  This Moorish palace and fortress (Granada was the last Muslim city in Spain to fall to Christian armies, remaining under Moorish rule until 1492) is one of the most visited sites in Spain and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Spain has more such sites than any other country in the world after Italy).  Due to its popularity, we had to buy tickets two days in advance.  On the day of our ticket, we climbed up the hill only to be told that it was closed that day due to a national strike (I'm guessing the Spaniards wanted a second three hour nap during the work day in addition to the current siesta).  Apparently, this strike had been announced months prior, but yet they felt comfortable taking our money two days earlier.  Worse, they made it very difficult to get a refund instead of just giving back our money on the spot.  I'm sure many of visitors who had tickets that day (some told us this was the reason they came to Spain for their vacation) didn't bother filling out the lengthy form to get their refund, thus padding the Alhambra's wallet nicely.  Magge and I were dismayed at the dishonest practice.

Exterior shots of the Alhambra

 The rest of Granada was underwhelming.  It's historic center does not differentiate itself from most other mid-sized European cities, and its highly touted old Muslim quarter, the Albayzín, could be interesting if you've never seen a narrow street before.  It lacks any "old Muslim" character it must have possessed at one point and besides a great view of the Alhambra and a bunch of touristy restaurants and bars, it doesn't have much to offer.

Magge and Granada from the hilltop neighborhood of Albayzin

Madrid was our last stop in Spain.  Continuing our trend in the country, we didn't do much while there.  For a city of its size, it has surprisingly little to see.  Like Barcelona, though, it's known for its club scene, which means nothing to us.  We walked past the Royal Palace, but by that point we had had our fill of palaces and castles and didn't feel compelled to spend money on the entrance.  We took a day trip to Toledo, one of Spain's capitals prior to Madrid.  It was a nice change from the other Spanish cities we had visited, but it felt like a poor man's Italian hill town.

We only took four pictures during our time in Madrid.  Here's a statue of Don Quixote.

Toledo

After Spain, we had a transit stopover in London on our way to South Africa.  The stay was initially supposed to be short, but we decided to extend it to actually get to see some of the city.  We had both visited London previously, but most of my trips were business-related so I didn't see much, and Magge spent nearly her entire prior visit inside of Harrod's.  This time around, we checked out many of the sites (on the outside, at least - it was too expensive for us to actually go inside places like Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London), but the real highlight was the availability of diverse cuisines.  In many European cities, it can be difficult to find food outside of the respective country's cuisine, and Magge and I had been craving Thai and Indian food for some time.  It's easy to find whatever you want in London, mostly because nobody wants to eat British food.

Two flights and over twenty hours of traveling brought us from London to Johannesburg.  The long trip wore us out, so we didn't feel up to task to explore the city.  Not that it is that easy to explore - it's a massive city with poor public transportation and a terrible reputation for crime.  You know when guide books list malls as tourist attractions that the city is probably not a visitor's wonderland.

Now that we're stationed in Cape Town until the end of November, we'll hopefully get back to our habit of regularly updating this website.  We should have a post up soon covering what we're up to in this beautiful city.