Alhambra

The Alhambra (UNESCO WH)is Granada’s main tourist attraction and its Moorish design is overwhelmingly exotic in its foreigness.  The Palacio Nazarie’s wooden and marble carvings are wonderful for their ornate design and craftsmanship and recalled memories of Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace which had similar carvings.  Both, the Palacio Nazarie and the Topkapi Palace have a similar layout—rooms surrounding courtyards containing fountains, pools and topiaries.  Although the Alcazaba was more ruinous than the well-reserved Palacio Nazarie, the view of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains from the fortress in one direction and the Cathedral in the other was breathtaking.  The walk through Palacio Generalife was serene: tall cypress trees are geometrically arranged around rock gardens and fountains sprout water in all directions.  Overall, visiting the Alhambra was a surprisingly peaceful experience despite the fact that it is the most-visited attraction in Granada.  The combination of plentiful cypress and orange trees with the presence of decorative water fountains and intricate wood and ivory carvings in the numerous courtyards made visiting the Alhambra a rather serene experience.    

Albaicin

Not completely satisfied with our brief exploration of Albaicin, we re-visited the neighborhood which is densely populated with small white houses on a hillside and has extremely narrow streets. One aspect of Andalusia that I enjoyed during our stay was how well preserved the cities are from their “original” design. Nothing, not streets or buildings, were bulldozed and made more easily accessible for tourists. The streets of Albaicin are narrow and winding as one walks further up the hillside, but they are also decorated with cypress and orange trees. We stopped by a number of little plazas that contained outdoor grocery stores and small tapas bars on our ascent. From the Mirador de San Nicolas, we admired the Alhambra in the distance.

Food Review: Brujidera-Casa del Vino

Our favorite restaurant in Granada quickly became the Brujidera-Casa del Vino which boasts a huge selection of Spanish wines.  There we had an outstanding meal that included pate, salmon and sun-dried tomato on bread, anchovies and cheese.  What struck me in all our dining throughout Andalucia is that whether we were in a bodega, a tapas restaurant, or a bar, families dine together across generations all over Spain.  At every meal we would notice two to three families eating and drinking together while a baby was sitting on his or her grandparent’s lap and parents were nearby navigating how to park a stroller.  It was a remarkable difference from dining in London or New York which are generally-speaking very youth-centric cities and ones where I rarely see grandparents so involved in the daily lives of their grandchildren. 

 

Capilla Real & Catedral de Granada

The Capilla Real is the only Gothic-style church in Granada, commissioned by Ferdinand and Isabella after conquering the kingdom.  The Capilla Real contains the Catholic monarch’s mausoleum which is a very impressive work of hand-carved marble.  Next door we visited the Renaissance-style Catedral de Granada whose tall, thick, white pillars and high ceilings have a way of making one feel very small.  My favorite aspect of the cathedral was its huge organs in the center of the cathedral. 

Food Review: Bodegas Castaneda

We spent a morning exploring the area around the Cathedral before walking through Albaicin where we saw the old Moorish neighborhood’s original buildings and a beautiful view of the Alhambra before lunching at Bodegas Castaneda, a local pub.  The bar was jam packed so we ate standing, hovering over a barrel used as a dining table.  M was hesitant, but I insisted, and thus began our culinary tour of Granada.  Our waiter was an old-school one who shouted orders to the cooks; we quickly realized he was the only waiter serving the entire bar, but that he was better at being a waiter than most people are at their professions.  We had the patatas, a selection of pates, bruschetta with anchovies, and a beef stew.  The food was wholesome and plentiful, and the ambiance chaotic and energized. 

Arriving in Granada

Upon arriving in Granada, we immediately felt the city’s vibrancy.  Unlike Sevilla and Cordoba, cities with great historical significance, Granada is an energized city that does not revolve around tourism even though it is home to the Alhambra.  The night we arrived, stores were open late, university students mobbed the tapas bars so patrons were overflowing into the sidewalks, and families attend the many nativity scenes staged all over the city.  We took an evening stroll through Calle Reyes Catolicos to the Plaza del Carmen, Plaza Bib-rambla and Plaza Pescadoria before heading north to the Santa Iglesia Catedral Metropolitana de Granada and Capilla Real.  The cathedral was stunning in its force and size, its stones walls and fortress-like strength all powerful amidst the hodgepodge of winding streets that house humble bodegas and bars.  From Plaza Trinidad we took Duquesa past the University of Granada and Monasterio de San Jeronimo.  By the end of our walk we were immediately partial towards Granada of the three cities we visited in Andalusia for its vibrancy which made even Sevilla seem somnolent.