We finally left Gibraltar for the two hour drive to Granada around 9pm. The highways in Spain are well signed, in great shape, and have speed limits of 120k/hour. The drive was beautiful alternating between the Gold Coast and the Sierra Nevada mountains. It should have been easy, getting us to Granada in time for dinner (this is Spain after all, so dinner at 11pm should be no problem.) All was well until we got into the city of Granada and spent nearly 3 hours driving around looking for a place to park or return the car. No one spoke English. That wouldn’t have been so bad since between us we speak a decent amount of Spanish, but no one even wanted to play charades or be patient enough to let us muddle through our questions. We did manage to find some nice people who helped though, and finally we rid ourselves of the albatross, grabbed a taxi, and settled into our hotel. Phew!
Granada is still heavily influenced by its Moorish heritage; Turkish food and culture abound. Any time we needed a break from Spanish food, we turned to doners. (I have to confess; the ones the Mladost 1A gang used to get from Tony’s doner stand were much better.) We wandered through the Albaicin, which seemed to be uphill no matter which direction we walked. We hiked to La Alhambra three times trying to get tickets. It was after all, the reason we went to Granada. As the saying goes, “Si has muerto sin ver la Alhambra no has vivido.” (If you have died without seeing La Alhambra, you have not lived.) We did finally get to see the gardens and the palace from the inside, though equally spectacular was the sunset over the palace from San Nicolas Mirador.
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