“It’s Granada like Pina Colada”
““Scusa, my daughter thinks your friend looks like ‘una principessa.’ (A princess) What is her name?” ”
‘Love at first sight‘ is how I would describe Granada. It is a quaint, beautiful town with old churches, narrow cobblestone streets, and people eating on verandas of restaurants. We were delighted to find that our Air Bnb (highly recommend staying at this one!) was within walking distance of the Alhambra with absolutely stunning views of the fortress/castle from our terrace! Magical!
Watching the sunrise over the Alhambra
After checking in, we were momentarily worried about finding a place to eat dinner at 10pm, but this after all, is Spain, where everything is open late and nothing is open early. Our Air Bnb host had recommended walking to La Plaza Nueva for tapas, and we found it was an easy walk on the cobblestone streets to the plaza, alight with Edison bulbs lining the streets and warm light streaming in from the restaurants. Everyone was eating outside but we chose to eat inside for the air conditioning. For $14 we had a four-course meal with wine included! Manchego cheese, buttery seafood risotto and baked cod that delighted my palate. The house red wine they serve was delicious as well. Dessert was a sweet Greek yogurt with fresh berries. Divine!
I woke to birds chirping and sunlight filtering in through the skylights. I tiptoed up to the terrace where I watched the sun continue to rise over the Alhambra. This fortress, the Alhambra, looks so beautiful even from the outside. It was originally built in 889 AD over Roman ruins as a fortress. Then it was taken over by Moros and converted into a palace, only later to be taken over again by the Spanish and used by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella as their Royal Court.
Seafood Risotto
(tastes better than it looks)
Coffee Shop: Duran Barista which would be right at home in Portland, OR.
After stopping in a cafe for a quick (but daily) croissant at Duran Barista and cappuccino, we started to walk up the Alhambra. The walkway was cobbled and steep so we were already starting to break out in a sweat at 9am as we walked up the hill to the palace. Our walk was so beautiful, however, that it didn’t seem too bad. As we walked, water trickled from a stream alongside us and ivy with flowers grew along the old walls of the fortress.
Travel tip: Best to buy tickets to the Alhambra in advance as there are specific times that you can visit places: link. We did not opt for a guided tour, but it would have been nice to do an audio tour to get more information instead of just trying to lean into other tour groups to hear what the guide was telling them.
Purple flowers in full bloom along the palace walls.
Looking to the Alhambra from the expansive gardens of Generalife
Once inside, we headed to the Palace of Nazaries. It was hard not to want to take a million photos in each intricate room and courtyard. The Moorish influence with its painstakingly hand-carved wooden ceilings and stucco, and colorful tiles made us literally gasp in every room we walked into. Having been to Morocco last year, I thought I would have been used to this style of architecture, but it, combined with the exquisite gardens and fountains of the courtyard, was just overwhelming. I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever been to a more beautiful place.
Looking to the Alhambra from the expansive gardens of Generalife
Palace Views
Wandering the intricate corridors
Gardens of Alhambra
Courtyard garden lined with orange trees
Even the pool house is nice!
This place
is seriously magical
All in all we spent a solid four hours exploring the Alhambra, and by the end we were exhausted and starving! So we headed back down into town and had a nice, long lunch with sangria (another daily staple!). We sat outside in a plaza with a big fountain in the center, thankful for the overhead fans and shade. We happily munched on olives, jamon with melon, and more paella with cold custard for dessert. Again, so much food for 14 Euro!
We felt refreshed after our long lunch and decided to continue exploring the town of Granada. We wandered next door to our lunch spot and toured The Cathedral of Granada, which had marble floors, sky-high ceilings, and rows and rows of gorgeous columns lining the way to the altar. Europe definitely knows how to do churches!
Cathedral of Granada
Wandered right into this!
Beautiful details
There’s always room for gelato
I checked my Apple Fitness app and we had already walked 8.1 miles so we decided to head back to our Air Bnb to rest. There was one part of the Alhambra we hadn’t seen yet, so we decided to go back after resting. This part of the Alhambra is called Generalife – which translates to “The Architect’s Garden” and was the summer home for the Moorish rulers.
Honestly, we almost debated not going back because we were so tired, but we rallied (I got another cappuccino) and opted to take a taxi instead of walking up the steep hill. We were not disappointed! Generalife has amazing views of the rest of the palace and some of the most beautiful gardens. It was absolutely worth going back to.
Living that Generalife
Feeling like a princess
Strolling through the gardens
We walked back down as the sun was starting to set (it sets there around 9:00pm) and stopped at the supermarket by our house to buy some wine. We took the wine up to our terrace balcony and sat up there talking about life and taking in the looming Alhambra backlit against the setting sun spread out before us.
Enjoying some wine on our rooftop patio
Side note: Total walking for the day ended up being 11.1 miles or 25,678 steps!
Our trip down the Spanish Coast continues…
Next up: Nerja and Ronda.
