Snow falling on orange trees

Snow on the orange trees in the square

Imagine our surprise to wake up, look out the window and see snow falling this morning! We heard it was the first snow in five years. It was also Andalucia Day, which meant a holiday for school children.


We caught a train to Ronda, a small hill town to the west, perched on the side of a gorge. Walking around, we saw a high school band, and men carrying a heavy looking platform. This we thought was a protest of some sort, but when we asked, it turned out to be a practice session for Semana Santa (Easter), when they'll carry a heavy statue.

Bridge between the old and new parts of Ronda

Men in training for the Easter procession

Train from Madrid to Granada

Atoche train station, Madrid, by alanak CC
 

Today we got a taxi to the train station, went through security, found out which platform we needed to be near, and just had time to get some coffee and food to go before it was time to board. We'd been able to buy and print our tickets before we left home, so it was only a matter of having the attendant scan our printout and minutes later we were in our seats.
It was a comforable 4 1/2 hour ride to Granada. We passed fields of sheep, and row upon row of olive trees. After Cordoba the landscape became hilly, and as we approached Granada we could see the snow covered Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance.