Yes, the Alhambra is in Granada, and imho if you spend even half your day at the Alhambra you won't see it all, and you will have little time or energy left for the rest of Granada. Short winter light also cuts the day short but is it worth it? Oh yes.
Our bus trip back up was another adventure. When we got back to the Plaza Nuevo, and to the spot where we thought our bus would be, the Info man told us to go one stop back. So we did and when a 34 bus came we asked for the Alhambra and this drive told us to go back more (or so we thought...) Back down the street we walked and finally at the next roundabout I saw a bus coming that was a 34! Aha! We jumped on and then ended up with a tour of Granada...reminding us that the joy is in the journey, not necessarily the destination. Our driver was a young man who seemed to be happy to have what we presumed was a girlfriend accompanying him as he went up and down the hills of Granada, and used his driving skills to negotiate turns and streets that barely had room for one vehicle. We are pretty sure we were in Sacromonte, but otherwise, we just sat in the bus and enjoyed the ride. Eventually we came back to the Plaza Nuevo and to the stop where we has been. Obviously we didn't understand what we had originally heard. Up the hill we drove and arrived at the Alhambra in about 3 minutes. Hmmmm....
Back to submit our tickets for the first of many checks. I'm sure the unemployment rate is kept down by the number of official examiners. ;-) It was closer to 2pm when we actually entered the Alhambra and I don't know if we could have survived a full day of touring! But on to the Alcazabra, the bow end of the Alhambra.
We were happy.
More views inside the grounds of the Alcazabra or from the Alcazabra
And a view down to the city with the Plaza Neuva in the center.
After leaving the Alacazaba, we needed a sit down after all the walking on cobbles. I'm certainly glad we weren't trying to navigate this site in a wheel chair or on crutches as some people were. I have no idea how they managed. Next was the Palace of Charles V with its open round center.
This seemed like a good idea to me but then again we weren't sure we could get back up! Maybe 20 years ago...
There was a fascinating exhibit of old photos of the Alhambra inside the Palace of Charles V but it was very dark inside and not really the place for photos. It really was interesting to see 100 yr old pictures that inspired a re interest in keeping the Alhambra and not letting it just fall into decay.
We then we on our way to Generalife, the palace on the far end of the Alhambra, and some of the beautiful gardens. Along the walk we went into the gardens of the parador. Spring is just starting and gardens are being replanted.
I spotted future lunches..artichokes!
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