Day 13

Due to a problem with previously getting tickets to the Alhambra in Granada (yep, it was me not Ann at fault), the tickets we finally bought online yesterday gave us a time to visit today in the afternoon rather than, as we planned, Saturday afternoon (tomorrow). Because of this change we left Cordoba at 9:00, which is really well before the town even wakes up. That means no traffic. Leaving town was a snap not using GPS. The one problem I had was apparently the road we were to take to Granada had changed number designation since the road signs we saw used a different number than the road atlas we had brought with us. After getting safely out of town by giving Ann perfect directions I realized I was on the wrong page of the Atlas and giving directions from Seville. Amazing (and stupid). I then saw the correct road was the N432 since this was Cordoba and not Seville.

Ann drove all the way from Cordoba to Granada, about 2+ hours. Needing gas we stopped at a station in a tiny wide spot in on the road in the rolling hills of Andalucía. We need diesel and have always gotten the product called “diesel” but this station did not have “diesel”. The non-English speaking attendant assured us that “Gasiolio A” worked. Fortunately the car was still running properly when we arrived in Granada. It was, in fact, diesel that we got.

Our hotel is a six story ultra modern new hotel three minutes down the hill from the Alhambra. This is a great hotel for $71 a night and we are parking for free on the street. That means a splurge for dinner at the hotel tonight.

After a quick lunch at the hotel we headed to the Alhambra, a fortified palace on the hill above Granada. The Alhambra was the center of the caliphate during the last days before the completion of the Spanish reconquista – throwing the Moors out (late 1400s). It is the most visited site in the Spain. It cost us $20 each getting a ticket online yesterday for the time of 4:00. We had to enter the Nastrid Palace in the Alhambra between 4:00 and 4:30 or it is ”Sorry Charlie”. We were there for five hours running up a $13 parking fee. It is a magnificent site that needed be seen sometime before we retired from traveling.

I think we hit the wall about 5:00 at the Alhambra. I was spent. Tonight, fortunately, we came back to our hotel and relaxed like we seldom do. For us that means taking a nap! Which we did waiting for the magic hour of 8:00 when the doors open for dinner. Then bed. Glorious bed.

We got our second wind and headed for dinner downstairs at 8:30. The dining room filled up as we ate. As we ate Ian and Elspeth came in with another couple. I will go back in time to make sense of these people. At the Alhambra we stumbled upon this couple from St Andrews in Scotland. Ian laughed at my pronunciation of “Andalucía” in one of the palaces there. What the heck he is a Scot. What does he know about pronunciation in English much less Spanish? That started a conversation with this quite sarcastic couple. What a hoot they were. So when we finished our dinner we went over to their table and had another laugh with them. Table hopping in Granada. Quite the jet set coupe we are, if I do say so. The dinner was wonderful with a bottle of Tempranillo which was had for a mere $14. Think about that, a bottle of wine at a fine restaurant for $14. How crazy is that. And it was superb. Finishing off that bottle finished us off for the day.