Alhambra or Bust!

Thursday morning we woke up really early to catch a 7 am train to Granada.  It was surprisingly busy at this hour.

Since we did not get breakfast at the hotel, I bought a egg and cheese baguette at the station.

I managed to fall asleep for a bit and when I woke up I was amazed to see this change in scenery.  We think these are fields of olive trees.

Once we pulled in to Granada, we spotted these snow covered mountains.  Absolutely breathtaking!

The first stop was the Alhambra.  This was built as a fortress and palace.  Basically it was a large Muslim city, and was later taken by the Christians.  We had arranged for a personal tour guide and she was great.  If you are thinking of a trip to Granada and are considering an English speaking tour guide, go with Made for Spain and ask for Rosa.  She was awesome and very knowledgeable.

I took so many pictures, as usual, so here are just a few of the highlights and pictures that I like.  The first part of the tour was of the generalif, which is the major garden area, and then the summer house.

 

 

Then we came back over the the Alhambra section.  Much of this was destroyed by the Chirstians in an effort to prevent looters and squatters from taking over their homes when they left to move to another area, in what I believe was a military move.  I know Napoleon’s army also had something to do with this place too, but I really can’t remember all of what the guide said.  This area is very old and you can tell.  You can also see some of the destruction.

Behind this you can see the palace that was built from Ferdinand and Isabella.

More beautiful views of the city of Granada below.

 

This is their typical tile work.

I love the reflection in this picture.  There are many of these types of pools and fountains on the property.

This is the traditional Muslim architecture for these palaces.

When we were finished, we went to see the amphitheater that was in the palace built for Ferdinand and Isabella.

This is the outside of the palace.

This is the remains of the old soldiers homes.  On the way out I was able to see inside these much better.

Well, that was it for the Alhambra and Generalife gardens.  This is also a UNESCO World Heritage site which also means the grounds are protected.  I hope you enjoyed these photos.

On the way to the hotel, we enjoyed these fun looking corn puffs.

the driver was stopped at a red light and so I took a picture of this statue.  We were only in Granada for the day, so I wanted to see as much as possible and of course take as many pictures as possible.

Finally, we arrived at our hotel, the AC Palacio de Santa Paula.  This hotel is built inside of an old monastery.

There is a beautiful courtyard here too, just like in Sevilla.

Here is my room.

There was this lovely fruit arrangement waiting for me.  Here is the best part…it was free.  Ok, I know, nothing is free.  How about this…it was included in the price of the room!

There were little macaroons sitting on my bed. 

Here is the mini fridge.  I took a picture, because this was also complimentary.  I think that is a better word than free.

This is the outdoor courtyard.  The fancy restaurant has seating out here.

After a quick washing up, we hit the streets because our time here was limited.  I spotted these cookies and just had to have one.

 

Actually, we had to have lunch first, so after seeing all the sweets in the windows, we decided this would be a good option for lunch.

This is Olympia 21 and after eating here, I recommend this place as a must try if you are here.

These are the display cases.

For lunch, my mom had a seafood salad.

Joe and I both ordered a tuna and anchovy sandwich on a baguette.

Then it was time for dessert.  Joe and my mom split this cake.  It had a custard-like filling and Joe said it taste like a cake his mom makes.

I got the cookie.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was chocolate filling inside.

The best part of this meal was that 3 entrees, 2 desserts, and 3 coffees cost about 20 euro.  This was our cheapest meal yet.

After that we walked around town a little.

 

Alleyway after alleyway was lined with Middle Eastern goods and Moroccan type goodies.  Since we are also headed to Morocco, we didn’t go to crazy with the shopping.  The coolest was the spice markets in the streets.  The first one we stopped at also had a store with an inside section.

 

Lots of teas too.

 

Saffron is very big here.

We kept walking and turned the corner to find more spice markets.

Aren’t those spices so beautiful?  I love all the colors.

Then it was back to walking around and taking in all the sights and architecture.

I could not resist taking photos of this place.  This is Rey Fernando and they sold ice cream and other desserts.

These are the ice cream cases.

More walking through the streets.

 

I loved this melon carving on the melon ice cream.

They have a cathedral here too.  It is large, but it is smaller than the one in Sevilla.

We didn’t go in because we had limited time but we took pictures around the entrance way.

 

 After walking for most of the day, we really needed to relax and wash up.  Around 9 pm we headed to dinner.  There was an entire area of Middle Eastern restaurants, mostly catering to Muslims (and tourists) as indicated by the halal meat.  Now you know you are getting authentic food when you are in an area like this.  Although it is not Spanish food, this is very much the population of Granada.

 

We all ordered falafel and hummus in pita sandwiches.  This was actually like a calzone in that the pita was wrapped around the sandwich and the filling was baked inside.

So good!

Once we finished dinner we wandered around for a bit to work up an appetite for dessert.  Although we were not quite ready, we noticed a large crowd inside this place.  This is called Los Italianos and was very close to our hotel.

You can see there were a lot of people inside.  This was super busy at 10:45 pm on a Thursday night.

Joe had kiwi and vanilla.  He said the kiwi tasted just like kiwi.

My mom had pistachio and coffee.  I tried the pistachio and it was the best pistachio ice cream ever.

I went for more chocolate and got the chocolate hazelnut and chocolate chip.  This was some ultra-fantastic ice cream.

Well, that was it for our day in Granada.  Next stop is Barcelona.  So excited to see what this city has by way of sights and foods.  I had been to Sevilla and Granada in the past, but Barcelona will be new to me.  If you are going to visit Spain, I recommend both Sevilla and Granada, but give yourself at least 2 days in Granada.  I did not realize there was so much to do here other than the Alhambra.

I mentioned in my last post that I went to an awesome store called Natura.  These are two of the dresses that I bought there.  I am really into the Indian print, light and flowing dresses right now.  I think it has something to do with living near a beach.

QUESTIONS:  Have you heard of the Alhambra?  Ever been to the Alhambra?  Do you like falafel?