Last photo in Europe

I took this picture while travelling from Granada to Madrid. Heaven and earth, a spectacular landscape, from the seat of the bus.

Nazari Palaces

One of the most beatiful things I've seen. The Courtyard of the Lions (Patio de los Leones) in the Alhambra. Although I would have liked to see it fully working, with the central fountain complete -because, for some reason, the upper section has been displaced- and with the ambience of those times. Its a very captivating place, with a tranquil and pleasant atmosphere, it makes you want to be there and stay for a good while.



In the orginal version, the water flowed by diverse canalizations and ducts, gained pressure and propelled water streams from the lions mouth and through the different stages of the fountain itself. Also water slopes runned by the four ways that converged in the center, each one starting on the rooms and the entrances. The missing part of this fountain, is located on one of the gardens, between the fortification towers, alone, like abandoned.

To be able of visiting the Alhambra, I have had to change my bus ticket back to Madrid for one on the next day, and then, after loosing that bus, changed it again for a ticket a few hours later (yes, I've changed the tickets two times). I've also taken the risk of not being able to reach the flight back home, because I'll be letting only one hour between the arrival at Estación Sur and the departure from Barajas Airport, Madrid. If the bus delayed just half an hour... Luckily there were no problems.



An extra place to emphasize, all made of marble, and like always, we're being accompanied by the watery sound. The Courtyard of Myrtles (Patio de los Arrayanes), in the Comares Palace; here the decorated fronts are reflected on the pool, sometimes you are able to see colorful little fishes getting closer to the surface. The water is dark green, like the trees around, myrtles (arrayanes). I cannot avoid remembering the Myrtles Woods (Bosque de Arrayanes) in Patagonia, Argentina.

London

I think I'm not going there, besides of the fact that it costs many times the usual price, I'm having strange problems charging the tickets to my credit card.

Almost London

Because the debit confirmation is pending. I've already made the reserve; the flight is from Barajas, Madrid (MAD) to Gatwick, London (LGW). I'm not giving more details because everything still needs time. This dates add a lot of complexity to the process of searching for reasonable flight prices, I think the price I've taken isn't the best either. Gatwick is ok, it has a railroad that connects the airport with the center, but the tickets are expensive for fast trains. How difficult will be to get used to pounds!, I'll miss my local currency. Anyway, I need to see were I'm going to stay in London and what I'm going to see from the city.

It gets difficult

The issue of getting tickets from Madrid to London, round ticket, mainly beacause the price range is very wide between one day and the next; its really hard to spend the triple just for choosing that day and not the previous. In second place, some websites do not accept foreign credit/debit cards. And in the last place, every hour I spend doing research a place on the plane is taken... so, time is running out.

Planning and preparing

For the trip to London, I'm thinking in taking an easyJet, they have very low prices for certain dates (and time). But using the dates that I want, those prices raise three or four times, not funny at all; you've to be really lucky on this. I'll see if aerolíneas comes to the rescue again.

Confirmed: eurotrip 2.0

Yes, I'll be back in Madrid. I guess that the 'Veranillo de San Miguel' has ended now -by far; and the temperature will be lower than I could imagine.