Seville, without doubt, is the heart of Andalucia. Nevertheless, some would argue that the star of the region is Granada. (Laura would dispute that. She told me -- Sevillanos are open, curious, friendly. Granadinos, she said, are more Castillian. Closed off. Fewer emotions on display.) In my visit to Granada with Ed, I wasn't taken in by the city so much. Interesting, but without the golden beauty of its cousin. A mere 250 kilometers away from Seville (155 miles), it feels a world away. Nonetheless, I have to say, the Alhambra of Granada is a palace so exquisite, that I was absolutely determined to bring Snowdrop to it.
Unfortunately, the weather is completely wrong for this excursion. Tomorrow -- the time of our visit there -- will be very wet and very cold. And no, we can't change the time of the visit. Tickets to the Alhambra are sold out months in advance. I bought ours in the summer!
First, though, we have to get to Granada.
We pack up, we eat one last breakfast in our very lovely hotel Colon, with the gorgeous glass dome that dates back to the early years of this building (1929)...
And we take a taxi to the train station.
I can't say that I am relaxed about this trip. We need to change trains in Cordoba and we have the usual bags, packs and... Aubrey. Moreover, the Spanish train company (Renfe) is upgrading something or other along this route, and so I am concerned about delays and a missed connection. We have a somewhat tight switch in Cordoba. I went with it because it was either that or having a very long wait at a cold and impersonal train station.
We survived!
And arrived on time in Granada. We cab over to our hotel, the Palacio Gran Via, and I exhale! From here on forward, things should be easy, if a bit cold and wet!
At the check in, they ask us if we want one of their essential oil fragrances in the room and if so, which one? Snowdrop picks jasmine. The hotel is in fact lovely. Our room is small, but it has a fantastic glassed in balcony adding light, even on this dark day.
What's the plan for today? Honestly, not much. I'm not a fan of souvenir shopping, because some modicum of equality demands that if one grandkid gets something, so should the others. The worst image is that of Snowdrop returning from a special trip loaded down with new stuff while her brothers look on. Besides, I already have Aubrey to carry with us on all segments of our trip. I do not need more baggage.
To think this through, I go down to the small hotel cafe, while Snowdrop rests in the room (her choice).
(coffee and fried apple pockets with goat mild ice cream; incredibly good!)
One thing is clear: I don't want to spend the entire afternoon at the hotel. Sure, there's the rain, but this is going to be our weather pattern for the remaining days in Spain. So we go for a walk. A wet walk! Where to? We begin with a look from the hotel rooftop toward the Alhambra. It dominates Granada and you have to start drinking in its structure early on.
Then we walk to the Alcaiceria. This is Grananda's old silk market -- dating back to the centuries of Muslim domination.
(on the way: ice cream pause!)
It's not as it was back then of course. Fire destroyed it a couple of hundred years ago, the trade shifted to local artifacts and Granada souvenirs. Nonetheless, it has Arabic features that you wont find elsewhere in Europe. Well, maybe in Istanbul. In any case, it's a first for the girl.
And I should mention that overall, Snowdrop really likes Granada. You'd think otherwise, given the weather. Perhaps it has something to do with where we landed and the experiences we had on our walk. Looking out of our glassed in balcony, she says it reminds her of other parts of Europe. I can see that!
Too, it's not overrun by procession craziness. (Our hotel person said that people look forward to this week all year long, when sunshine is abundant and then, perversely, on Holy Week it rains and processions are cancelled one by one.) And there are inviting pastry shops and candy stores everywhere. In fact, we got seduced by one where they sold chocolate strawberries and candied grapes.
The clerk flooded us with free samples of fruit pates, marzipan and who knows what else. A successful strategy to get us inside? Yep. We walked away with some chocolate for late night cravings, strawberries for her, and a grape for me.
I steer her up the hill a bit, along the Carrera del Darro. It's a pretty walk that hugs the river and borders the older sections of town. And everything is in bloom!
(Western Redbud)
The show stopper is, of course, the Alhambra, which towers right above us.
We pause then. The rain has soaked my shoes and besides, we've had a day of travel and shifting perspectives. We could do with a brief rest.
Dinner is at Los Manueles. This may be the last of the local Andalusian eateries on our trip, since our next days are complicated, with a bizarre mix of essential sights and travel demands and hotel-based meals. Los Manueles seemed, on entering it, hugely chaotic to me, but then every place here is packed, with lines streaming out the door. The hotel had booked a table for us and I'm not arguing. Happy to have food on this Holy Week night.
The waiter spoke zero English. I mean, not even "still water" and "no sauce" -- essentials, as far as the girl is concerned. But he had his phone and asked me to speak into it so that it would translate my words for him. In the end I ordered fried eggplant, friend calamari, garlic shrimp, a salad and a bowl of noodles with cheese, just in case.
It was fantastic! If my love for restaurant food embraces the fresh and honest, this was supremely fresh and honest. Despite the chaos, the loud scrape of chairs against the tile floor, the many moving parts (ordering with QR codes is far more ubiquitous here), they got everything right!
A good ending to a full day. Despite the plummeting temps and the rain. Honestly, the weather never bothered us!
Tomorrow, we focus in on what draws so many here. Yes, the big A. We'll explore it together. Tomorrow.
