The Rain in Spain...

If you have been following any of our Instagram feeds you will know that the Spring almond blossom has been incredible, when the sun came out the blue sky, blossom and icing sugar like snowy mountains of the Sierra Nevada is just... well...an Instadream. So just as we thought that winter was over, we were even having our siesta outside on the roof terrace in a t-shirt, the clouds started to roll back over the mountains and temperature dropped. We can cope with this obviously but unfortunately we had guests, Tania and Sarah, arriving from a cold drizzly London and we wanted to show them just how fabulous this part of Spain was. Luckily as the plane landed at Granada airport, the sky was clear and it was pleasantly warm. "Remember this!", I kept saying on our short drive home (we had been watching the forecast like hawks!)

Sure enough the rain came the next day, but all was not lost, we had a plan. So, what to do on a wet rainy day if you are in or near Granada? Simple...go to the Hammam (or Arabic bath as they are sometimes known). Granada has one of the best Hammams in Spain, it should be on everyones 'to-do' list when they visit and unbelievably we hadn't been yet so it was a new experience for all of us.

Hammam Al Andalus is snugly situated down a narrow cobbled street behind the beautiful church of Santa Ana just off Plaza Nueva in the shadow of the Alhambra. It's all rather 'Game of Thrones' in this ancient Moorish part of town, very appropriate...

It's busy but not too busy, groups of 15 or 20 have two hour slots and the friendly staff are well versed at telling you where to go to change and procedures. There seem to be only two rules: you must wear swimwear and no talking whilst in the baths. The first rule was easier to keep to than the latter, of course you can talk but keep it to a low whisper (unlike the two chicas we kept seeing who obviously had a lot to catch up on and who were constantly getting told off, but they seemed oblivious).  The majority of people did keep to this rule and it made for an incredibly peaceful and relaxing atmosphere.

The basic layout is a cold room with a cold bath, two warmer larger baths and a hot bath. There is also a steam room and a massage area. The style looked incredibly authentic, low lighting, quiet ambient music, candles everywhere and stunning mosaic tiles and carvings throughout. 

There is a menu of treatments ranging from a simple relax in the baths (€30) or add a 15 min massage (€45) which is what we did, or a full 'Llbri Experience' (€125) with a Kessa massage and double relaxing massage.

I would say it took about 5-10 minutes floating around in a warm pool for absolute relaxation set in. It was extraordinary. I'm a Hammam virgin and to be honest I was a little sceptical but now I want to go back...a lot. After about 20 mins we were called through for the massage. You can choose your massage oil (I went for Pomegranate) and soft/medium/hard massage (I went for medium).  It was fabulous; I almost went to sleep and then drifted back to a hot bath to continue my relaxed delirium.

To spice things up some of us ventured to the cold pool (Ian shrieked when his toe touched the water so he had to leave the cold room).  I highly recommend this followed by the hot pool, your skin tingles and tightens and you can almost feel your body transforming into Daenerys Targaryen or Khal Drogo...  

Emerging back onto the street after that experience, we barely noticed the driving rain; we all had a definite floaty feeling. So we floated off to a tapas bar and floated through a few bottles of vino blanco and then a few sherries...