When you visit Granada, you go see the Alhambra. That’s like THE THING you do when you’re in town. I didn’t do any research behind it, I just booked tickets a few weeks back because people told me to. I shared a pic from the previous night of us at the lookout point of the Alhambra which was a beautiful view.
Knowing that the weather was going to be in the 90s I booked our visit to the main area called the Nasarid Palaces for the first block of time at 8:30am before it got too warm. Spain time is so weird to me, everyone is like shifted forward 4 hours. For example, the peak dinner period is not 6 or 7pm it’s around 10pm. We’ve been consistently going to bed at midnight or 1am because all the restaurants and stores are open so late so we might as well be as well.
Waking up at 7:30 was rough but we planned for an early start with a siesta later (I think Spaniards got this part right) and then dinner after. It was a 10 min cab ride up the steep streets to the historical site. When we arrived, they asked for our passports as identification but SOMEONE in our group didn’t bring any form of ID so we had to find a cab and rush back to grab them. Half an hour later we were back at the entrance but we were late for our block of time and the people at the ticket booth were visibly annoyed.
At the entrance of the palace, Joanna said the view looked like the Olive Garden. She’s not wrong, just a funny way of describing it.
Here’s the wikipedia description of this historical site: The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world, in addition to containing notable examples of Spanish Renaissance architecture. Construction of the complex began in 1238 by Muhammad I Ibn al-Ahmar, the first Nasrid emir and founder of the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim state of Al-Andalus. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (where Christopher Columbus received royal endorsement for his expedition), and the palaces were partially altered.
The place was really spectacular and amazing to see the amount of intricate detail that was put into the architecture and designs on the wall. Every time we would leave one building we could feel the 90f heat but inside, it was very cool. I overheard one of the tour guides say this is because of the high ceilings in the buildings.
After about 3 hours of wandering around, we started losing steam and went looking for the exit. On the way out, I stopped at the gift shop and this kid’s book about The Alhambra caught my eye. I thought I’d flip through it since I didn’t do any prior research about the site prior to coming. This single page told me a lot…
My co worker Maria recommended that we try out a type of beer called Radler and a drink she thinks is better than sangria called “tinto de verano” which means the color tint of summer. Holy crap she was right, both of these are now my new favorite drinks. The radler is like a summer shandy but half beer and half lemonade. The tinto de verano is like sangria but red wine mixed with lemonade. Both very refreshing and probably too easy to drink. Thanks to Maria’s advice because now we can continue drinking while looking less like tourists <3
