Granada, Cordoba, Seville May 21-25th 2010

Granada

The bus to Granada took about 5.5 hours....got set up in new hostel and met som interesting travellers staying there. Had Pialla at the hostel then hit the bars ended up drinking with some cool girls from Aust and the Uk and a couple MIT frat boys....love the randomness of it all........... to cut a long story short got back at 7am from an all night club playing a mixture of Spanish house and cheese ( in Spain everyone drinks like Chrissybad-o)
Next morning got up at 8am after maybe 20mins sleep to go to the Moorish Alhambra palace. Tickets were in short supply and was advised to get there at the crack to get in.
After running up various dead-end hillside street less map and camera (,left on bed in a drunken haze,) made it to the top of the hill though felt worse than I looked and didn’t look good at all. Walked round for a bit in the manner of Hunter S Thompson checking into a hotel then ran into these Japanese tourists...”hey..anyone here like electric eel shock?”

The Alhambara was worth the hassle and made my way back to the hostel mid morning for another 20min nap and a shower before getting the bus on to Cordoba......

Cordoba

Arrived in Cordoba mid afternoon and checked into possibly the most cramped hostel room i’ve ever seen where I was the sole male occupant in a room of 8 ( not bad odds) was feeling burnt out by this point so after walking round town in a daze for the evening had an eray night to catch up on some ZZZs.

Next morning went to the Alcazar an impressive Moorish Mosque that had since been turned into a Cathedral a truly inspiring place...headed off to Seville in the afternoon

Seville

By the time I got set up in Seville was quite late after visiting the winding Canals of Amsterdam I can easily say this town is the easiest place to get lost in i’ve ever been...once I was set up hostel wise and had my bearings headed out for a stroll....the town was really nice ended up in the local Irish Bar that evening, drinking with a guy from Swansea a Frenchman and three American girls.. turned into quite the night and made it to bed around 7 in the morning ....next day booked a seat ticket on an 11hour night train to Barcelona ( urghh) and then wandered oround town some more taking in the vibes and listening to the local musicians. Seville definitely had delivered on all fronts...The train was delayed by an hour but once on board was well impressed with the amount of leg room ...next stop Barcelona and Prima Vera sounds....

Madrid May 19-21 2010

A very easy flight from Bristol landed me in Madrid on 19th got to Hostal around 10 only to find that the single from that I had booked was unavailable and I would have to stay in a double with en suite shower for the same price....oh well if you insist! Spanish hopspitality is already apparent! Watched the final of the Spanish Cup on weds night before awaking to find heat blessed heat and Sun!






Sent the morning checking out a few tourist sights and then headed to the modern art gallery to get some inspiration......Very Impressive spent that evening messing around with some field recording made around the city before an early ( ish ) night

Spent the last morning in Madrid walking to the bus station to buy a ticket to the next stop of Granada. Turned out to be a bit further than my map reading skills had indicated and after a while in the hot hot heat felt a bit like a lost explorer lost in the desert, mindless repeating estacion autobus...estacion autobus.... Once in said estaction managed use my Spanish by hook or crook to buy a ticket then braved the Madrid underground system on the way back to town. Confusingly at my first stop there were platforms on both sides of train causing me to have a Geraint Evans moment when deciding quickly whether to alight on left or right hand side...

In the afternoon went to the plaza Espania to see the famous statue of my literary hero don quioxitui and his trusty sidekick sancho ( Cevrantes 16^th century version of Own and Daf) In the evening went for my first Spanish beer, not cheap at otcho euros ..oouch (oh well serves me right for getting a bottle of German Weisebeer in Spain ) Saw a jazz band doing swing numbers including i wanna be like you from the Jungle book. though the scat was nowhere near as good as Daf’s (no pun intended). Next morning Granada...

14-16 May 2010 -Pavement ATP Minehead UK

Well what can I say?...... a blinding way to start a summer off ..........highlights include Broken Social Scence, The Walkmen, The Drones, Boris, the sublime Atlas Sound and of course Pavement. Friday night's appearance of Chrisy Bad-o was balanced out by Saturday's appearance of Chrisy Good-o leaving a net Sunday effect of Chrisy Hungover-o. Special thanks to Chris B and Room mates for early morning Wisky and Coke session on Sunday when my keyless rendition of the drums from When the Levee breaks on our chalet windows failed to alert sleeping room mates ( or awake ones -thanks Mel ) to my need for entry.Can't really say much more other than it was ace and bring on Prima Vera sounds......Ben Ive lifted a few photos from you due to a camera formating mishap on Sunday erasing all of mine. Right then its off to Madrid.......