The first thing I need to mention is that Granada has fabulous public buses. We were able to catch a bus, with one change, for €1.20 each from a few steps from our apartment to the Granada Estación de Autobuses. As I mentioned previously, no trains are running in or out of Granada at the moment, but this bus station has so many trips on offer, it is better than the train. I had bought our tickets well before we left Australia, obviously the first tickets sold as we were seats 1 and 2, for €9. Turns out this was a wise move as the bus was pretty full and tickets cost €14.80 today.

Being a Sunday did not seem to make a difference to the regularity of the public buses; they went every five minutes. If you are coming to Granada make sure you look at using the buses.

The 160Km trip took us through mostly olive plantations.

We estimated this type of farming took up the first 120Km of the trip. The land looks so harsh, particularly because the land is cleared of any weeds underneath the trees. I am sure they know what they are doing.

We passed into the Córdoba Provence about 40km out of the city. The farmland became more undulating and the results of summer crops were evident. We arrived at 2.15pm at the Córdoba Autobus Station, which is directly across the road from the Railway Station. We had organised to meet our host at 4pm which gave us plenty of time.

Mick had picked up a map of Córdoba before we arrived which was great. He knew exactly how to get us there. The place was pretty deserted because it was Sunday and siesta time. Here is Mick in front of an almost empty Paseo De Córdoba. We were blown away by how different this city is to the others we’ve seen recently – flat and new (well, so far.)

We took a short cut through the almost empty Jardines De La Agricultura and arrived in one of the main shopping malls, which was totally empty too.

We noticed several signs indicating the temperature was 40°C which probably explained why most people were indoors. These two photos were taken on the Plaza de Las Tendillas, considered the main square. The use of fountains helped us to feel cool.

Mick kept telling me were almost there – our apartment lies just outside the world heritage listed city centre and we were getting close to that when we spotted this Roman Temple, dating back to the 1st or 2nd Century.

We then found the plaza that is closest to our place – the Plaza de la Corredera. It too was empty.

As we were early, we stopped in a bar and had a huge cold beer each before finding our place on a pedestrian street about 5 minutes away. I don’t think I can find my way in or out of here without Mick’s help, or maybe that was because of the big beer I enjoyed!

We were met by this very cute Spanish woman who could not speak any English and she showed us around her two-bedroom apartment. There is good wifi and fabulous air conditioning. The kitchen is well stocked and so Mick is cooking us dinner at home tonight and I am eyeing off the bath; we have not see one of those since we left home.