Spain - Part 2: Granada

On Monday the 24th, Mom and I took a five hour train ride down to the south of Spain for a few days in Granada. Granada is a famously old city that holds the Alhambra, which is a Moorish castle dating back to the 14th century. It is apparently one of the most visited sights in the world for its lavish castles and the intricate details that it holds. There are many stories and myths that have come out of the Alhambra, and the whole city of Granada emanates its importance. Granada was very different from Madrid, partially because of its history, but also because it is a city made up of small, alley-like streets that are busy and bustling, but also very strange and eerie. Much like Madrid, though, the city was covered in monuments and plazas, as well as happy Spaniards enjoying tapas and cocktails out of doors.

Our hotel in Granada was a lovely place called El Ladron del Agua, or 'the thief of water'. This is because there is a theme of water found in the Alhambra and Moorish traditions. It is ever present in fountains and pools in the palaces, and this hotel is located just below the Alhambra in the Albaycin neighborhood of Granada, known for it's magnificent views of the Alhambra. I LOVED this hotel! It's amazing how less nice facilities can make a nice shower and comfortable bed seem so luxurious. I even donned the fancy bath robe the hotel provided just because I wanted to soak it all up, haha. Lame, I know. Other than these things, the hotel was also interesting because it had wooden paneled ceilings and a very Spanish feel about it. It was an ideal place to spend our time in Granada. Here are a few pictures:


We had a lot of Spanish cheese and wine to get through once we arrived, as there was not a fridge in the room to keep all that we had bought in Madrid.

That first night, we spent our time just walking the tiny (and confusing!) streets of Granada in search of dinner. We ended up on the patio of a restaurant that was on a nice little plaza. We ordered lasagna and tortellini carbonara, but though these dishes are normally Italian, we received the Spanish versions. We were a little surprised but happy nonetheless! The lasagna was more like some sort of enchilada-like casserole and the tortellini came with some Spanish ham. All was delicious, and we followed up with the obligatory churros and chocolate sauce. Everyone told me that when visiting Granada, one MUST have churros and chocolate, and they sure were right. It's essentially dipping fried sticks of dough into a chocolate pudding type liquid. SO GOOD!

The next morning, we set out to do more exploring before our scheduled visit to the Alhambra. Here are some photos of us around the city:


This is Mom on the road outside our hotel which leads through the Albaycin neighborhood.



After some exploring and a light lunch, we began our trek up the hill to the Alhambra. We had read in our guidebooks that sometimes gypsies are found on the trail, and they will try to give you stems of rosemary and then try to read your fortune to you from the palm of your hand. Then they will ask you to pay them for it. Well, oddly enough this happened to my mom! We had just came up a treacherous part of the uphill walk and were sitting down for a breather when we were approached by a tiny gypsy woman who handed my mom rosemary and then reached for her hand. I was pretty proud of myself for doing a quick yell, grabbing my mom's hand back and then getting out of there. And, as ever, I was thankful for our Rick Steves guidebook because that little man knows everything about everywhere. It's truly impressive and almost a little strange.

Anyway, once we got to the palaces, they were amazing. We first checked our the Alacabaza, the fort on the outside. Here we are standing in it and overlooking the city:


Here are a few photos from inside the palace. There is so much to have seen and so much detail, but pictures really tell it better. I will put some here and will have more on my photos page.





The next morning was probably the highlight of the Granada trip, as we went on our much anticipated olive oil tour through the Andalucian countryside. Andalucia is the region of Spain that Granada is in, and it is famous for some of it's food and products, such as olives. We were picked up at our hotel and driven way out of the city into the mountains. These were so beautiful! The day was sunny and warm, but we could see snow covering the mountain tops of the Sierra Nevadas. We were driven to a tiny village just beneath the mountains. It was a sleepy place on that Wednesday morning, and it had streets that were just as narrow and difficult to navigate as in Granada. It was a wonder that our driver only had one accident that day... he hit a BMW in a parking lot earlier in the morning.

This is the British couple we were with and me learning from our guide about the trees in the olive field.

Here is a lovely photo of Mom in the fields with the snow-capped mountains behind her.

After touring the olive fields, we were taken to the olive oil press that dates back at least 500 years. This giant press is intact because it was left shut up for many years and was no disassembled as most of the other olive oil presses from the time were. It is a wonder that all of it is still in great shape, and it was also so amazing to think of the Spaniards producing their delicious olive oil for so much of history.

This is a part of the olive press. Impressive!

We then were taken to the the place where we would get to test the olive oils. It was quite an interesting process! We tested five different olive oils. First, we would sip a bit of the olive oil and experience it's taste in that way. Then, we would dip bread in the oil and taste it again. After this, we would then discuss the differences in the oils, eat a slice of apple, and try another. We are now certifiable olive oil experts! After the olive oil testing, we moved on to test four different wines from the region which were deeeelicious! It was such a wonderful experience in this small town in Spain. Here are some pictures from the tasting:




Next, we were taken through more beautiful countryside to another tiny town for an amazing lunch. This was easily the best meal I have had in all of Europe. I had gazpacho, a traditional cold soup, and then roast pork and potatoes. And wine. All followed by the delicious Spanish coffee. It was such an incredible day, and we saw so many beautiful parts of Spain that we otherwise would have missed! Here are some pictures of the views:




The following day, we said goodbye to our lovely hotel in Granada and made the journey back up to Madrid. The train ride through the country was so beautiful, and it was a pleasant journey to have made twice. We found our final hotel that night, despite some complications and a few tears of frustration from me that got the taxi driver to turn off his meter for a few minutes... and then we enjoyed tapas and wine on our final night together in Spain. The goodbye in the morning was tearful, but the memories of a week in Spain, one of my favorite places, with my mom, one of my favorite people, will always be some of my happiest and most cherished memories.