Wanderlust Traveler: Granada

Palacios Nazaries at the Alhambra of Granada.

Day 5 (Saturday, March 28th 2009)

After feeling absolutely exhausted the night before, I woke up at about 7:00 on my fifth day in Spain in order to get ready for my 10:30 flight to Granada. After checking out of the hotel, I took the train to the airport where I arrived in plenty enough time for my departing flight to Granada.

I had obtained cheap tickets through Spanair (no longer in operation) for only $40 to Granada. My flight left slightly behind schedule, but ended up arriving in cloudy Granada right on time.

The airport in Granada was tiny, one of the smallest I had ever been to and I had to walk quite a distance from where I was dropped off on the tarmac in order to reach the gate. I picked up my rental car at the airport, which I had obtained through Gemut, the same company I had used on my prior trip to Eastern/Central Europe.

After loading my car, I was about ready to take off when I noticed that the charger for my Garmin (navigation system) would not fit into the cigarette lighter. Just as this problem was occurring, I realized that I did not have the address nor the telephone number of the hotel I was staying at, only the name. I left to go back to the car rental agency to see if I could find another car where the charger would fit. The representative for the company came right out and had no problem switching cars; however, the new car I was given reeked of smoke and had obviously not been cleaned as well as the first car I was assigned. I was not pleased but I realized the more important matter was that my charger was working for the navigator; otherwise, I would have been in deep trouble as I was without any maps! I also asked the rep at the car rental agency if he could help obtain the address of the hotel for me. The man went ahead and called the hotel directly, where he informed them that I was on my way and asked for their address. I was so thankful that the man was kind and helpful; when traveling, you never know when you may or may not encounter helpful service.

Once back inside the car, the first item on my to do list was to find a grocery store pronto as I was starving and at the point of passing out from not eating. I found a grocery store listing in the navigator, but unfortunately 15 minutes later, I realized that the grocery store didn’t exist, and that I was driving around aimlessly on the streets of Granada. Luckily, I quickly realized that I was actually somewhat close to the hotel and even closer to a parking garage, where I would have to store the car for a few days. I gave up on the grocery store idea so that I could go ahead and park the car.

From the parking garage, I grabbed my luggage and began the walk to my hotel, which was slightly uphill. As I walked, my initial impressions of Granada were not so good. The parking garage was located just outside the historical part of the city, and therefore, the area itself was not necessarily as nice as I would have expected. The closer I got to my hotel, the more I began to see the Granada I had imagined in my mind.

Unfortunately, I got slightly lost and confused on the way to the hotel, as it was located on a small side street that was almost identical in name to the street it was located off of; extremely confusing at the time, but I eventually figured it out.

When I arrived at Hostal Lima, I was pleasantly surprised. Although my choice of lodging for two nights in Granada was the least expensive of the entire trip, the hotel itself and my room ended up being one of the nicest overall during my two weeks in Spain. It was brightly decorated with lots of beautiful tile and warm colors you would expect to find in the south of Spain. None of the employees spoke a word of English except for the owner’s daughter. However, I was able to communicate the important information using the daugher's limited English so it really was a non-issue.

Entrance to Hostal Lima in Granada.

My room at Hostal Lima in Granada.

After dropping my things off at the hotel, I walked through old town. I became much more impressed with Granada during this walk and realized why it was one of the most popular cities to visit in Spain.
During my walk, the sun finally began to come out, so I was able to get a lot of great pictures of the different architecture and buildings within the city. I found myself walking through many quaint squares, including Plaza de Bib-Rambla and Plaza Nueva.

My room at Hostal Lima in Granada.

A small park in Granada.

Granada

Walking next to Granada's Cathedral.

Spices for sale in Granada.

Architecture in Granada.

Architecture in Plaza de Bib-Rambla in Granada.

Plaza de Bib-Rambla in Granada.

I had wanted to tour the interior of the Royal Chapel and Cathedral, but was unable to as they were closed for the mid-day break (AKA siesta). I too decided to take part in the siesta as I was exhausted. I headed back to the hotel for about two hours and took a much needed nap.

Granada's Cathedral

Granada

After I awoke from the nap, I quickly left and headed back to the cathedral. My first stop within the cathedral was the Royal Chapel (Capilla Real) which houses the bodies of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand. During the Reconquista, these famed Catholic monarchs were able to conquer Granada in 1492, which was the last Moorish capital of a once massive empire. The King and Queen chose to be buried in Granada's Cathedral as symbolism for their victory. Apparently, the royal couple spent a fourth of their wealth designing, building, and then decorating their chapel. Unfortunately, I was unable to take photos within the Royal Chapel, so I have no photos to show but I can assure you that the King and Queen's tombs were quite impressive and grand.

After exiting the Royal Chapel, I walked outside and entered what I thought was the Cathedral. The size of the church was much smaller than I had expected, especially given the scale of the exterior of the building and it was quite dark inside, instead of light and bright as had been described in the guidebook. While I was trying to determine what exactly I had walked into, I realized that there was a wedding taking place in the chapel, with the bride and groom posing for pictures. I thought it was quite strange that the church was open to the public while the wedding was taking place, but it made for an interesting experience. All of the wedding guests were dressed very formally and seemed to take the festivities very seriously. The mother of the bride appeared to be wearing some sort of blank mantel/veil on her head, which I assumed to be a cultural tradition. As I was sitting in one of the pews watching the action, I finally realized that I had actually entered one of the side chapels of the cathedral, and not the main one. Although I had taken a wrong turn, it was a pleasant surprise to run into a local wedding.

A wedding taking place in one of the side chapel's of Granada's Cathedral,

After the wedding interlude, I found the correct entrance into the cathedral. The cathedral in Granada is the second-largest in Spain (after Sevilla's) and is one of only two Renaissance churches in the country. The building of the church began in 1529 and took 181 years to complete. I started the tour of the church in the priest's wardrobe rooms. These two rooms were decorated beautifully with dark wood cabinetry, tall ceilings, and many mirrors. While I have toured many churches in the past all of Europe, I hadn't ever remembered seeing the priest's wardrobe room, so this was a treat to see.

Priest's wardrobe rooms inside Granada's Cathedral.

Prior to entering the church, I had walked around it several times as I walked through the city, and I was extremely impressed with its very clean exterior and massive size. The interior however, was even more impressive than its exterior. It was painted a bright white, and had lofty tall ceilings that seemed to go on forever. This spacious interior has not always appeared that way though; it was not until the 18th century that the bishop of the church ordered that the interior be painted with lime as precautionary measures to prevent disease. The acidity in the lime turned the dark walls white and the people of Granada liked it so much that it stayed white. The main alter of the church was quite spectacular by itself; it was a semicircular shape that had incredibly gorgeous details, but looked even more beautiful from a distance. Overall, Granada's Cathedral is definitely one of the most breathtaking churches I have ever seen in Europe and merits a visit.