Of all the sights we saw in Andalusia, Granada’s Alhambra was the most impressive. We spent 4 hours wandering around the gardens (“Generalife”), the Alcazaba and the Nasrid Palaces. It is the second most visited site in Europe, so to protect the complex the number of daily visitors is capped. To avoid any disappointment, it is best to book the tickets a few weeks in advance over the internet.
We arrived around 10am in Granada, parked our car and started off by climbing up to the Mirador de San Nicolas, from where we got a perfect view of the entire Alhambra complex with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the background. It was breathtaking.
The gardens were spectacular:
The Alcazaba and the Nasrid Palace:
As always, we try to combine a visit to a “big” sightseeing tour with a visit to a place more off the beaten track. We selected Comares: a picture postcard white washed village on top of a mountain with lovely narrow streets.
Strangely, there’s a neat little cemetery at the edge of the village with views to die for.
The villagers have laid out a little walk around the village with ceramic footsteps embedded in the pavement. There was also this little old lady who rushed out of her house when she heard us coming. She urged us to buy a big bag of raisins and almonds for about 5 dollars – an offer which was hard to refuse. It was the perfect snack. There was only one other tourist couple around, and they also bought a bag – she must have a good little business going!
As always, a special tribute to all the food we ate over the last few days:
Delicious campesinos:
Patatas bravas, croquetas, tortilla and pil-pil prawns:
And yes, we are trying to compensate for all the calories with extra-long bike rides. Not sure if it’s working, though!
