Advertisement
Grand Granada
Piprey
May 2024
Granada in Spanish means
pomegranates. These lovely, red juicy fruits is the
symbol of the city of Granada. The city is spectacularly placed, surrounded by mountains, in the Iberian peninsula about 1 hour 45 mins bus ride from the Malaga coast. It was the
last foothold of the African berbers in Europe who ruled for over 800 years, leaving an imprint on this beautiful city.
I was in the ALSA bus, enjoying the setting sun and arrived at Granada bus station around 10 pm. Life can be hard on travellers. At the local bus stop, there was a thin, tall man who claimed to be Dutch and said his luggage stolen. He had reported to police but did not have any money. Thinking of my similar experience in Amsterdam, I offered him an orange and a 10 Euro. My hostel receptionist was gone by then, else I would have asked him to come with me to the hostel.
Hostel Nut (based on Egyptian goddess of sky) had a clean and comfortable dormitory bed and enclosed with solid, black out curtains, I had a good night’s sleep.
Next morning, ate a croissant with
egg and cheese, piononos (local sweet delicacy) and caffe latte at Pandaderia
Artesanos de Granada.
I walked up to the city centre for the walking tour organised by Toptour kiosk at
Plaza Bib Rambla. The city had a cathedral (paid entry), university etc among others. Once the African kings deported, Spain came under the complete control of kings and queens of Madrid. As typical of any newly conquered place, there was strong currents of cultural assimilation to ensure the subjects lived quiet and submissive lives.
This was also the era of explorations for trade route to India and expand Christianity. Cristobel (Christopher) Columbus drew up a contract with Queen Isabella to sail for the new world in Granada. He did sail from Seville because Seville is closer to the Atlantic ocean.
The walking tour told the usual stories of
Albacion or the white city with all white buildings ( like the blue buildings of Jodhpur). It had simple houses with pretty gardens with riot of colourful flowers. The guide was the most soft-spoken, laid-back guide but we got through nicely. There were water fountains everywhere with sweet water.
I walked up to
Alhamra (or the Red Fort), the erstwhile residents of the Berber kings in Granada. Even churches which had been built on erstwhile mosques kept the water cisterns for the public. Up the hill, they checked for tickets and passport to enter the Alhambra,
Generalife gardens and the
Nasrid palaces.
I was pleasantly lost among the roses of the Generalife gardens. There were so many flowers, fountains, tall Cypress trees, benches to sit and relax with beautiful views. The views of the fort, military tower and Albacion were simply a sight to behold. I squealed with delight when I was taking photos over a flowerbed as I observed snow peaked mountains in the background, the Sierra Nevada.
The Al Hamra itself was majestic. The tall military towers, artillery units etc were well positioned to defend the city. The water from Doros river was channelled to ensure there was continuous flow of water in the fountains and the water channels inside the buildings for cooling and aesthetic beauty.
The sound of gurgling water was so pleasant. It was similar to the Red Fort built by the Mughals in Delhi, India. When I entered the Nasrid palace, the walls were carved with inscriptions praising God. The ceilings were made of richly carved wood. A stained-glass ceiling added to the majestic nature of the palace. There were well laid gardens surrounding the palace. There was also a museum with fine paintings. I imagined life would have been good.
After eating a small slice of pizza (4Euro), I went downhill and saw an older man walking up with a stick. Must aspire to be as fit as him!
Went back to
Plaza Bib Rambla to buy
some souvenirs and
ate excellent tapas of roasted ham and
Ensaladilla rusa (Russian salad)
Nasrid palace
Look at the water channels with an Aguilla beer at
Avila Tapas. To be honest, there was a long queue for its opening at 8pm and it showed that this place was indeed the place for Tapas. I would love to visit again!
With such good food, it was a lovely sleep too. I made an early start and walked up to
Mirador de San Nicolas or vista point in Albacion.
There is so much rhythm in the guitars and the strings touch your soul. Truly, a local was playing the guitar so beautifully in the little square with Alhamra and
Sierra Niverra in the backdrop.
The next morning, I had a typical Spanish breakfast of half baguette with tasty fresh tomato, seasoned sauce, a delightful royal sweet and caffe latte at
Puerto Bernina on Alhondi street (chain restaurant). Then walked up to the delightful
Mercado San Augustan (local market). Plenty of freshly caught fish, meat, tapas and drinks were being sold.
The locals were getting ready for
May parade (Dia de la Curz). Crosses were decorated in nook and corners with flowers. Men and women were dressed in their traditional clothes, riding caravans, horses down the main streets. Fabulous.
I
realised my local bus to the bus station would not be running because of the parade. I walked up to the metro station and just reached in nick of time for return bus from Granada to Malaga airport. Phew!
Easyjet was delayed by 2 hours. It was a harrowing experience waiting when I could have easily seen the parade in Granada and eaten a better lunch than chicken korma/rice of
Easyjet with such tiny portions that even a squirrel would feel hungry.
Indeed, after landing at London Gatwick, caught the last train of the day back to London and then to Swindon- a long journey of around 3 hours. In other words, I was travelling for over 10 hours from Spain to England.
Easyjet needs to change their name to Difficultjet. I loved the friendliness and customer centric view of the Spanish which is all lost to Western Europe.
At shops, people were happy to chat with you or advise you on the nearest metro for example, even though they were busy. It comes from recognising that people exist and let us hear them courteously.
While buying souvenirs, the teller removed the price tags and wrapped the gifts so nicely.
Brits flock to Spain like herds of sheep looking for the Sun Probably, as per the origin of the British people, the Brits came to United Kingdom
from the Iberian peninsula just after the Ice age ended.
Going back to the roots, I root for grand Granada.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.084s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 13; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0212s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb