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Monday, September 3, 2012

Granada : Going to see Alhambra ¿no?

London Gatwick Airport - Malaga Airport - Granada

Granada has stopped budget airlines from flying in, and most direct flights to Granada are costly. When you want to travel, you've got to do it right. And thank God I choose the right people to travel with. We took a flight from London to Malaga, and a bus to Granada which took 1 hour 45 minutes. Busses from Malaga to Granada is quite frequent and costs around 10€. We arrived Granada at around 10pm and got a nice comfy pension which was reasonably cheap. Best part of our 3 day 2 nights in Granada was that we only spent around 50€ each. Total win!


Basilica de San Juan de Dios

We spent our nights in a Pension in front of this Basilica. The church bell was different from what I'm used to hearing, it sounds more old school. Granada is just a little town and not everyone speaks english. We just nodded our heads most of the time. When you wake up early in Spain, you would'nt know exactly what to do. Most places open around noon, so before that, the streets are quite quiet. We had brunch in a cafe that we weren't even sure was open. 

After brunch we went around the town to see what it has to offer. I find Granada to be a pretty place. Everything seems to be crafted really well. Things are cheap and the tapas, really cheap! I've read that people go to Granada to have free tapas while just ordering drinks. Too bad we didn't have a chance to try that out.

Being a part of Andalucia, everything went around Flamenco and Bull fighting. The souvenir shops sells Flamenco dresses to fans to mosaic tiles. 




Our main reason to go to Granada was to visit the Alhambra. Different from other parts of Europe, southern Spain, specifically Granada was a Kingdom under the Islamic Nasrid Dynasty, which lead to the building of his palace up on the hills with very intricate carvings. That was more than 600 years ago, and by the look of this place, it is still stunning although the kingdom has once been overthrown by the Catholics who also erected a Cathedral on the grounds. When you purchase a Daytime General Visit ticket, you get to enter Alcazaba, Nasrid Palaces, Palace of Charles V and Generalife.

My suggestion would be to take a bus up to the main entrance. We were silly enough to hike up and got lost in the scorching hot sun. We did two rounds before we finally found the main entrance which was all the way up the hill. The line is long and if your'e not a fan of waiting in line under the Spanish sun, do book a ticket online. There are booking collection (for tickets paid with credit cards) machines which is quietly hidden behind the official souvenir shop. No line waiting for you. You might just miss the machines. 



Upon entrance, you get to choose which place you would like to enter first, nearest to the entrance is the Generalife. Lush gardens, blooming flowers, grapes hanging from their vines and water features ready to make you feel happy inside. People back in the days do know their taste in landscaping.




Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Water Channel or Water-Garden Courtyard)


Seeing the place in real life is even better than seeing the photos. The afternoon sun was no more a nuisance. Maybe it was because of the greenery surrounding the place and the water fountains add even more pleasure to the eyes. 


After a round in Generalife, we moved downhill towards the Palace. The place is amazingly huge but very worth it to visit. Will write about it more in the next post.