Espana–Granada

by oBelIX

Some days-weeks-months ago yours truly along with a couple of other gentlemen embarked upon a tour of Espana. This is what happened.

Give him a coin, woman, for there is nothing worse in this life than to be blind in Granada. -Francisco Alarcón

Our car journey, devoid of any incident of note came to an end in Granada where it took us a very long time in finding the train station and returning the car. The traffic in Granada is like that in India, chaotic, uncontrolled, roads dug up, under construction. But, like Toledo, traffic into the historic district is regulated. Our Hotel, a cheap two star place (comfortable, clean beds, clean bathrooms) was in the middle of the city at the central square.

That evening, we walked into the old district, the Albayzín, with its narrow hilly cobblestone roads and staircases and smell of countless people having gone number-1 on the walls. Our destination was St. Nichols viewpoint from where you can see across to the Alhambra at night. It was a cool night, there were lots of tourists and a smattering of tongues and the best part was this dude playing instrumental melodies on an upturned pot. We walked around, got ice-creams and contemplated the world.

The Alhambra

the alhambra

all that walking, ice-creaming, contemplating and observing people tired me out

I don’t think I’ve yet written about breakfasts in Spain. In most places you can get a Zuma de Naranjas (orange juice), a café Con leche and a sandwich for 3-6 Euros which is a pretty good way to start the day.

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coffee in Granada

The walk up to Alhambra was about a mile or so and the ticket line was neither short nor long, somewhere in the middle … average. The Alhambra is the castle of the Moorish kings and is totally must-see. The views of Granada are spectacular. Each window, each door tells a story. The gardens are vast and magnificent and the Generalife is indescribable. Oh, and the audioguide while useful is narrated by an insolent arrogant prick.

gardens and walls

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white flower – there are more to come

we had a “whose-camera-is-better” competition. this was the competitor to the windows phone above.

more lilac

the audioguide rambled on about this for a bit. I forget

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the windows are beautiful, each room has different windows, each form different patterns of shade

patterns within patterns … fractals

the generalife – the gardens where the princess’ sat and mused

A complete tour of the Alhambra takes a while. Also, it’s hot. And tiring. Post the tour we ate and I had what I think was easily my best lunch in Spain. Pro-tip: If you eat meat then at most places the Menu Del Dia (the menu of the day) is the way to go. You’ll get a cheap three course meal (soup, entrée, dessert) and a glass of wine. The wine I had was delicious cold white wine. The Gazpacho, I’d never had Gazpacho before, was cold and cucumberry (tasted of cucumber and not a new kind of berry). The fish though was delicious, cooked to perfection and covered in a very creamy white sauce.

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gazpacho – I do not like this – it is cold and cucumberry

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excellent fishie

The rest of the day was spent walking around the non-historic district of Granada. A church, a cathedral, a store that sold spice.

tl;dr – Granada is magical

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