Andalucia

Andy's dad and Barbara came to visit in May/June and we met them down in Southern Spain in the Andalucia region. Our first night there was amazing though we got in late, we stayed at the Alhambra Palace hotel in Grenada. They were out of regular rooms so we stayed in a palacial suite which was twice the size of our London flat. It was amazing with view of the entire city. The next morning we got up for breakfast and then joined our tour group and headed up the hill to see the Alhambra. It is so well preserved after all these years, it's quite amazing. I took a thousand pictures it felt like. It was truly beautiful up there. I think we went at the right time of year, as in the sun it was boiling hot but in shade we were able to cool off and didn't get too hot. The gardens were beatiful, with a huge maze of hedges and rose gardens in each section you can definitely get lost for a while. It is a must see. Our guide said everyone says... It's like the Taj Mahal, however the Alhambra was there first so it should be the other way around.
After the palace we drove from Grenada to Marbella. The scenery is old villa's in the mountains and tons of Olive groves, it's really beautiful,looks like wine country except it's all olives. It was only about 1.5 hour drive and then we were at the beach. We stayed at the Don Carlos on Nikki Beach. It was an older but remodeled high rise hotel, with pretty gardens. The weather was nice so we tried to get some sun, though we dont' have any pigment anymore so we really just got red and were unable to brown. The first night we found ourselves at a Nikke Beach Club where a scooter company was having a party and unveling their new line of scooters. They made terrific mojito's and we felt really under-dressed. It was like a posh outdoor club with terraced seating with pillows. We sat at the round bar with the beach in our view. I think it is quite cheesy there, but we had a great time. The next night we drove out to Puerto Banus, quite flashy and cheesy, seemed like a party destination with tons of nice cars and boats, we didn't stay long, what a scene!
Last day and night we spent in a Parador in Nerja. It's a small beach town, it was so relaxing. We drove up the coast which looks amazingly very much like Big Sur in California. We found a little beach and hiked down to it, it was very steep but worth it at the bottom to chill out on this secluded beach. The hike up was easier than the hike down though it was hot. We passed a pack of donkey's along the way. We had dinner at the Parador and had Azpilicueta wine ( once owned by my work friend Andres family ). The last day we drove into Grenada and did a little shopping. The euro is better than the pound! I would go back to Andalucia again, perhaps to Seville, Cordoba and Ronda. It was an excellent get-away.