Welcome to Granada
December 16 – Granada
We ended up sleeping in a bit later then we expected and didn’t get out of our room until after 11:30am. The drive the day before wiped us out and the hotel room was extremely comfortable and quite.
Once we made it out the door, the city of Granada was ours to explore. Since tomorrow we have tickets to see Alhambra, which we are expecting will be an all day adventure, we figured we only had today to explore the city. We set out along the the main street into the center of the city, Acera de Darro, making a quick stop for, you guessed it, a chocolate croissant. I’m telling you, these things are friggin good! The place we stopped in was a small bakery named Panaderia San Anton and the lady behind the counter was extremely nice and helpful (even though it was a bit rough to communicate with her).
From there, we continued pass Puerta Real, Plaza de Isabel Catolica and into Plaza Nueva. From Plaza Nueva, we headed up Canera del Darro which was a pleasant stroll pass Plaza Santa Ana, along a canal and providing us our first glimpse of the outer walls of Alhambra. We eventually turned off Canera del Darro and headed up hill through some very narrow streets. We reached Plaza de Abad when we looked at the map again and realized we missed an important stop at El Banuelo Jermas Arabes (The Arab Bath House). We double backed downhill via Calle de Zafra and made our visit to the Bath House. After the quick visit, we hiked back up to where we left off and made our way to Plaza del Salvador. On our way we witnessed an SUV and a taxi going down probably one of the smallest streets I’ve seen. There was even a sign warning that the entrance to the street was only 1.5 meters wide.
At Plaza del Salvador, we checked out the small El Salvador Church. After walking through the church, we headed down the street, pass Albayzin, through Plaza Largo, and on to Plaza Mirador de San Nicolas. At Plaza Mirador de San Nicolas, there is an amazing view overlooking Alhambra. I had a field day with my camera, however, I really wanted to come back at sundown, about 3 hours away. While there, Jeff talked with some lady that was telling him the weather we have been experiencing is way out of the norm. Typically, the weather in Granada is sunny and nice with a few days of cloudy cooler days. Today, the temperature was 8 degrees Celsius (at least that is what the clocks were telling us).
As we wandered down the street from there, we passed the Monesterio de Santa Isabel La Real (Santa Isabel La Real Monastery) and ended up going down a few allies chalked up with some interesting graffiti around the Monastery. We continued heading downhill and found ourselves strolling down Caldereria Nueva which is a small street lined with Middle Eastern shops and restaurants. We took our time stopping in a few of the shops. At the bottom of the hill, it was about time to eat again, so we decided to find a Tapas Bar. Around the corner, on Carcel and Elvira, we found a small place named La Bella y La Bestia. We ordered a few small plates and enjoyed a few drinks along with them. After, it was close to 5pm, so we walked back toward the hotel, taking our time.
By the time we got back to the hotel, I realized if I wanted to make it back to Plaza Mirador de San Nicolas, I would only have a few minutes to relax before heading back out again. After about 15 minutes, I was back on the streets alone (Jeff stayed behind at the hotel) and making my way as quickly as possible to Plaza Mirador de San Nicolas. I really wasn’t 100% sure how to get back and surely didn’t know the quickest way back. As I’m running up hill, the sky was changing colors quickly. I finally made it, sweating and completely out of breath. I took my time and took a few pictures of the great Alhambra lit up and back dropped by the snowy mountains behind it. When I was done, I made my way back to the hotel again for a few more minutes of down time before we headed out for the evening.
After a quick, much needed, 15 minute nap, we were out and about again. This time, we caught a taxi and headed to a Flamenco show. Jeff picked up a flyer during the day, so we thought we go check it out. We took a taxi to this place, Jardines de Zoraya, which happened to be a pizzeria during the day. We were seated, ordered dinner and the show began shortly after. It was a really small show, one dancer, one guitarist, and one singer. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I thought the guitarist and dancer were entertaining, however, I wasn’t crazy about the singing. In all, it was good show and we had a good time.
We walked back to the hotel, packed, and went to bed at around 1:15am. Tomorrow we are off to Alhambra at 9am and that evening, flying to Barcelona. It’s going to be a long day.
Till next time…
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