The Alhambra and goodbye Granada My first comment when planning to visit the Alhambra is:- buy your ticket in advance….our mistake was we didn't! Although we checked the official booking site regularly, there were always tickets available in late February, which we thought would be a relatively quiet time. As we got closer to our time in Granada there were still tickets - albeit the most expensive ones. We arrived in the city ready to purchase tickets ...

Granada We had an early start to the day in order to catch the bus to Granada. Strangely there's no Uber or similar service in Murcia, but it took less than 5 minutes on the street to get a cab to the bus station. Tickets had been bought a couple of days before, so we had time for a quick coffee and meat pie (for Trevor) before boarding the bus. In the first hour we made a couple of stops at a small town and a very small village, but our bus driver wasted lit...

Exploring more of Murcia, Spain The regional capital of Murcia, although relatively unknown internationally, is full of history, public spaces and is populated by people who seem very happy to be there. The food tastes wonderful - it's close to the sea so there's plenty of fish and seafood - but it's the fruits and vegetables that are outstanding. Many generations of practical knowledge plus up to date technology ensures this region's place as the top producer...

Cartegna, Spain Although Murcia is the capital of the region, Cartegna is more well known. A popular stop for cruise ships, it gets plenty of tourists. Its port has been important since the 4th century BC when it was held by the Carthaginians until they lost control to the Romans. The occupation by Rome ended when defeated by the Arabs who subsequently ruled until the 15th century when they too were conquered and later exiled by the Spanish. Cartegna's port ...

Murcia, Spain Travel days always seem to have a "sameness" about them, with some going more smoothly than others. This was a good one! We took an early morning Uber to the airport, had a basic budget airline check-in, a quick and easy security check followed by the usual array of shops and cafés…..and although delayed an hour, the flight was smooth and just 90 mins from Lisbon to Alicante. Alicante is a modern airport which serves as a...