Granada

Alhambra from the River Darro

We have been looking forward to exploring inland Spain, so this week we hired a car to take a trip to Granada. Before we left, we headed round the coast to Mazarron to look at the Bolnuevo Erosions, a collection of wierdly shaped, towering sandstone rocks formed by weather erosion over millions of years. It reminded us of some of rock erosions we have seen in Cappadocia in Turkey.

 

Bolneuvo erosions

 

Our trip to Grenada took us through some spectacular and fascinating mountain scenery. One of the most unusual sights were the cave houses in the Sierra de Baza. It used to be common for people to live in the local caves as they were much cooler than the traditional houses, but we were surprised to see that people still live in them today. You would suddenly come across a traditional, white rendered frontage with door and windows set into the rocky hillside, with a chimney or two poking out of the rocks further up. Needless to say, the developers have spotted this as an opportunity and you can now rent or buy the cave houses as holiday homes.



Cave house near Baza

View of Granada from the Alhambra

We woke up to the sound of pouring rain on the first morning, so it was on with the waterproofs before heading off to Granada’s key attraction, the Alhambra. Set high on a hill above the town, the Alhambra housed the palaces of the Nasrid Sultans, rulers of the last Spanish Muslim kingdom.

 

Patio of the Lions

 

Partal Palace

 

Generalife
 

Intricate carved wood ceiling

 Luckily the rain cleared and the sun came out as we wandered around the beautiful gardens and admired the intricate workmanship that went into building each of the palaces.  The Moorish architecture is stunning and is complemented by their use of water, which cleverly reflects the sweeping arches and creates a calming atmosphere. We found the views from the Alahambra equally breathtaking, with the magnificent snow-capped peaks of Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance and the hillsides rich with autumn colour.

 

Snow capped Sierra Nevada mountains

 

Autumn colours below the Alhambra

 Walking back down from the Alhambra, just around the corner from our hotel, we heard the sounds of  a guitar being played. We followed the music and found two guitarerros -  guitar makers - right across the street from each other. Apparently Granada has over 40 guitarerros and many classical musicians buy their guitars here. One of the shops we had found, Casa Ferrer,  is the oldest in the city and has been making guitars since 1875.

 

Casa Ferrer

 

After the Alhambra, the second highlight of our trip had to be the food. We dined out on tapas - most bars offered free tapas with each drink, often bringing us a meal-sized plate of delicious squid, salt cod,  paella or pork and then we would choose another dish or two if we had room. We also discovered that the pasteleria over the road from the hotel made excellent coffee and  very tasty cakes – our favourite was the Granadian speciality of Pionino, a thin, sweet pastry coiled into a cylindrical shape and soaked in honey-based syrup then topped with toasted cream.

 

Pionino pastry

We walked off all the calories exploring the narrow streets of the Albecin, the original Moorish sector of Granada which sits on the hillside beside the river. The area is a mix of Moorish and Christian buildings, where souks sit next to churches and the tiny squares still feature the traditional mosaic paving made using the smooth white pebbles from the River Darro and slate from the Sierra Nevada.

Traditional mosaic paving

At sunset each day we made for the Church of San Nicolas at the top of the Albecin, where you have a panoramic view over the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Alhambra. On our second night, as the sun went down two guitarists began playing flamenco music.  When  darkness fell the walls of the Alhambra glowed under the floodlights and the place had a truly magical feel.




Sunset serenade

Alhambra at night