Saturday, March 19, 2016

Alhambra and more!!

Alhambra tour
Today I went to the Alhambra.  I purchased the ticket on-line about a month ago because they sell out of tickets quickly and only allow so many people in per day to visit.  It was magical.





Alhambra



Alhambra gardens



Different view of the Alhambra
It is a palace and fortress complex originally constructed as a small fortress in 889!!  It was converted into a royal palace in 1333.  This is where Christopher Columbus allegedly received royal endorsement for his expedition.  It took me almost three hours to walk through the whole area admiring the views, the architecture, the landscaping and the detailed Arabic inscriptions throughout.

After the Alhambra I walked around chilled out a bit, then took a walking tour at 3pm which was awesome! 



cathedral

Street art by Raul Ruiz


views on our tour up the mountain



We walked all around the city although it seemed like walking up a hill for 3 hours it was well worth the shin splints.  We saw a few paintings of the famous graffiti artist Raul Ruiz, aka as El Nino de las Pinturas, aka Spanish Banksy with his beautiful art around the city.





Then, we walked about another hour uphill to some secret gardens, some private outlooks overlooking the city the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada and took a tour through a private house cave!  Although it may have been the most strenuous tour I've ever done, I think it may have been my favorite ever.  Not sure I ever would have known right outside this beautiful city, through the Arab neighborhood aka Albaicin there is beautiful mountains and rolling hills.





After taking a siesta, I headed out to do my own little tapas crawl.  First, I walked to the outlook of the Alhambra because I wanted to see it at night, the red glow was beautiful.  Pictures can't capture the real beauty, it's something that should be seen.




overlooking the city

night view Alhambra
After hanging here for a bit, I went to four different popular tapas restaurants.  As I mentioned before in Granada, if you buy a drink you get a free tapa.  You really don't need to purchase any food unless you want a meal.  Some places even give you a sandwich and fries .  For around $3.50 USD each I tried Poe, La Antiqualla, Bodegas Casteneda and La Bella and La Bestia.  All great options for tapas and a good glass of red wine or whatever you choose.  The winner for me was La Bella and La Bestia.  A great glass of red wine, fries, 2 fried cheese sticks and a hot Iberian ham and cheese sandwich. 

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