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We caught the train from Seville to Granada yesterday. About 4 hours all told to get here. It was a wonderful ride, but not on the AVE high speed so we made a few stops on the way.
Granada is a much higher altitude so the temperature is a bit cooler. Around 75 in the day and down in the upper 40´s at night.
When we got to the train station in Granada and hailed a taxi we told the driver where we were going and he just looked at us with a blank expression on his face. We knew the hotel was small and out of the way, but were hopeful the address would be all we needed.
Fortunately the hotel told us where a nearby, well known restaurant was located so we told the cab driver about that and he knew where to go.
We drove to the restaurant which was closed and he figured out where the hotel was and he and opinted down a steep hill and said it was a two minute walk…
We looked at each other and with full packs started to walk down the hill. We got half way down, got uncertain and walked back up. The taxi was gone and we asked another person passing by and he had heard of the hotel and sent us back down. We felt more confident this time and in a matter of minutes we found it.
I rang the bell as there was a locked gate to the courtyard. We were buzzed in and a young woman who spoke pretty good English greeted us and we went inside.
This hotel is called The Carmen de la Alcubilla del Caracol and is a house converted into a VERY nice 7 room hotel. All the rooms have names and ours is called The Tower. We got checked in and shown to our room and oh my god it´s the nicest room of the whole trip.
Here´s a panorama of the view from our terrace
Those are the Sierra Nevada Mountains you see in the background.
We got settled in and walked down to the city center. That´s something you only want to do once. It´s steep and unpleasant. The trip back up is even worse. Thank god we got our stamina built up in Madrid and Seville. We quickly discovered the little bus system that runs around town and we use that a lot now.
The roads are quite narrow
Everything centers on the Alhambra
We tried to get tickets but they were sold out. We came back to the hotel after deciding to try again the next day.
There´s several holidays being celebrated this weekend. Spanish National Day as well as some smaller festival. We were awakened at midnight by a fireworks display practically outside our window.
The music we here coming up from the town is a mix of Spanish and Morroccan. Very strong Moorish influence here.
Sadly, no Wi Fi (wee fee) and I am using the landlords computer with a Spanish keyboard and Spanish spell checker so please forgive the typos.
More on the visit to the Alhambra as time permits. For now, I´m off to bed.
Mmmm the Generalife part of the Alhambra with the purple flowers…? Swoon! I hope you two liked it!
Are you also going to the cathedral to see where Ferdinand and Isabella (and their daughter Mad Juana – cool name) are buried? If so, don’t miss some of the Flemish art there. (Bouts, I think?)
Oh, and that’s a splendid view – drool…
Wow, what a view!