Upon arriving to Granada we were shocked at what we saw. We had heard wonderful reports of the city and yet everywhere we looked there was rubbish. Bins were overflowing and extra rubbish was dumped along side. After visiting the tourist information and then continueing to walk the main streets it quickly became apparent that the state of the place couldn't be normal. A quick google search later and it turned out that we had arrived on the day the city cleaners had decided to go on strike. Thankfully the activities we had planned were further outside the city and so we headed to the outskirts of the Sierra Nevada national park.

The road leading to the site we wished to camp at had been reported as "not well kept". Unfortunately once we had started on it there was no way to turn around, being a thin dirt road winding up the side of a mountain range. Thankfully just as the days light gave way we arrived at a small car park overlooking the mountain we had planned on hiking up the next day. We prepared ourselves for staying the night and it turned into one of the best sleeps we had had in awhile. No street lights, cars or people. It was absolutely silent with the only light being a soft faint glow from the nearby Granada city.

Upon waking up late we were met with the pleasantly unexpected surprise of falling snow (contrary to the previous days weather reports). Although this was a nice surprise, as we had been wanting to see snow for most of the trip so far, we had unfortunately stopped using anti freeze since entering Spain and did not have a pair of snow chains. It appeared we would be remaining here until it cleared. This was the perfect excuse to hike up a mountain and test out the GPS. Over the course of the following two hours, ascending the mountain, we were witness to every type of weather there was, snow then sun, hail then rain, fog and for good measure, so more snow. The whole experience was amazing with views of Granada city and the Sierra Nevada ranges as a backdrop. As was become the norm with our hikes though, what was suppose to be a 4hr/12km hike ended up being a +5hr/15km after we followed mountain bikers (who had followed a longer but less steep track than was designated for this hike) and, in general, missed half the turns we were suppose to take. In the end the GPS turned out to be invaluable in assisting us in following a track that was concealed by snow. Although the going had been tough the experience was amazing and worth it in the end.

The following day we set off to visit the Alhambra, a 13th century Moorish citadel on the hills of Granada city. This is a truly remarkable place where every turn exposes you to artistically manicured gardens and reverently designed architecture. From the moss filled, mosaic designed paving to walls covered in finally carved inscriptions to Allah, the visit never ceased to amaze and all with the Sierra Nevadas as a backdrop. The evening was spent recuperating from the last couple of days hiking and touring, in anticipation for the skiing we were about to do. 

We were up early again, ready to catch the bus up to the snowy mountains, and on the way up were thankfully we had decided not to drive after the hundredth sharp turn on the steep road up. Upon arriving we hurried off to get geared up quickly discovering the reason everyone we had seen was walking funny was due to the ski boots on their feet. After getting fitted and now with the ability to walk funny ourselves we caught the ski lift up to the training area to meet our instructor. What followed was two hours of fun learning, even more so for Kayla as she watched me once again being unable to stop... Once the lesson was over we continued hitting the slopes, sometimes literally, until the bus arrived to leave, intent on skiing again.