Aidan's brother, Jeremy, has done a bit of travel around Spain and recommended Granada as the one place we should all visit. It was one of the last Muslim controlled cities in Spain. These days the city has a thriving community of gypsies, musicians and flamenco dancers, not to mention some of the best free tapas. Seeing as Granada is on the opposite side of Spain to Barcelona, hiring a car to carry the five of us across the country seemed more and more like the better option the further we travelled.

On the way down the coast we spent a night in Benicassim, a small 'summer holiday' town just north of Valencia on the Costa del Alzahar. Although it was a short stay, the beautiful long white sand beach lifted everyones spirits. We even braved the cold and got up early for some yoga and a swim, before settling into a long day of motorways down to Granada.

We passed through miles and miles of orange orchards leading into the city, and watched as Splendid's temperature gauge dropped on the way up into the mountains. We managed to navigate our way straight to a frosty little campground in La Zubia, a small village only a couple of kilometres from the city. This quiet and friendly place was also home to a pride of fat, greedy cats. One in particular would wait patiently at our doorstep, ready to rush in and demand food as soon as we opened the door, sassing the smaller cats away. We nicknamed him 'Ginger the Whinger'.

Our first stop on the tourist trail was the winding maze of streets around the gypsy quarter, known as Sacromonte. We learnt that the name 'Granada' in Spanish means Pomegranite, and was named so because of the Sacromonte streets resemblance to the inside of the fruit. With all the confusing tangle of narrow streets, it's no wonder that the Muslims held off those Catholic conquerers for so long!

We also learnt that the art of Flamenco was created when Spain's outcasted Muslims, Africans and Gypsies combined their artistic talents to developed the emotionally tenured dance. Most of the Muslim and Northern African locals have since left but the gypsies still carry on the tradition. Although real Flamenco is supposed to be an emotional, spontaneous affair, the local gypsies run a few tourist shows to keep us all culturally updated. We saw one of these exhibitions, the raw energy and passion of which blew us away. We have to confess though, the real highlight of the night was the bus ride to and from the small dug-out theatre. There were maybe five buses going each way through these steep cobbled roads of only a few metres width. It was a delicate process, and we held our breath as the tourist-filled buses scraped, inch by inch, past each other, garbage bins, parked motos and pedestrians!

A must-see with any visit to Granada is the Alhambra, a majestic old Muslim palace/fort that looks over the city. As soon as we entered the dark green hedge archways and flower gardens around the Generalife Palace, it was easy to see why. After savouring the beauty of the gardens, we moved on to the Alcazaba, a strategically placed military fort, and the Nasrid Palaces, with their intricate details and sensual courtyards. It is widely believed that the all-white carvings and trimmings were once covered in a vibrant blue, red and gold, which has since flaked away.. The complex is built on a high mountain, with amazing views of the city and even more amazing views of the surrounding mountain ranges, adding to the majestic atmosphere.

The city of Granada is less than an hours drive from Sierra Nevada, one of Spains most beautiful mountain ranges. There wasn't yet enough snow for any skiing or boarding, so we drove up into Lanjaron, a quaint little mountain village, for a day. This village sat in a picturesque valley on the edge of the mountain range, complete with ruins of an old castle perched precariously on a rocky outcrop. We wandered around the outskirts of the village, following a working aqueduct, which carries fresh mountain water from the upper ranges, and filled our pockets with almonds, which were scattered all over the ground.

As Jeremy had warned, Granada was such a charming city that we were tempted to stay longer.. however Aidan's parents have a few more places they would like to visit, and Em is due back at work in a week. So we said goodbye to this generous, mountain city, packed up Splendid, our trusty rental car, and are now on our way towards Madrid, the capital.