Day 13 Tuesday 10 July and we are up early to go on a tour of the Alhambra. Our guide was not as interesting as the one in Seville. We were all hooked up to personal hearing devices which is understandable when you realise that the Alhambra has around 8000 visitors a day and 3 million a year which means it's particularly crowded and would be difficult to be heard if all the guides spoke loudly to their groups. When we first met our guide we walked for some 10 minutes before entering the Alhambra most of which was up hill as our guide announced "I can walk or I can talk – so I will walk". (pant, pant, pant)

We were very impressed with the Alhambra built by the Sultans of Granada beginning in the 13th century. There were 2 sultans' palaces we visited today and the Lions Palace which has just been restored has it’s official opening on 19th July – just one week away. The walls have been cleaned along with the statues and it looks fantastic.

We also visited the Fortress (the oldest and original fortification of the Alhambra) which has wonderful views over Granada, then we walked back down into the town at Plaza Nueva (better to walk down than up) and to the apartment nearby. After a late lunch we visited Granada Cathedral which is huge and quite beautiful inside. Next we walked down the street to the Monastery of San Jeronimo where the church was also quite lovely, the monastery bits so-so.

Tonight we went to a local restaurant suggested to us by the apartment manager and had Paella. It was very nice with prawns, pipis and mussels, however perhaps one for the holiday will be enough.