Granada; Thursday, 12 March, 2009

After a less than filling breakfast I headed out from the hotel for a morning walk through the Albaicín, the old Moorish quarter of the city, as suggested by the guide book. In the end it took up a large part of the day, as I stopped at several sights along the way included the El Bañuelo (Moorish bath house), the Museo Arqueológico y Ethológico (Ethnography and Archaeology Museum), and the Colegiata El Salvador a former mosque which was converted into a church after the reconquest before reaching the main target of the walk, the Mirador San Nicolás.

The views from the plaza here are spectacular, across the ravine of the Rio Darro to the hills of the Alhambra with the fort laid out before you. The Plaza is directly in front of the church of the same name, which was another converted mosque. Sitting just next door to it is the Mezquita Mayor de Granada, the current mosque, opened in 2004, over 500 years after the last of the Moors left Granada. The mosque operates an open door policy so I was able to wander around their beautiful gardens, taking in the views which were as stunning as those from the Mirador, with the added advantage that there are far less tourists (and conversely pick-pockets).

Having stopped for another latish lunch in a little cafe just behind the church I continued by wander through the Albaicín, taking in more of the sights, including several more churches which were converted from mosques, their bell towers showing distinct signs of a previous life as a minaret. Towards the end of the walk you pass along the Calle Calderería, a street full of shops laid out like an Arabian Souk.

By the time I got back to the Plaza Nueva at the bottom of the Albaicín I was quite tired, so I decided to take a quick stop in an internet cafe and book my ticket for the Alhambra for the following day. I had read in all of the guide books that it was important to book in advance as the number of tickets available is heavily restricted, and there is no guarantee when you go up to the ticket office that there will be any left for that day. Whilst looking online I saw an advert for the Bono Turístico card, which, along with admission to several museums, also gave access to the Alhambra and a couple of free bus rides. At the same time I also saw that the Alhambra would be open for evening viewing on Friday, so I decided rather than booking my ticket on-line I would book an evening ticket, and then get a Bono Turístico for a full day visit. Having completed my booking I wandered off to the tourist office to buy a card. Sadly, the tourist office doesn’t stock them, but a little Kiosk just down the road does, except that closed at 2 and it was now gone 4, though I could get one from a branch of the CajaGranada bank, except all the local branches were now closed, so I could pop down to the Science park, just two kilometres away to buy one. In the end I decided I couldn’t be bothered, but this left me with an issue of how to get a ticket for tomorrow.

All the guidebooks had said that you could purchase tickets through the cash machines of the BBVA bank, however, on visiting a branch of BBVA there was a big notice on the door, before you even got in, saying that with effect for 2007 they were no longer the agents for the Alhambra cards. As I wandered back towards the Cathedral my attention was caught by a notice stuck next to a cash machine of a branch of la Caixa bank. As I wandered over to it, whilst I could see it was in Spanish, it had the key words Alhambra and Credit Card. Five minutes later, having followed the step by step instructions in Spanish (and not having the faintest idea what they meant) I was in possession of my Alhambra ticket for the following day.

Having now sorted the ticket for the Alhambra I had a wander around the Cathedral area, taking in the Capilla Real and the Cathedral. As I emerged from the Cathedral it was just gone six, so I hopped onto a bus up to the Alhambra, and then wandered up through the Olive groves above the complex to the viewing platforms. Perched high on the hills above the Alhambra they have stunning views out of the planes that Granada rests on, with the mountains in the distance and the snow capped Sierra Nevada directly behind, and from here I was able to watch a stunning sunset, slowly turning the walls of the Alhambra, and the city into a deep red.

Having taken in the sunset, I caught a bus back down from the Alhambra and back up the hill of the Albaicín to the Mirador San Nicolás to take in the full scope of the Alhambra at night, and then hopped on another bus down past one of the former entrance gates of the city the Puerta Elvira.

By now it was getting quite late so I went for some dinner before heading back to the hotel and another good nights sleep.