While the reason to come to Granada for me was to see the amazing Alhambra, we quickly came to realize the City had much more to offer. It has a very well preserved (and huge) historic district. It houses a University with over 50,000 students. It has great museums and galleries, cathedrals, and plaza's and parks. The confluence of two rivers also adds interest to the City.
Although we experienced chilly days in our February visit, the City clearly experiences blistering hot summers. We saw ripening oranges on the trees and the whitewashed color schemes consistent with hot climates (except for my hometown Phoenix which has unofficially adopted "Taco Bell" pink and beige with a clay tile roof as our municipal color scheme).
Little Plaza's Are Seemingly Everywhere
Loved the Guard Posts in Front of The Local Police Station
Look at the Rich Colors That Adorn the Building!
Queen Isabella Listening to Christopher Columbus
Explain His Plans for Exploration
Granada's Historic Structures Display Many Generations
of Builders Each Adding Something to the One Before
Small Cars and Nerves of Steel Are Required to Drive Here
Loved the Light Standards
Supported by Cloven Hooves
Granada's Plaza De Toros
Concluding our time in Granada was a superb meal at the Puerta Del Carmen. Mary and I enjoyed sharing a selection of Tapas that was terrific. The standout was baby broad beans with trevelez ham cooked in local olive oil. We also had artichokes sauteed with bellota ham. The final dish was eggs with mushrooms, ham and rosemary. Ham is an essential ingredient in almost every dish in Spain. Shops offer literally hundreds of different types of ham.
We had local beer despite their offering of well over 400 spanish wines. This was a relatively simple, yet, perfect dinner. One we savored.
Puerta Del Carmen
(Note the coat hooks under the winebar counter - cool detail!)
The Decimated Egg, Ham, Mushroom, and Rosemary Dish
Arroz Con Leche
Since we arrived for dinner at 6:30 pm, which is a full 3 hours before the average Spaniard thinks about eating, We felt very lucky to score such a delightful meal.
I can't think of a more perfect way to end our visit to Granada. The next day we decided to see some countryside and travel to Madrid by train.
Didn't work for me. As soon as the train started to move I fell asleep and snored blissfully for almost 4 hours.
Roadboy's Travels © 2010
1 comment:
That is the cutest little dessert I've ever seen!
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