Granada!

Hello all.

For those that are just joining us I have packed up my job, bought a motorhome called Millie and I am now travelling around Europe. We are a month in and it's great. Lonely, a little cold, but great. 

I am no longer battling the cold of western France. We are now battling the intense cold of the Spanish night times. Millie and I have finally arrived in the south of Spain! I am currently in the public Library of Granada using their wifi after returning from some hot springs about twenty miles away in a town called Santa Fe. They were stunning, Millie and I were parked up a dirt track in an olive farm in the middle of the mountains, two feet from a natural hot spring. There isn't a shop for miles around, just hot springs, trees and naked old men. It was great. Bizarrely just what I needed.

These are the main thermals which were full of young people and noise, I opted for the quieter one round the corner that was smaller and populated by a collection of old men and two beautiful people from Gibralta. It's a favourite spot for homeless, jobless and local farmers to come and bathe, who it would transpire in the town of Santa Fe are mainly old men. My time in London before I left was emotional and the drive here has been long and tiring. Two days relaxing in a thermal bath was exactly what I needed. Thankyou Nick Southcombe, who after reading the first post recommended I visit Granada and these thermals, both of those recommendations have been stunning. I will also be visiting the community you recommended within the next few weeks.

The drive was challenging to say the least. I hugged my friend Jon goodbye on a wet and windy Bordeaux morning and it was another ten days until I had any real contact with another human being, unless of course you count the old woman just outside Madrid who told me off for not trying her honey properly. Thank you, you made me smile. I think it was the combination of the enclosed space, intense cold in the night time and endless Spanish countryside full of abandoned villages. One of the naked old men, a local farmer, told me that certain areas of Spain have been struggling with poverty for so long that there was no work and no food so people just upped and left, leaving whole villages to fall apart. It's bizarre to see so much desolation in what is essentially a first world country. I saw some grafiti that summed it all up, "A dignified future for the Villages of La Mancha!" I hope they find one.

On a seperate note.

Dear Spanish countryside,

You are incredibly beautiful. 

I salute you.
 
Yours truly.

Greg

p.s. why is your earth so red? It's nice, just a bit weird.

The solitude of the drive was broken beautifully as I arrived in Granada. I picked a random spot in the middle of granada via my gps and ended up on top of a hill full of motorhomes. What are the chances I hear you cry! it gets better. I parked up next to a van with a unicycle and a book on meditation on the front seat. For those of you that don't know me, I love to meditate and I have been part of a circus since I was 5. This van's front seat epitomised two of my great loves in one static gesture. I was so excited by the idea of it's owner, this human being, a potential doppelganger, soulmate, maybe even my future bride. I worked myself up so much I had to have a lie down. It turns out it wasn't my future bride it, was a young man from Sweden and niether of the objects were his. This is where the story begins to take a slightly different tone. That night he invited me to a soup he was making. It's funny how things can get lost in translation because It turned out that what that really meant was "Can you come make a soup and then do the washing up, alongside breakfast and dinner for the two following days" Now the first day after the soup he had fallen ill so I gave him the benefit of the doubt after that I began to notice a slippery slope developing.It wasn't until I was alone in the Thermals that I realised if I stayed close to this man, as lovely, charming, interesting and connected to Granada as he was. A large proportion of my time would be spent cooking and cleaning. For him. I think the old me would have kept friends with him and just struggled to try and make something work, feeling guilty every time I had to ask him to clean up and feeling tired everytime I cooked. Fortunately I have since moved to a new even more picteresque location and have found some incredible human beings who receive my generosity with thanks and the reciprocation of theirs. It's a much more agreeable exchange all round really I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place.

It's beautiful, I am now parked up in a place called Sacromonte, which translates as holy hill. Its a hillside overlooking Granada, full of caves. They call them caves they are actually houses that people have dug into the sides of the mountains. It started off as a gipsy village but it is now the heart of alternative Granada: full of fascinating characters, art, music and great decorations. The majority of caves are covered in colours, banners, tropical plants and the most bizarre outdoor furniture, I have never seen so many sofas or arm chairs on a hillside. I played football with a load of people from the caves yesterday and they were lovely, aggresive footballers but lovely people.

Whats that viral community? You want to hear about my artistic endeavours so far? Well I'm a little embarrassed to bring it up really but as you've asked I'm writing a novel. It's called "Katius". It's really good. It's exciting, full of love, danger, self discovery and loads of weird creatures that don't exist yet. I started it four years ago as a gift for my sister and every year I write another chapter for her birthday and then another for Christmas. What's that viral community? You would like to read said novel released chapter by chapter as an online serial? Ok I'll stop that now, would you like to read my novel? I'm releasing the first chapter with my next blog absolutely free of charge. One question would you like it as a pdf document or as an audiobook? Let me know as a comment on here, via email or as a comment on any of the facebook links which you'd prefer. Whichever gets the most requests will become a reality.

It's been beautiful so far, learning how to become more comfortable with solitude, learning how to live with the intense cold of the Spanish nights and how to be guided by that little voice in my stomach. More and more I am enjoying getting lost and the wonder that comes out of the unknown. More and more I am discovering how fortunate I am and more and more I am missing peanut butter, swings and round abouts. As always if you have any suggestions as to where I should go next please keep them coming all the suggestions so far have been amazing!

Thankyou for reading and for the continued support, please continue to share with anyone you wish and do let me know if you would like to read the first chapter of my novel Katius or have it read to you with a series of different and enjoyable comedy accents.

Much love and I hope you are all very very well.