And now on to Granada ...

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I thought that I would do just one blog for the time that I have spent here in Granada. Do not take that to mean that I did not enjoy my time here. Quite the contrary. I've only had the chance to spend two and a half days here and I have truly enjoyed it. The only reason that I decided to do just one blog (apart from that whole time factor ... now I get when my mom who is retired says that she does not see the days go by) is the fact that about one day and a half of it was spent aimlessly wandering around and then there's the big chunck of time that I spent at the Alhambra. You will see that the photos attest to that fact. But let's start at the beginning ...

The train ride from Madrid to Granada was approximately four and a half hours. Having done 30 hour plane trips that just flew by for me. I can sit in a train, bus or plane and stare into space like a pro. I have to say that I may have left a few nose prints on the window of the train. Oh my ... Mother Nature was at it again. First, I have always wanted to see a field of sunflowers. Disregard the fact that there is actually one right at the end of the street from my house. It's more exotic in a foreign country. Well my wish was answered ... field upon field of brigh yellow sunflowers as far as the eye can see. Now if my wish was to see field upon field of olive trees ... that would have been realized as well. You know how we have corn field upon corn field ... here it is olive trees. So many olive trees. And then there are the mountains ... I may have squealed out loud (oh the poor girl that was sitting beside me!) when I saw the beautiful snow capped mountains. It took me a while to clue in but it finally dawned on me that it was the Sierra Nevada. I kept trying to take photos on the train but to no avail. Ironically ... I see them right from my hotel window. I keep peeking out just to make sure that they haven't disappeared! Gorgeous!!

My arrival at the hotel was a workout onto its own. The girl at the hotel had told me to take bus number 3 or 33, stop at the cathedral and that it was just a five minute walk. I couldn't really find the bus stop and it didn't really seem all that far on the map so I walked. Under normal circumstances, it's actually a reasonable walk (I actually almost walked the whole thing again today to see the beautiful paseo and part of Gran Via). With a backpack, a suitcase and it being about 30C ... not so much. I may have been a lovely shade of red when I walked in. The girl at the reception looked mortified when she heard me say that I walked in. No big deal ... just part of the journey. She yanked out a chair for me to sit on while she photocopied my passport and did whatever she needed to do to get me checked in.

The hotel is amazing ... it is actually a former 17th century palace. There is a wish tree which was "planted" in 2008 and is slowly being filled by wishes of the hotel guests. There are also little angels hanging from some of the branches. I have written my wish and it will be added once I leave.

A big chunk of my time was spent at the Alhambra. It took about five hours to visit the entire site and I am not even convinced that I managed to see everything. The Alhambra is part fortress, part palace and it includes incredibly beautiful gardens. The one thing that struck me as soon as I arrived in Granada is that you can automatically see the Arab influences and the Alhambra is a clear testament to that. The souvenir shops throughout Granada have so many gorgeous things. My mother would go insane here!!! I have seen and done alot in the 61 days that I have been travelling (yikes ... only 25 to go!) and I have to say that the Alhambra would be in my top five. The details were intricate. The setting is just out of this world. The grounds and gardens ... just beautiful. Fountains everywhere ... well that just makes you want to pee every five minutes but ... I just love the serenity that comes with a fountain.

The other major site that I had the chance to visit was the cathedral. The design is actually inspired by the cathedral in Toledo which I just had the chance to see. The interior is this beautiful pristine white with only the main altar being quite ornate and intricate. Actually ... that's not true ... some of the chapels are also quite outlandish. The floors are this black and white checkered pattern which just complements the white setting. The cathedral is enormous ... the ceilings are between 32 and 45 metres high and it is 115 metres long. Quite stunning. Part of the visit also included a visit to the sacristy which holds a number of artworks and to the treasury with beautiful gold pieces. The thing (whose name I have no idea) that is used in the Corpus Christi procession was noticeably absent. You will see from the photos that awnings have been drawn and the procession is set to occur on this coming Sunday. My understanding is that this happens nine weeks after Easter ... have I really been gone that long??? I left right before Easter!! So unfortunately I will be missing the procession here in Granada. But I will definitely be keeping an eye out to see if there is one in Malaga.

So I will let the photos speak for themselves ...

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Photos

3 I can write my wish
... and I will before I leave

15
A mixed plate of tapas ... yum!

Comments

[Francine]

Granada is beautiful. Love the Wish Tree at the hotel:) And wondering about photo 142...is she real or is it a statue?

[Marty]

Great shots of Grenada
Hey traveller, awesome photos!!! Hope things are going well....don't ya miss work??!!....yeah right Stay safe, Marty