What would it be like to live here, does everyone wonder about that when they visit this grand palace? How did it look like in it’s full glory during 13th or 14th century? So many questions ran through my mind when I visited this amazing palace and fort!
The Red One or the Alhambra is another glorious monument of Moorish architecture which was later altered in some areas in Renaissance style. It was abandoned in the 18th century and restored and repaired during the 19th century. The neglect can be seen in lots of areas, specially the ceiling which have the beautiful original colors in some sectionals only. But nonetheless, it worth going to Grandana for and it definitely lives up to the hype it gets.
The views of Albaicin and the Alcazaba from Alhambra add to the beauty of the palace. We also, saw the Alhambra from the Church of San Nicolas, in the Albaicin neighborhood. It’s a steep climb up to get there so we cheated and got the taxi to take us there! But, coming down we decided to walk down and I would highly recommend doing that. It is a wonderful way to see the beautiful alleyways, local way of living and small markets around that wonderful neighborhood.
Our Wonderful guide, Margarita couldn’t have explained the history of the Palace better. I found her reference in Rick Steve’s book and I am glad she could give us the tour. You definitely need to book your Alhambra ticket three months in advance as they get sold out. But, if you don’t find it on their main website I would suggest to take tours by companies like Viator, Getyourguide.
As we had just a day to explore Granada, we choose to see the Royal Chapel,which is inside the Cathedral of Santa María de la Encarnación. We did the audio guide which was quite explanatory and got the tickets on site. The other thing we really enjoyed was the Tapa Tour (refered by Rick Steve’s) to get the feel of the city.
Again, my kids are used to the my travel hogging style, I would suggest two days to enjoy this city! I would have preferred two days too if we had the luxury of staying more days.
One Foot Out the Door 