Guadix to Granada

May 10, 2019 to May 11, 2019

by train

After wild camping in the forest near the athletics track in Guadix, had a quick explore around town before anything of interest opened. Returning up the hill to railway station area, crossing the tracks and going out to see the remains of the junction point with the line to Murcia. Definitely not suitable as a rail trail now but looks like it would be suitable for development.

Leaving Guadix back up the hill to the railway station

Former rail junction to Mucia, hopefully either re-opened one day or becomes a fully developed rail trail

There were 4 trains a day between Almeria and Granada and I caught the second one at 9:44am. Unlike yesterday route was flatter as it takes a roundabout route to Granada going past a route I hope to cycle back out in a coupe of days. Once at the railway station I could see how west of here the fast line is being built and medium trains are not running at the moment. When leaving the station a police officer asked me for ID, first and only time I was asked by police in Spain.

Granada was an interesting place to visit with plenty of history. In particular the focus is on when the Islamic kingdom was conquered by catholic Spain in 1492. I enjoyed both walking tours I did because they explained a lot about how Granada changed from Islamic to Christian even when many people didn’t have a choice. On both walks half the people doing the tour were from Australia, in fact I did both tours with two elderly couples, one from Byron Bay and the other from Adelaide.

The main tourist attraction is the Alhambra which I found a mixed bunch in that some parts were free to visit despite the main entrance saying there was no tickets when at a side entrance anyone can enter and explore some of it. In particular I enjoyed the free Islamic archeological museum in the Charles V Palace as it had many fascinating items. While other parts you need a ticket which was hard to get, with one Palace booked out for months while I was able to book the Alcazaba and Generalife parts, at 6am of that morning. l found the Alcazaba not that interesting as it was just walking around a bare building. While the Generalife is the royal botanical gardens which was interesting and scenic, reminded me of Seville. I will say that Seville is more interesting and that the castle at Almeria is more interesting, so by all means visit here but not my favourite. Still Granada is spectacular and has lots to see.

The cathedral was large and has a few entrances to visit so I choose the one that has the crypts of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand who conquered Granada in 1492. Reminded me of Westminster in London, with historical information but with still a strong religious influence. I prefer not to give any money to religious organisations with small exceptions if there is some historical context, so didn’t pay to enter the main cathedral.

During the day saw many Real Sociedad fans walking around the city but when I got to the stadium there was more Athletic Madrid fans for the Copa De La Reina Final. Despite this the Real Sociedad fans made themselves known and I was happy when they won the match in an upset. Could see many Basque flags in the stands and even the players took them after the match, during the Spanish national anthem they turned there back on it. All signs of the separate movement still alive there.

My aim is for my last week in Spain to get a train from Madrid to Burgos and then spend time cycling through the capital of Basque Vitoria-Gasteiz then possibly to Pamplona and San Sebastián as they are both near Greenway routes.

Tomorrow will climb up and over some mountains to get to Jaen, because there is no trains from Granada that allows assembled bikes to get to Madrid.