May 31, 2015, Granada

Today we traveled by train from Madrid to Granada where we will stay for two days.  The hotel is small and picturesque and our room has a lovely terrace with a beautiful view of the Alhambra.

After checking in to our hotel we decided to start exploring.

It seemed every street had a beautiful church or monastery.

There were lots of shops with tapestries, jewelry and clothing.

After dinner we returned to our hotel to take in the view of the Alhambra.

June 1, 2015, Monday morning

After coffee we walked the rambling, hilly streets of Granada before visiting the cathedral.  Our destination was this recommended lookout point, San Nicolas Viewpoint.  There were mountains as far as you could see.

There was plenty of entertainment in the streets, watch the video below.

These narrow walled streets were completely accessible to cars and there were plenty of great terraces with beautiful plantings and old growth.  I would love to have seen the courtyards behind some of these walls.

This monastery now functions as a school.

Here is another convent if I remember correctly.

The bell tower was open so we were able to see more great views of Granada and surrounding areas.

Another monastery or convent.  

This particular monastery had a beautiful courtyard with orange and lemon trees.  Citrus trees were ubiquitous in Spain.

Mixed use building: apartments above and a cafe and ice cream shop on the ground floor.

One of Granada's original walls from the 1100s.

Most of the buildings and walls had plants growing out of them, rosemary in some cases.

All of the old stone streets and sidewalks had some sort of pattern or design.

On to the Cathedral, the altarpiece was the highlight.

Here is the entrance to the Alhambra.

If you don't know much about the Alhambra, it is made up of the original fortress and a few newer palaces. Click here to learn more about the history of the Alhambra.

A view of the ruins from one of the lookouts.

A small window on the way up to the top of the original fort.

The bell tower at the top of the original fortress.

Another view of ruins from the top of the original fort.

I loved the stone pattern of this wall.

The blooms on this tree looked just like wisteria.  Some of the trees and vines in Spain are so old that they are massive so we believed this could actually be a wisteria vine turned tree.

More stone walkway details.

These next images are of Charles V's Palace and the Alhambra Museum.

Roof detail and building design of a neighboring building.

Here are the Generalife palace and gardens.

Stunning, carved, stonework covered the walls and columns throughout.

View to the original Alhambra fortress from the Generalife.  I had no idea the amount of land the Alhambra and Generalife covered but it felt like it was its own tiny town.

Here are some detail shots of the streets and sidewalks in Granada.

Here are some close-ups of entryways and door hardware. 

Next stop Sevilla!!!