Advertisement
Published: October 28th 2023
Today the entire day was devoted to the Alhambra, the last stand of the Morrish presence in Spain. The Moor were present on the Iberian Peninsula for 800 years, until Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand in 1492 (same year Italian Christopher Columbus was sent off by the King and Queen to the New World, no comment on the merits of Senor Columbus. Also, to put things in the proper context of history elsewhere in Europe Isabella and Ferdinand were the parents of Katherine of Aragon the first wife of King Henry the VIII (she was divorced not beheaded).
Before the history lesson begins, just a bit of the morning. We were up at 5:30, quick breakfast at 7:30 (decent breakfast, typical fare) then off to the Alhambra. It opens at 8:30, we were there at 8:15. Our travel tip is definitely arrive when it opens and make the Nasrid Palace (which must be booked via timed entry on the website as it sells out quickly) your first stop before the crowds arrive. The Alhambra is the biggest attraction in all of Spain. Be sure your battery for the camera is fully charged, were very comfortable shows you will be walking
several miles (if you see it all) and the paths are not flat. Finally, there are limited places to eat, the various food stands, with bad food, or the Restaurant at the Paradores, a four-star hotel inside the walls of the Alhambra. There are two restaurants, one requires reservation and is nicer but more expensive, and the outside terrace no reservations, but if you get there any later than 1 you will stand in line for up to an hour.
Travel tips overtime for your Alhambra History lesson. While the Moors had been in Spain since around 700 CE, construction on the Alhambra was started in 1238 by the first Nasrid King, Ibn el-Ahmar. Hence the name of the palace is Palacio Nazaries. The Palacio was completed in 1391 and The Catholic Monarch took control in 1492 when Boabdil surrenders.
During the reign of the Moors, there was much going on at the Alhambra, some of it not good, such as the murder (not that it wasn’t deserved) of the male members of the Abencerraje Family as revenge for the seduction of the Zoraya the daughter of Muley Hacen, (also the father of Boabdil). And lets say seduction
is a polite word for what they actually did to the woman. There were also plenty of parties, and apparently quite a few dungeons for prisoners.
When the catholic monarch regained control of Spain, they also began to erase the Moorish presence, they must have liked the Alhambra because they didn’t tear down but added it on. Carolos V began construction of the Renaissance Palace in 1524. There is a church on the grounds and numerous gardens. The Paradores was originally the Convent of San Franciso (Franciscan nuns).
The architectural aspects are far beyond my ability to describe, so you have to come see that for yourself.
Amongst all the history, architectural splendor and natural beauty, the current royalty of the Alhambra truly rule in grand style. A colony of cats reign supreme here. They are protected by law and have the full run of the place. They have special caretakers that feed them throughout the day. Some are very friendly, others let you gaze upon them, and you just know they are only tolerating your presence in their royal home.
Back to History, in 1812 dear misguided Napoleon had plans to destroy the Alhambra, but
that didn’t happen. Maybe because in 1814 the Duke of Wellington took up residence to rest of the Peninsular War. Washington Irving wrote Tales of the Alhambra here in 1829. Most importantly in 1862 (100 years before I was born) Granada began the Restoration of the Alhambra, still continuing today.
So, all of that is the background of our day. First stop the Nasrid Palace. Truly Moorish in architectural style, with fountains and tile around every corner. We were even in the room where the murders occurred. Next was a quick in and out of the Palacio de Carlos V. We spent a significant amount of time in the Alcazaba, the main fortress of the Alhambra. There were the ruins of houses were the real people lived and several towers to climb for the views.
The Alhambra is divided into three parts, The Alcazaba, Palacio Nazaries and the Generalife. While it may be three sections, each section is truly much more than the description. The Alcazaba and Generalife are truly two distinct areas. The Palacio Nazaries is one palace with elaborate gardens, but intermixed is what was the city in the walls, with the Church (when the catholics
regained control, the Hammam (baths), the convent, numerous gardens and of course ruling it all the Royal Colony of Cats.
From the Alcazaba we went through the Hammam to the convent and then around the palace gardens. After that it was time for lunch. Being the planners that we are, I had made reservations for lunch months in advance. We had the first table at 1 when it opened and a perfect table by the window. While we had lunch at least 20 different couples, groups wanted a table, all were turned away for their lack of planning and sent to the 1-hour line for the terrace. By 2 pm, the place was full, one large Japanese tour group, but most were just other people visiting the Alhambra, I am sure were actually staying at the convent.
Lunch was very good, it did not rise to the level of Los Coques, but it did have the best Salmorejo so far. The service was great, and the house wine was an excellent Rioja. Just a quick rundown of the menu:
· Salmorejo with tuna belly & Iberian pork (Chris)
· Salmorejo and cured beef, the beef was
not in the gazpacho, but a plater drizzled with olive oil and olive toast points. (Jerry)
· Grilled Iberian pork tenderloin with Andalucian Sauce (Jerry)
· Grilled Gambas (Chris, while it tasted great it was far to much work to eat, worse than king crab legs) So I had to order something else.
· Lamb stew (Chris second option) nicely done with coriander and cilantro.
We ended with Piononos del Parador, see picture, very hard to describe. I also had a café con leche, needed the little pick me up for the second half of the day.
After lunch it was off to the Generalife. This section is outside the walls of the Alhambra but still part of the overall complex. There are more gardens, including vegetable gardens, which I am assuming that the restaurant uses. There is another palace in this section and garden after garden with water features. Check out all the pictures at the bottom of the entry, since they simply will not all fit within the text.
Eight and a half hours after we arrived by taxi at the Alhambra, we left by taxi to go back to the hotel.
Gazpacho
Dish of the dayThis is our last night in Granada and dinner is up on the hill (so not walking no matter how close it is) with potentially a view of the Alhambra.
Aside 2 I have received a couple of comments, ok they are from my two younger sisters (and they are not that much younger) that I thought I would respond to. First, a suckling pig is basically a baby pig think veal but younger. As to not as many personal comments, I have been trying to be a bit more positive this time around, but also, not much is annoying me this trip, well except for today at the Alhambra, I don’t understand how a culture that is known for extreme politeness can make the worst and rudest tourist. I am talking about almost being trampled by a group of Japanese tourist or the instance that they need to stand in front of you every time you’re trying to take a picture, because evidently there picture is so much more important. Perhaps it is they just have a different since of personal space or they really just aren’t aware of who is around them. And yes Connie, our
luggage goes to each City with us, we don’t have a home base, so we have no choice. Next spring in Argentina that will be entirely different.
Keep the comments coming, even if you are not related to me, I love to hear what you are all thinking and what is being helpful for your next trip.
Ruta Azafran Our last dinner in Granada was at the foot of the Alhambra, with a beautiful view of it lighted. We picked this restaurant solely based on the name. Azafran (saffron), while Tarragon is my favorite herb, saffron is my favorite spice. Yes, if our next cat (which won’t be until we move to Europe) happens to be orange the name will be Saffron or perhaps even Azafran.
Unfortunately, there was only one dish on the menu that even had saffron in it, and it was Salmon, which is not my thing, but is Jerry’s so he ordered it, so I got to taste the saffron sauce and it was very tasty. The menu had a lot to choose from and we originally were going to order a couple of spinach and almond croquettes, some gazpacho, a tomato
To Pass you must answer three questions
You only get this if you like Monty Python and onion salad and patatas a lo pobre. The server said, “no too much food” and recommended that we just go with the Tomate Aliando and the Patatas a Lo Pobre. Both were excellent choices; the potatoes were actually in the running for dish of the day. He was absolutely correct, even paired down, when you added our main course, we had a lot of food.
Tomate Aliando is a tomato and red onion salad with very good olive oil, simple but incredibly good. Patatas a lo pobre is lightly fried potatoes with jamon and a slightly over poached egg, yolk is soft but not running.
Jerry’s main was grilled salmon with saffron sauce, nicely cooked and the saffron sauce was just wonderful. The saffron color and flavor game shining through. It did get a little soften when mixed with the light bechamel sauce that was also on the plate. I had grilled lamb chops and fried potato, ok I think it was an entire rib cage of two lambs and a field of potatoes, the portion was huge. I have never really had much lamb in Spain, but France wins here. We had a very nice bottle
of Rioja, as always, to accompany our meal.
The restaurant wasn’t very busy, but the streets were crowed. Saturday night in Granada and the teenagers were out in force, vaping and walking the streets. In New York a large group of teenagers make me nervous, hell in Providence a large group of teenage girls scare me, since I was accosted one day by a group of mean girls that had nothing better to do than harass a fat old gay man. Here, the teenagers are just that teenagers, not trying to prove how tough or cool they are. Yes, there is the occasionally dude, (typically a twenty something) that walks with his swager and thinks he is all that, which he clearly is not, but for the most part, you just do not feel threatened when walking down the streets.
We did walk back to the hotel and are now just doing final preparations for an early train to Seville tomorrow. Daylight savings time starts tonight so we will get an extra hour of sleep.
Aido Granada Hola Seville.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.376s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 13; qc: 54; dbt: 0.1011s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Sharon Hughson
non-member comment
Step Count Please
More than eight hours in this place? How many miles did you walk? Also, the swagger thing is not only for young guys. I've seen some older men who think they have what it takes to walk that way. As I get older, I choose to ignore them rather than roll my eyes. Those gardens look amazing! Not Butchart standards but nice. You were just visiting here, right? Granada is not on the list of possible retirement places? I really wanted to see more cat photos after you gave them a paragraph of text. As for Japanese tourists, I have had the same experience with them stepping into my photos. It is rude, and I don't understand why they do it. Are they oblivious? They don't care if other people photo bomb them, so they do it? I may use Azafran as a name in my current book. I love it. And yes, you need a ginger cat so you can name him that.