al-Andalus - Day 2

We arrived in Andalusia yesterday following surprisingly little jostling with beer bellies for seating. The plane literally bounced into Malaga confirming my suspicion that the Cockney sounding pilot was in fact a black-cab driver masquerading as a captain - perhaps there's some sort of pioneering time-share scheme between Easyjet and London cabs.

It took a little while to come to terms with the left-hand drive setup but the 2.0l TDi engine meant that I could reliably import my trusted technique of accelerating out of trouble (it's one of those glass half-full/emtpy things). Thirty seconds into our journey we were thanking each other's sagacity in deciding to hire a GPS navigation system.

Our hotel in Malaga was a lovely art-deco building located in what seemed to be...Spain to our utter disbelief - not a single tattoo or St George's cross in sight!

This morning we stumbled across the finale of the Semana Santa, the week leading up to Easter Sunday. The main thoroughfare was awash with parades, marching bands and lined with onlookers. The procession is steeped in imagery, symbolism and iconography, the most visible and distinct being the garments adopted by participants - not too dissimilar to a Klu Klux Klansman's uniform! Some of the floats were of an incredible size requiring tens of young men bearing the weight on their shoulders. The whole event bore a striking resemblance to the Ashura processions held by Shi'a Muslims during their commemoration of Muharram.

Granada was beckoning though and we arrived in Boabdil's last stronghold this afternoon. The hotel is situated on the cusp of the Albayzin looking up to the alhambra itself.

The place is bathed in the most delightful sunlight enhancing the uniquely vibrant colours, the Andalusian pace of life suits me just fine and the coffee is wonderful. Off to get some sleep!