3 Weeks in Spain (via Japan)

[rbjhan]

A few hours later I ventured out to Maccas next door for dinner. Yeah weaksauce I know, just too damn tired

Surprisingly quiet in the evening. What happened? This is Spain! The world coming to an end??!

 

[rbjhan]

Happy to report I survived! A good night's sleep and ready to go again.
After breakfast I decided to go see the Puente Viejo.

Didn't look much from this angle.


Now that's much better!


Or this.


Down there was Puente San Miguel aka Puente Romano and Banos Arabes.

 

[rbjhan]

I was too early for the Spaniards! Had to wait a few mins for the Arab Bath to open.

This is the hot room. Must say I found the video to be quite informative.


The warm room.


The cold room


The bridges from Arab Baths.


Getting busy! And time for me to leave...next stop Granada.

 

[rbjhan]

According to Hemingway Ronda is the most romantic town in Spain, I can see why - the gorge is spectacular.
However it is also a big tourist attraction and flooded with day trippers. Do spend a night if you can... evening and early morning it felt very different to me, not sure about romantic but certainly one of the most dramatic I've seen.

 

[rbjhan]

Before I start Granada, let's talk about those Alhambra tickets, now that's fun! Or not....

I started checking tickets mid March. Hmmm this is what the website looked like.


Luckily Dobla de Oro was still available for my dates, just.


What the heck is this Dobla de Oro you ask? Well if you drag the page to the very bottom you'll see...Yes it includes visit to the Nasrid Palace. I suspect the allocations to Nasrid Palace are fixed numbers and many people didn't spend time clicking into each ticket type like I did...


Also bought a night visit to the Nasrid Palace coz, it was available, why not?!

If all the tickets are sold out, I suggest give Granada Card (€40) a try, they might still have some allocation left.
And of course, your hotel might be able to help as well. The Parador offers a guided tour cost €51.

Top tip: if you have been there before, they made some changes in 2018. Tickets can no longer be purchased at the gate, so get them before you go. Good news is that they also do away with the ticket exchange, print off the PDF and you are ready to go (Still need to check ID though).

 

[rbjhan]

Getting to Granada from Ronda involved two buses, even though the ticket was sold by Renfe.
Apparently they've been working on the AVE tracks to Granada like forever. And this being Spain, the opening had been delayed multiple times...
If you are coming from Madrid, the AVE stops at Antequera Santa Ana and then transfer to a bus for the final part into Granada. Unfortunately I was coming from Ronda and that meant another bus from Ronda to Antequera first. The whole journey took just short of 4 hours I am so not going again until the AVE is running...

There were however taxis lined up outside the station #silverlinings

 

[rbjhan]

Parador de Granada
Probably the most sought after (and most expensive!) Parador in all of Spain, Parador de Granada is located inside the Alhambra complex. I decided this would be a splurge

Taxi dropped me off just outside the gate.


Staircase


Not going to say anything about the bed....


My room was on level 3, looking out to the Generalife.




A closer look, that's why I'm here!


Bathroom, not a shrub, thumb up.

 

[rbjhan]

The hotel was formerly a Franciscan monastery, you can still see hints of the past...

Isabella was once buried here until being moved to the Royal Chapel in 1521.




Courtyard, former cloister?


Garden




There's a nice café with views to the Generalife as well.


I had lunch here.

 

[rbjhan]

For ages I've been obsessed with the Alhambra, can't tell you how excited I was finally being here!
Running a bit late so quickly dropped off my luggage and made a mad dash to the Nasrid Palace. I think the daily limit is something like 6600 visitors, however it felt like a million...



But then I saw the Patio de los Arrayanes, nothing else matters ...


And the Patio de los Leones! This was my favourite.




OMG OMG they are so cute


Sala de los Abencerrajes. Apparently site of a massacre during the last years of Nasrid Dynasty..

 

[rbjhan]

Mirador de Daraxa


Beautiful garden


Looking out to the Albayzin




Sacromonte

 

[rbjhan]

I didn't want to leave! But knowing I would be back later that night, reluctantly moved on to the Partal gardens...

 

[rbjhan]

Puerta del Vino, entrance to the Alcazaba.






Torre de la Vela


the Catedral


Plaza Nueva


See a lot of people over there? That's Mirador San Nicolas.


Sierra Nevada

 

[rbjhan]

Palacio de Carlos V

 

[rbjhan]

Generalife
Top tip: [xe.ne.ha.li.fe]
I actually heard someone asked people where was "general - life"....

Generalife located outside the walls, looking back at Nasrid Palace


That was my window ha ha




Wait a minute, no water?! WHY WHY WHY?!!! AAGGHH


All the pictures I've seen before, never came across drained fountains！ Bah

Nope, zero, zip, zilch, nada.



Patio de la Sultana


Auditorio del Generalife

 

[rbjhan]

TIme for a food break

I made dinner reservations at the Parador, there are a few restaurants outside the walls but I was too lazy to walk...
Price was reasonable considering how much they charged for the rooms.

Soup was very flavourful


Spice crusted seabass


Beef stew


Dessert



One major problem I had throughout the trip was food portions. I dunno, all those menus seemed to be designed to fill you to the brim?? Luckily I had evening activities planned to walk off all the calories

 

[rbjhan]

Night visit
Didn't take many pictures as I found the lighting to be very meh. Also, even though there's a no flash rule, it was not enforced. So flashes were constantly going off.

Slightly less crowded than day time though.






Plus you can get close to the lions, awwww


Sala de Dos Hermanas






Day time was def a better experience.

Well that was a whole long day (from 9:30am to 11:30pm, including several Parador breaks).
And this being near the end of the trip I was getting tired, but what a place! It's magical, it's wonderful, it's everything that I ever imagined it to be.

 

[rbjhan]

Hotel number 2 in Granada was Eurostars Catedral, and unlike some places where people being liberal with the names, this one was indeed right next to the Catedral.

I can highly recommend this one.



Real double bed!!


Balcony view


Can't call yourself a hotel in Andalucia without a courtyard...


My take with hotels in Spain is that I prefer new hotels not really because of the style but rather the amenities/bed set up will be more to my liking.

 

[rbjhan]

Went to check out the Royal Chapel where the Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand were buried.
Photos are not allowed.
Saw the tombs of Isabella/Ferdinand and their daughter Juana (la loca) and her husband Philip I.
Downstairs in the crypt there's also the coffin of Juana's son Miguel who died as a child.
The Sacristy is now a museum, where you can see Isabella's crown amongst other treasures.

Picture from official website.


Gave the Catedrdal a miss as I was into serious church fatigue by that point...

 

[rbjhan]

Did a walking tour of Sacromonte in the evening.
Lots of companies offer free walking tours, I like the idea in general as you tip based on how you find the tour to be. I'm not the only one though, that day so many turned up we had to be divided into 3 groups!

Obviously you can do this on your own, just walk up the hills. But I find some local knowledge most valuable, otherwise this would be quite a boring walk...

Sacromonte is most famous for its caves. Apparently that was built by those expelled from the city. Our guide had a lot to say about the Spanish Inquisition...



Caves are getting trendy nowadays though. Our guide said his dream would be opening an small hotel in this area...but the legal aspects of those caves are, hmm complicated.

 

[rbjhan]

I knew Mirador San Nicolas is very popular, but could be very crowded.
Decided to try Mirador San Miguel, wise choice as it turned out!
Had no problem finding a prime spot for pictures.



Ha, found a picture I took the day before, that was Mirador San Miguel up in the middle.
Highly recommend this one, view's better, much less crowded. It was quite a walk though!