November 11, 2013
Layover in Granada
May as well see the Alhambra as long as we're here
We awoke this morning relishing something we haven't experienced for a month - a day off from the bikes. Our agenda for the day: the Alhambra, food, packing for home, and any other sightseeing we still have time and enthusiasm for.
There must be billions of photographs from the Alhambra by now, and countless descriptions. Not much point in me adding my opinions to the mountain, but it seems incomplete to not add some of my favorite shots from the day to the journal. It is an almost overwhelming place though, both in beauty and scale. For several hours I found myself wanting to take a shot of nearly everything in sight. If you get a chance to go see for yourself, be sure to plan ahead a bit so you're not disappointed at the gate - you can't just show up, because admission is carefully controlled to limit volume. You must reserve your space and time in advance and then show up with a printed voucher early enough (an hour before your allotted entry time is recommended) to pick up your tickets and then walk through the Alhambra to the Nasrid Palace (the most important part of the complex) and queue up there for entry when your hour arrives.
We stayed on the hill for four or five hours before finally calling it quits and dropping back down to the city for lunch on the plaza. It was a pleasant lunch - gazpacho and salad - in pleasant surroundings. It was fairly quiet and peaceful in town today, and we were serenaded by a quite good troupe of flamenco street performers making their rounds - they put on about a twenty minute show in front of our cafe, passed the hat, and then moved down the street to the next cafe to do it again. We also puzzled over what was brewing in the plaza - groups of people were assembling, some bearing various flags, and a news reporting team was on the scene.
Afterwards we returned to the hotel to break down and suitcase the bikes for the flight home and lounge around a bit. Then we made another short foray to wander through the cathedral and university district before stopping in at a restaurant for an early dinner. Along the way the answer to our puzzlement during lunch materialized - a large, boistous socialist demonstration and march, closely monitored by a heavy police presence. At the restaurant (Los Manueles), to our delight we enjoyed one of if not the best meal of the trip. We shared an appetizer of fried eggplant dripped with honey (we have had more great eggplant dishes in Andalusia - it. Is a real staple of the diet here), Rachael had salmon and I had some sort of white fish with diced tomatoes and cheese. Everything was delicious. To top it off, they brought a wonderful after dinner liquor - some sort of Bailey's cream & whiskey blend that even non drinker Rachael thought was great.
Then, back to the hotel for a final pack up and an early retirement. We have a long day ahead of us - our taxi for the airport arrives at 5:30 AM, and we have a four legged flight home.
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