Third stop on my very typical Spain itinerary – Granada. At risk of sounding like a broken record, wow this city is beautiful! I was most looking forward to visiting the Alhambra, but my favorite part of visiting Granada was simply walking around the old town.
OLD TOWN WANDERING
Most of my time in Granada was spent walking around the old town area. The hills were a good workout and made me feel less guilty about eating all of the churros and chocolate in Madrid!
ALHAMBRA
From almost any point in the old city area of Granada, you can see the Alhambra sitting tall in the mountains. it was built a loooooong time ago as a palace and fort – I won’t do justice to its history so read more here if you want. Anyway, restoration work on the palace started way back in 1821 and is seemingly still being restored to some extent today. There are a lot of areas that are understandably not open to the hordes of tourists (including me) who visit every year. The parts of the Alhambra that are open to tourists are still very impressive.
Within the Alhambra complex are many buildings including the circular patio of the Palace of Carlos V. Wikipedia says that the design of this patio has no precedent in Renaissance architecture, and was avant-garde at that time.
SACROMONTE DISTRICT
I didn’t get a lot of time to explore the Sacromonte district, and if I ever get back to Granada it’ll be first on my list. This area used to be inhabited by the Granadian Romani. Their homes were (and still are) very unique – built into the mountainside of the area. The farther you get from central Granada, the more mountainous and peaceful this area gets.
One final comment about Granada. If you ever get to visit this lovely city, be sure to watch your step. The old town is littered with mounds of dog crap. Seriously, it’s practically unavoidable. Make sure you have plenty of wet wipes in your bag!