24 Hours in Granada — Adam + Tori

Granada, one of the major cities in the region of Andalusia, is home to the most visited monument in all of Spain.

Unlike the majority of Europe in the Middle Ages, Southern Spain, ruled by the Moors of North Africa, was mostly spared a dark age. While far from leading a perfect society, The Moors were more advanced at mathematics than the rest of Europe at the time and emphasized that in the use of geometry. You can see this in the sophistication of the architectural style. Islamic in nature, the patterns were intricately and elaborately geometric and avoided the use of images. Granada was the last stronghold of the Moors and didn’t fall to the Spanish Reconquista until 1492—the same year the crowns of the newly-unified Spain financed our dear friend Chris to go misname various parts of the world. The greatest monument of the Moors still standing: the Alhambra. It felt wrong spending a month this close to it and not visiting, so Thursday morning we decided to hop a train and spend a couple of days exploring the city. These are some of the highlights.

Feeling a little weary from the sensory overload, endless logistics, and general discomfort associated with traveling full-time on a budget, I decided to cash in a free night award from Marriott. The search didn’t take too long: only one listing had the world “palace” in the name. I hadn’t told Tori that I booked a five-star hotel—which was apparent from the look on her face as we walked through the gate from the bustling streets of Granada into the tranquil gardens surrounding our new home for the night. Truthfully, a break from our pancake pillows and night owl neighbors would have been luxury enough, but neither of us were upset about the rain shower head, freestanding tub, or espresso machine. On check-in, the representative informed us that a spa visit could be included since I was a member but they were limiting capacity to just one party. Needless to say, we booked the heated pool for an hour later that evening.

I spent ages researching restaurants in the area—specifically in the Albaicin Quarter overlooking the Alhambra—looking for the perfect spot to spend the evening. There are plenty of options with extraordinary views and exotic, local cuisine (and the prices you would expect with that), but nothing like that sounded that great in the moment. What sounded good was a little more chill, a little less decision fatigue, and some comfort food. Luckily, one of the top restaurants in the city just happened to be Mexican—and cheap. We made a 10:00 reservation and enjoyed every bit of it. I think it goes to show that the most ideal experience isn’t limited to the most picturesque or authentic one.

The Alhambra

A week earlier, I bought our passes to the Alhambra online. Out of all the cultural sites we’ve visited so far, this one by far has had the most rules and regulations. The complex itself is massive and confusing. It took a little bit of digging to figure out. The best thing we did was purchase tickets for opening time. The early morning temperatures held enough reprieve to make the climb from the city to the hilltop without breaking too much of a sweat.

There are a couple ways to get into the complex—which is literally a fortress, but most of the crowds go to the main entrance. After some reading, I had a suspicion that we could enter through the original palace doors but wasn’t entirely sure because most of the accounts were several years old. Ten minutes before opening, we strolled up to the foreboding medieval doors. A couple of people passed by, but for the most part it was just us. Apprehensive, I considered making the climb up to the main entrance so we wouldn’t miss our time slot. But, sure enough, at opening time the creaks and groans of old metal came from behind the gates and a single guard appeared through a porthole in the door and vanished just as quickly leaving the door open behind him. There wasn’t a line behind us. We peaked around the corner and wandered our way in. It felt like we had found a secret entrance to the palace. No one questioned us as we joined the front of the line to the inner palace ahead of the crowds pouring in from the main gate.

Generally, there are audio and guided tours available for these kinds of things, but I find I like to walk through at my own pace and read up on it later. Everyone seems to be after the same photo, and the main patios can get crowded. You’ll often wait for awhile just to get a shot without any other people in it. I find that usually the best spots are on the side, away from the crowds—the odd angle or the overlooked corridor. Tori and I spent the morning wandering and marveling from every angle.

I’m normally not one for tour guides, but this one seemed pretty chill. On our way into the complex, I noticed a bengal cat lurking in one of the palace windows. After dealing with the crowds all morning, we found a quiet place in the gardens, and this little guy wandered out and quickly warmed up to us. Apparently, the Alhambra is home to fifty or so cats—some exotic, some just regular house cats. The myth is that a few of them are descendants of the exotic breeds kept by the Moors in the Middle Ages, but regardless of whether that’s true or not, there’s no question that they are the only residents of the Alhambra that remain.