Granada

Balcony View of Alhambra

Alhambra Courtyard


Carved plaster in the Alhambra

The Generalife Gardens at the Alhambra

As a break from luxuriating at Al and Marc's house, Hector and I drove up to Granada for two days. I'd heard a lot about this town, mostly the famous Alhambra, which is a restored palace, built by the Moors, who controlled Spain until the 13th Century. The drive through the mountains was spectacular, and Granada itself is quite beautiful. We stayed at another Room Mate Hotel, the Migueletes (115€ for a balcony room with a view of the Alhambra), situated on a narrow little alley off the Plaza Nueva, very centrally located.

There was some doubt that we would be able to get tickets without an advance reservation to tour the Alhambra, because it's very popular. And after hiking to the top of the mountain where it's located, we were indeed turned away in shame. So our hotel booked a group tour for us, we were with about 25 others, which was fine. We got a lot of historical background we wouldn't have touring it alone. It's an incredible structure, or series of structures, really, since it was changed and added to over the centuries.

The rest of our stay we walked around town and visited churches and museums and ate tapas and drank wine. Granada has a very large university so there was a definite college town atmosphere. All the restaurant workers were students, and there was no shortage of pot smoking backpackers. It's not a place I'd like to live, but it is fun for a few days.

Returning to Al and Marc's, we chose a different route that took us south to follow the coastline, which was dotted with little resort towns, full of sunburned British and German expats, looking very out of place. Not my cup of tea. We had a good seafood lunch at Nerja, then back to our mountaintop for more luxuriating until time to return to Madrid and home. Once back in Madrid we visited all the places we liked so much the first time. Adios.