Yesterday’s tour with no other tourists was not expected to be repeated, but just HOW busy is Granada and the Alhambra? When planning our holiday months ago we discovered the Alhambra was sold out today, so we already expected madness. Our only solution is to book an overpriced private tour, even then the only time we can get is 08:30!
We’re on the road by 06:30. The sun isn’t even thinking about rising and we’re departing town with the tractors. The drive is right past Lover’s Rock, ominous in the first light of day. We reflect on the Lovers - it’s just the usual sad case of Romeo and Juliet or West Side Story, different families on both sides, except it’s the fast-track version, they both die as it’s hard to throw oneself off a mountainside and then live to make the story more interesting.
Our journey of 113 km takes less that 90 minutes so we’re plenty early, time for cafe con leche and pain au chocolat before we meet our guide. His pedigree for this job is impeccable, a Jordanian living in Spain, with an English Lit mother and an Archeologist Father, he’s fluent in Arabic too. We’re very lucky to have his enthusiastic energy for the morning.
The experience is amazing and I will aim to annotate the photos as much as possible but suffice to say this Sultan’s palace is wonderful and we and the others in our party are enthralled for three and half hours as we pass from one area to another through room after room and garden after garden. Like yesterday’s adventure there’s both Christian and Muslim action, but the overriding feel here is the Muslim legacy from the 1300s onwards when it was the palace of the Sultanate of Granada long before European developments.
After our fabulous morning we wander down the hill into the town of Granada to start our city tour. It’s not easy as I’ve somehow lost the key for the map but in time honoured tradition I bluff it and over the course of the next few hours we walk all over town checking out all the essentials. We draw the line at the cathedral, advertising free entry on the outside but charging €5 once inside. Very naughty to lie on sacred ground!
Our first galaterio is a disaster, the staff all pretend they are too busy to serve, so we move on to another to sample white chocolate & pistachio and super-fiery chilli chocolate before we return to the car and head home to Antequera. It's a smooth drive that seems to be shorter although this is entirely in the mind.
A late afternoon by the pool, a chilled Verdejo and tomato nachos fuel this blog until it’s time to shower and change for dinner.
We wander the 200 yards required to get to the bullring, and are the first customers for the restaurant under the stand here, although the dining tables spread out onto the ring itself, hopefully only when it's not in use for other reasons!
Our dinner is lovely, the food stunning and the setting so unusual we can't help but be awed by the experience!
We wander the 200 yards required to get to the bullring, and are the first customers for the restaurant under the stand here, although the dining tables spread out onto the ring itself, hopefully only when it's not in use for other reasons!
Our dinner is lovely, the food stunning and the setting so unusual we can't help but be awed by the experience!
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