2 March 2025 – Road Trip to Granada

We just came back from a 3 day road trip to Granada, about a 3 hour drive, door to door – with our friends Kevin and Sandy on SV NOCONA MOON. Along the way, we drove higher in elevation with the Sierra Nevada mountain range evident in the background.

In the afternoon, we took a city bus (about 50 cents per person) to the city centre and we hooked up with a tourist bus. We road around for the afternoon (it was rainy weather) and covered most of the city. This, we have found, is always a good way to get “the lay of the land”.

We passed through the streets and saw different parts of the city.

Oranges and lemons were growing on trees in most courtyards.

The next day, our first visit was to the Granada Cathedral. Like many other cathedrals in Andalusia, it was built on top of the city’s main mosque after the reconquest of Granada – in the early 1500’s. This cathedral took 181 years to build, not unusual in those times. This is a photo I took from the heights of the Alhambra, on the next afternoon.

While the Granada Cathedral is not the largest in the world, it is certainly very, very impressive. You cannot help but feel small, standing next to one of these columns.

In the cathedral, there were two organs, facing each other – and during our visit, the technicians were actually tuning them. It was a really special moment to be able to walk around, taking photos and listening to those ancient pipes.

The alter is massive, a photo cannot do it justice.

After leaving the Grenada Cathedral, we came across another treasure: “Five Guys Burgers and Fries”. Yes, it was fast food, and not Spanish, but it was really good, the best burger I’ve had in years!

The main event, of course, was to visit the Alhambra – an ancient palace and fortress complex located in Granada. Making YouTube videos is far too time consuming for me, but I will refer a good one when I think it will help to illustrate our experience. This one is about the Alhambra.

The Alhambra is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world – a very big tourist attraction in Spain. We bought the tickets more than a month ago, for a visit in the winter! There were lots of tourists, but our guide said it was not full. The complex construction was started in 1238 and took over 200 years to complete.

The Generalife Gardens were really something to behold, with the tall hedges, pools and trees. This, we were told, was a typical example of a Christian fountain.

This, on the other hand, was described as a typical Muslim fountain.

After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (where Christopher Columbus received royal endorsement for his expedition), and the palaces were partially altered.

Water is everywhere in the ornate and lavish Alhambra. It flows in channels that cool the buildings; spurts from fountains in grand rooms and charming courtyards; and sprays in such a way that, from certain angles, it perfectly frames majestic arched doorways. The same intricate system brings colour to the famed gardens of the Generalife gardens, the former summer palace next door. At the time of construction, this was one of the most sophisticated hydraulic networks in the world, able to defy gravity and raise water from the river nearly a kilometre below. The great innovation of the Nasrids was to design water ducting that would carry water 6km from the nearest river, and then uphill to their elaborate complex of courtyards, gardens and bath houses. This YouTube video serves to better explain how important the distribution of water is in the Alhambra.

This is the Palace of Charles V, inside the Alhambra.

This is an interior courtyard.

I took this photo inside the Comares Palace, to show the effect of water reflection, another example of the importance of water in the Alhambra.

These photos depict the Court of Lions.

On reflection, this Alhambra Palace (also known as the Red Fortress or Red Castle) is an impressive collection of buildings and courtyards, constructed over the ages. Initially built on Roman ruins, it was built by Muslim invaders who were subsequently driven out by the Christians. It has not only a well preserved fortress, but also the beautiful villa and gardens of the Generalife. The Alhambra is an essential monument, as it proves Arabs once ruled this territory and its architectural style is a relic of this former civilization.