Granada

New Granada has  a population of 300,000 people, but we didn’t venture into modern Granada, we stayed around Plaza Nueva in the old part of town. The main tourist site is, of course, the Alhambra, the fabulous Moorish palace, which I will cover in a later post.

There is an excellent viewing spot for Alhambra called San Nicholas. You can see it in the photo – at the top under the church tower. There are lots of people there, looking at us looking at them.

The heart of the old town is Plaza Neuva and all the interesting bits are not too far from here. We first strolled into Corral del Carbon. This is the only surviving caravanserai, a place for merchants to rest their camels and themselves after a long journey. The entrance is through a wonderful old Moorish door. The square is from the 14th century and has at its centre a water fountain. I would love to be able to see what went on here all those centuries ago.

In the Plaza Isabel La Catolica is a wonderful statue of Isabel with Columbus standing in front of her with a contract. I think she looks as though she is sitting in a wheelchair rather than a throne, but it is quite magnificent.

Not far away is the Plaza de Bib-Rambla, which used to be the centre of Moorish Granada. The square is surrounded by interesting looking restaurants and bars and has a Neptune fountain, with another puny Neptune on top.

Neptune is puny, but he is supported by some strange looking gents.

Plaza Romanilla, a little farther on, also has some interesting houses and restaurants.

The nearby cathedral is probably the ugliest church I have ever been into. It is huge and dramatic and ugly.

A far better option is the Royal Chapel which is the final resting place for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel. There are 4 royal tombs made of Carrara marble. The other 2 tombs contain the bodies of Philip the Fair and Juana the Mad. Apparently Philip was so handsome, it drove Juana mad with jealosy. When Philip died Juana kept his embalmed body and kissed it every night for 2 years.

We had lunch at Bodegas Castaneda just off Plaza Nueva. I have to say that I don’t love Spanish food, but this wasn’t bad.

We took the local bus through the old Moorish quarter. They are mini buses, and they need to be because the streets are very narrow. Our driver seemed to be in a bit of a hurry and we hurtled at breakneck speed through the Albayzin. Bus 31 takes you up to the San Nicholas viewpoint to watch the sun set over the Alhambra.

We had a very late dinner (as usual) in a restaurant on the side of the hill with a view over the Alhamba. The food was pretty grim, and the service patchy,but the position was perfect.