Blanca & Ian's Travels

Spain

Trip Report - June 2005

Searching for Moors

Madrid & Andalusia

Almagro, Jaén, Granada, Sevilla, Nerja, Madrid

Part 3 - Granada

Parador de Alhambra (as seen from the Generalife)

Parador de Granada     271€ Std Dbl         http://www.parador.es/

The Parador is housed in an old Monastery originally built as a mosque in 1354. It is on the grounds between the Generalife & Nasrid right in the Alhambra.  Ask for a room in the old part which has a tented inner courtyard & a shrine & a cute chapel & many antiques.  Our room was small compared to the other Paradors, but very nice with a great view across to the Generalife (which you don't know until you walk it). 
 

Day 5 Thursday - Jaén to Granada

We left Jaén at 9:30 & arrived in Granada at 11.  Beautiful scenery all of the way through mountains covered with olive groves.  A good drive with little traffic.  The route to Alhambra is well signed along the highway  & this easily led us to our destination.  We had a little trouble finding the Parador turn in from the main Alhambra road since we missed the little sign on the 1st swing by.  We circled the hill & found it on the second swing by without the driver getting too hysterical.  To get to various hotels & restaurants inside & beside the Alhambra, veer left at the main parking area.  You will have shops & restaurants to your left.  Right beside the ticket booth a small sign points you back to the Alhambra road (on the right) & a guard needs to see some proof that you are staying at the Parador (or Hotel America) which are both on the grounds.  If you miss the turn, keep to your left & circle by the Alhambra Palace Hotel (and its long & useless traffic light) & through a residential are with twisty roads back to the round-a-bout & start again.  On the grounds, you will have to negotiate your way through 10,000 tourists as you drive up the last stretch.  And they are all stupid & move like cattle.  Especially the tour groups (just follow the flag - moo, moo). 

We walked back downhill to the ticket area & picked up our Alhambra tickets for later in the day.  We had decided to devote our entire stay in Granada to the magnificent Alhambra.  Imho it is one of the most beautiful structures that man has built.  We stayed & ate on the grounds for our sole night in town. 

We stopped for a sandwich lunch at the Parador with some refreshing sangria.  Yes, it was very hot again.  We toured the Alhambra all afternoon. 

Back to the room for a siesta & dinner at the Parador.  Same price again (27€ for 3 courses) + a bottle of Margués de Cáceres Gran Reserva 1995 (28€).  The wait staff collapsed 1/2 through dinner & I complained to the restaurant manager.  The quality & services was not even close to the other Paradors which had 'gourmet' food.  Here it was just OK.  We walked the Alhambra grounds in the dark.  While we didn't have tickets for the Nasrid night viewing, it was still magical.

Maybe next time we will actually see some of Granada . . .
 

Parador Sidebar

Be aware, that there is a sameness to all of the Paradors.  Same soap, same towels, similar menus, same bathrobes etc.  All have a bar & a restaurant.  All have a taster's menu (4 courses 35€) & a general menu (3 courses 27€) & a la carte of course.  Lunch in the restaurant is the same menu as dinner, but you can sometimes eat at the bar for lunch.  Breakfast was very good but a hefty 11€ each.  They are often positioned in remote or access limited places, so you tend to eat & drink there rather than face a drive to town or other restaurants (well, we did anyway).  The sameness is good too, because the service, friendliness (and English language) can be a constant in a foreign country.

Room Prices: Almagro for 2 nights $354€ (bigger than average room) - Jaén for 2 nights 318€ (normal room with balcony) - Granada for 1 night 271€.

Driving Sidebar

The Spanish Autovias are great highways.  Well signed & fast with posted 120 km/hr in rural areas.  I drove 130 km/hr & was passed by many Audis, Benzes & BMWs.  Drivers are very respectful & use the passing lane as it was meant.  Not like the cell phone-talking SUV-driving jerks we have in North America. 2 lane roads were also very good once you get the hang of the round-a-bouts.  We drove top down in the convertible until 1:00 PM most days when it got too hot - even with AC on full.

Language Sidebar

As I mentioned above, language was only a problem in restaurants, where our trusty translating book (Lonely Planet) came in handy.  Other useful phrases:  La cuente (kooenta) is the bill in a restaurant (or use the universal writing in the air as a signal), café solo is black expresso coffee & café con leche (lecchay I think) is with hot milk.  Por favor (poor favor) is please.  Agua con gas (gaz - water with bubbles) sin gas (no bubbles).  Red wine is vino tinto. Good is buenas.  Buenas dias is good day, noche is night (bwaynas diaz, nochay).  And that's all you'll need.  Hahaha.

Proceed to Part 4 - Sevilla