Granada

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GRANADA: MONDAY 1ST TO TUESDAY 2ND JULY
It's Friday 5th July and I'm on the train from Granada to Almeria, on the coast. I've been in Granada since last Monday afternoon. Another gorgeous city - the old town is full of 'bazaar' type of shop...ping areas and plazas with the 'usual' Spanish action throughout the day. The town is overlooked by The Alhambra, 'rising above the red hill, the royal city of the Alhambra stands proud and eternal, one of the most important architectural structures of the Middle Ages and the finest example of Islamic art left in the western world' (as described in my guide book!).
My hotel, Hotel Parraga Siete (at 7 Calle Parraga), found on booking.com only the afternoon before, was delightful. The exterior dated from 1819 but inside was very modern with a bar and restaurant. The location was excellent - when I wandered out for my orientation I realised that I was only 2 streets from the cathedral, plazas and shopping zones.
Tourist offices are not always as informative as one would wish - sometimes the 'kiosks' in the plazas are more helpful. These are privately owned and act as agents for different companies. The green and white one in the Plaza Bib - Rambla was staffed by 2 girls and a man, sharing between them the different jobs - tour guide and the kiosk. They offered different walking tours by the company ' Cicerone'. I put my name down and paid 15 euros for a tour of the historic city centre and the Albayzin the next morning. I continued to walk around, by now armed with a map and 'The Alhambra and Granada In Focus' guide - to the Plaza Nueva (New Plaza) where people were learning to ride segways, and along the Calle Santa Ana where I found the Hamman and another (much better) tourist office. I also saw, as I nearly fell over it, an advertising board for a tour of the Alhambra. It cost 52 euros, but also provided transport. I decided to splurge and so could look forward to this tour on Wednesday.
I really wanted to eat vegetables and something different, and up a small alleyway I found an Indian restaurant, 'Muglar'. I enjoyed samosas and lamb korma. At the end of this street is an Irish pub, Hanigan's. They don't have traditional music, but serve Jamison whiskey on ice! They have quiz and open mic nights, as well as celebrate special occasions as the 4th July.
After breakfast on Tuesday in the hotel, I made my way through the streets to the kiosk to join the walking tour. The guide was Carmen, who had helped me the day before. Another couple was supposed to be on the tour, so we waited for a few extra minutes but they did not turn up, so I was lucky enough to have Carmen all to myself! She comes from Cardiz, but loves working in Granada. She speaks English extremely well and is very knowledgeable. Firstly we walked past the cathedral, the Sagrario, the Royal Chapel and went into the courtyard inside a building belonging to the university, with Carmen explaining the architecture as we went. After crossing Gran Via, we wound our way through the AlBayzin, the oldest district, where houses are piled on top of each other, the narrow streets twist and turn, the gardens tumble over walls, wide views across the river to The Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada and coming around a corner to find a hidden surprise! Although The Albayzin is now urban, it contains still many 'carmens', rural houses, with a small entry gate leading to a garden and orchard that could not be seen from the street due to the surrounding wall. A garden full of bushes, trees and flowers, climbing plants, fruit trees , peaceful nooks and water - flowing from a spring or trickling into a pool.
Carmen also explained, as we walked along the Calle Reyes Catolicos (Road of the Catholic Kings), back in the lower part of the old town, about the water system that had been engineered by the Moors and been in place and working well until about 50 years ago. Water from the melting snow of the Sierra Nevada was collected in a reservoir above the city and its movement through the city was regulated by a weir, using the River Darro as its path through the city, now through tunnels under the main roads.
A hidden gem in the city is the 'Corral del Carbon'. In Muslim times it was a lodging house where merchants stayed while they sold their wares in the city. Since then it has been a coal storehouse, a playhouse and a tenement for the poor. It was rescued at the beginning of the 20th century by the city council and restored. Our last stop on the tour was in the bazaar next to Plaza Bib - Rambla, where Carmen explained how the cottage industries had changed over the centuries - in particular the loom based industries making silk cloth, also wares of leather, pottery, enamel, glass, copper, wrought iron and marquetry.
A new handbag was called for as according to the literature The Alhambra is quite particular about the size of bags taken in. I also needed a pedicure board for my heels which were showing the signs of wearing sandals everyday, like in summer at home. I chickened out of buying a handbag at the bazaar after my last effort of bartering in Madrid, so it was a visit to the department store which, like every other store, were holding sales.
Dinner was a quick bite from a Italian pizza and pasta place, called 'Espresso Gondoliere', which has pizzas named after various film stars. For example Brigitte Bardot, Loren, Paul Newman, Audrey Hepburn, Marlon Brando and Gregory Peck! I had vegetable lasagne. Back to the hotel after another whiskey at Hanigan's! (and a visit to the Plaza Bib-Rambla people watching - see the next blog entry!)<a data-ft="{">See More</a>

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