Granada

Granada lies in the heart of Andalucia, the southern part of Spain, being the capital of the province with the same name. The name comes from the fruit pomegranate, in Spanish called "granada". It's a lovely town, at the foot of Sierra Nevada mountains, which we could see covered in snow at the top on saturday as we were making our way from the airport to the town centre, the coach fare a mere 3 euros. The airport is quite close to the town, which is quite a blessing, especially if you're trying to fit as much as you can in a weekend trip starting on saturday morning and finishing, to your regrets, on sunday evening.

It's a relaxing destination, nothing too adventurous, a place to chill more than anything else. Unless you're going for skiing into the Sierra Nevada. But the town is lovely and the pace is much more into the lower ranges of the spectre. Comparing it with Barcelona, this would be more of a place to retire and enjoy the quietness of Sierra Nevada's casting shadow. But maybe that's very subjective, as Granada is a top university town, the 3rd in Spain, or so I read online about it. Or maybe it was the impression because I didn't bump into many english speaking tourists, most of the people wandering around there were spanish, either locals or tourists from around Spain. Part of it could have been the mid-November cold, with 11-15 degrees Celsius, which still doesn't compare with the bone chilling 0 degrees that greeted us in London.

The main attraction in Granada is without a shadow of a doubt the Alhambra. It's a lovely Moorish complex of buildings, with lovely architecture that leaves the european traveller surprised and enchanted. We're expecting to see the majestic Renaissance style buildings, an architecture made to impress by its sheer proportions instead of its refine detail. The arabesque architecture impress by its peaceful layout and the impression is one of philosophical and artistical retreat rather than suggesting a fortress carved to keep enemies at the gate. The only dissonant thought, at least for the modern mind, is thinking that it was all built by christian slaves living in appalling conditions. Ah well, history has darker corners than that, for sure.

We had nice meals, outside, on terraces, which in the end proved too much and too cold as we were frozen by the time we were not hungry anymore. The prices were quite high I thought, charging full dish price for what it proved to be tapas in our humble opinions. But hey, the food was good, the desserts were nice, although I didn't like the pastry too much. It looked much better than it tasted.
Another thing which I didn't like too much about Granada ... I thought it was quite polluted, I could feel the smell of exhaust everywhere, it wasn't that nice.

All in all, Granada was a lovely destination, it comes highly recommended, although I think the best time to visit would be in the summer, when the terraces are warm until late at night. Or perhaps in dead winter, for winter sports lovers, as Sierra Nevada is so close. It's a destination we wished we had had more time to explore. I'm sure it'll end up on my travel plan again in the future.