To the palace!

Another weekend means another weekend trip in Spain- to Granada!

Granada is only a 2.5-3 hour bus ride from Cordoba and the bus here is also very inexpensive (great for college students). After arriving to Granada we made our way to Oasis Backpackers hostel (highly recommend, they have a bunch all over Europe). The streets in Granada’s city center are 98% mostly at an incline so there was quite a bit of hiking involved.

Going to La Alhambra was quite a trek but very worth it. It was the last and greatest Moorish palace. There are several parts to La Alhambra- the gardens, the palaces, and the vacation house. The kings’ palaces were majestic. They had so much intricate detail that must have taken hundreds of people to complete. The palace took us at least an hour as we were stunned in amazement, room after room. Pictures don’t capture every detail of the palace or even how stunning it is but hopefully these can give you an idea of how massive and intricate this kingdom was built.

Granada also has a very lively night life because it is home to a big university (10,000 students) in Andalucia. It’s not unusual to hear people out in the streets going to have tapas or drinks at multiple bars and then going to a night club for dancing.

Nothing says good afternoon like eating a kabob in Granada for lunch. I’ve never had kabobs before coming to Spain and they are magically delicious! While some of us indulged in a spectacular kabob, we trekked (yes, it was a trek) up to Plaza San Nicholas. Spain seems to have more plazas than they do churches but this one stands out for its panoramic view of La Alhambra.

Our original plan was to check out some caves higher from San Nicholas but since the weather was a lovely 42 degrees Celsius, we opted for some ice cream or helado. Helado San Nicholas has the BEST helado and granizados (fruit slushies) in Spain. That’s a fact- if you go to Granada it’s one of two things you must visit, besides La Alhambra.

After we cooled down with the best helado we have ever had the privilege of eating, we did some shopping throughout Granada’s streets. Granada is heavily influenced by other cultures so there was a lot of beautiful tapestries, beaded pillow cases and jewelry that reflected that.