What a Day in Granada

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Yesterday I drove here from Gibraltar. I have to say that one of the best skills I picked up in life is how to drive a stick shift. I did forget, however, to use the clutch to start the car. Heck, in my car I put my foot on the brake and push a button. My first thought was that the battery was dead, and then I remembered the clutch. Oops. Driving out of Gibraltar was easy enough. Since I was a bit more familiar with where I was going, I was able to take pictures while driving and have some great shots of driving over the runway. Silly as it may sound, I really am intrigued by the whole runway/road thing. The Passport Control line was so long. It took at least a half hour to get through. Not sure what the hold up was, as they just looked at the front of my passport and waved me through. Regardless, it gave me time to actually study the map and write down some road names to point me in the right direction.

It was a beautiful drive through hills and tunnels. The Mediterranean would be visible for a bit and then be hidden. It was such a great day with blue skies and the blue Sea. I´m very glad I rented the car so I could see this. Finding the train station in Granada where I was to leave my rental was more of a challenge. I had absolutely no idea where it was, no map and quite frankly no patience. What I ended up doing was going to the Europcar rental at the airport, clearly marked from the roadway, and had them point me in the right direction. When I get home, I really need to send my guardian angel a gift basket or something, because as lost as I was, I stumbled on the right road and was able to find the place with a minimum of swearing and angst. From there it was a quick taxi ride to the hotel.

I walked around a bit soaking up the feel of the center of Granada. It is so very different than Morocco. Dinner was a utilitarian meal of gazpacho, so darn good, and Serrano pizza, so darn bad. Washed it down with a pint, good, and called it a meal. The best part of the meal was sitting al fresco under the looming Alhambra. My tour is at 10 tomorrow and I am so ready to tour it. Headed back to the hotel and did some laundry in the sink. I seriously brought 3 long sleeved and 3 short sleeved shirts, so it was really past due to do some washing. Went to bed at a decent hour, but the streets were so loud that it was a pretty crappy sleep.

Ok, so now it is Saturday. I had breakfast in the hotel, took a taxi up the the Alhambra where I managed to trip over a root and fall through a thorny plant scratching the heck out of my arm. On the plus side, no one saw my acrobatics, so it could have been worse. As I used to say as a kid, "For my next trick." Such is life.

The Alhambra was beyond what I had expected. The day was sunny, warm and absolutely perfect. I took a few hundred photos, but what I can't capture is the sound of water running. There are fountains, streams and even a water staircase that has water running through the handrails. The sounds were amazing. The smells were incredible as well. Flowers were blooming and so fragrant. I would stop and simply smell the fragrance and soak in the magic of being there. I won´t bore you with details of the whole visit, but let me say that it has been yet another highlight of a super amazing trip. Would I come back here? Absolutely. Will I try to see the gardens at night? You bet. Well, as it turns out I would have had to buy another ticket tonight, so I chose some other fun things.

After walking around a bit, having a falafel for lunch and seeing some basic sights, I went for the Pamper Brendan a Whole Lot portion of the trip. I had booked an hour and a half soak, aromatherapy massage at the Arab Baths. I had no idea what to expect. This is not something I do, nor was it something I felt comfortable with (me in a bathing suit in front of people? Please.) But, another part of traveling is to do things that I wouldn't normally do. I am so absolutely ecstatic that I did this. The Baths are Moorish and beyond imagination. There are 3 pools, hot, warm and cold. I am not kidding when I say that the hot pool was a good 25 to 30 yards long. The warm pool had the most beautiful arches and views of arches going through the massage area. Check out their website if you are bored sometime. It is truly amazing. I steamed, soaked, floated, waded and sat my way to bliss. And then there was the massage. Could I be any happier? Regardless to say, I came back to the hotel and napped for a little bit.

For dinner I took a mini bus up to the Albayzin's Moorish area. There is a plaza with gorgeous views of the Alhambra and snow covered Sierra Nevada Mountains. Of course it was packed up there. I followed Rick Steves´guide and found a deserted plaza where I had fried sole and a couple beers for dinner. After a few more pictures of the Alhambra in different light (250 pictures of it wasn't quite enough mind you) I took the bus back down. Churros and Hot Chocolate thick as ganache were the perfect end to a perfect day.

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Photos

Really?
Getting my bass ass face on to deal with all these tour groups.