Tales of the Alhambra

The Alhambra is a large hilltop complex with several sights. Three of the sights (Palacios Nazaries, Generalife Gardens and the Alcazaba) require paid admission and advance reservations. The palace has controlled entry: you have a 30 minute window to enter the palace. Since our window began at 9:30, we’d need to be up by 8:30 to get ready, grab something to eat and make the hike up to the Alhambra.

Fortunately for me, there is a lower entrance to the Alhambra that is about halfway up where we had hiked the day before. Even though we had one of the early entry times, there was a huge crowd at the Alhambra. With so many tourists trying to frame their once-in-a-lifetime photos in each room of the palace, it was hard to take time and contemplate the space, the views and how this amazing place had been preserved. Or to imagine what it must have been like here during the time of the last Sultan who lived here.

We were at the Alhambra until just after noon and then headed back to town for lunch.

We’d been in Spain for nearly a week without having paella (except for the awesome tapas version at Bodega Casteñeda). Dylan wanted the full-on paella experience, so we decided to go to Restaurante Sevilla.

Tactical food mistake: we ordered the same number of orders of paella as there were people eating paella. Let’s just say that more than a few grains of rice went back to the kitchen. It was very good, but it was also nearly death by paella.


We waddled out of Restaurant Sevilla to do a little shopping. Liam secured a few items, including a nice wall hanging for his dorm room. After shopping, siesta!

Friday night we were all very tired, after a full week of travel, hectic sightseeing and adjusting to the late schedule in Spain. We cancelled our reservation at the restaurant in the Albayzin and looked for a couple of recommended places to eat in town, but could not find them. Frustrated, we headed back to the hotel for a brief time-out. Eventually we decided to go back to Bodega Casteñeda around 10. It was packed, with no room to squeeze in. We went around the corner to La Antigua Bodega, supposedly the oldest restaurant in Granada. We secured a table outside and settled in for some tapas and the Spanish classical guitarist playing tableside. We were ready to slow it down.

"Dining in a Postcard"

Thursday evening we took a bus over to the Albayzin district, the Moorish hillside quarter that is opposite the Alhambra and offers incredible sunset and evening views of the Alhambra from the San Nicholas viewpoint. When we arrived, it was jammed with tourists and several TV crews, who were setting up long-distance telephoto shots of the Alhambra to peek in on Michelle’s evening visit to the Alhambra.

Just down from the main Alhambra viewing spot is a restaurant called El Huerto de Juan Ranas Bar. We planned to just have a drink and watch the sunset on the Alhambra, but ended up getting a table and having dinner. The food was very good; the view was spectacular. Dylan called it "dining in a postcard."

We decided to walk back to our hotel from the Albayzin. Again, all downhill, except for the last 100 yards that goes from the Plaza Nueva to our hotel, which heads up toward the Alhambra. On the way, we went exploring the Albayzin, looking for a restaurant that had been recommended to us by the Lipfords. After some back and forth and up and down, we found it. We made a reservation for the next night.


The walk back started to build up the boys’ appetites again. They wanted to go back to the Bodega Castañeda. Jenny went with them, while Ali and I stayed on the Plaza Nueva - she eating ice cream and me having a nightcap.

Jenny and the boys can use the comment section to talk about their late night experience at Bodega Castañeda. Suffice to say, it was as great as our lunch there.

Tales of the Alhambra - Preface

Post lunch and near run-in with Obamas, Jenny and I left the kids at the hotel to go get our Alhambra tickets in advance of our Friday tour. As we started up the hill to the Alhambra. Jenny had offered to go on her own, but martyr that I am, I said, “no, I’ll go with you.” Nearly famous, nearly last words.

Look, the hike up to the Alhambra is about 20 minutes on a near 45 degree angle the entire way. Not easy in any weather, but it was now over 40 degrees (that's over 100 degrees for you Americans). Even the locals think that’s hot. I may have hallucinated at certain parts of the hike.

We made it, got the tickets, and I eventually cooled off. We took a long siesta at the hotel.

Best Tapas Bar?

Bodegas Castañeda was the first place that Carmen, our proprietor at Hotel de las Puertas de Granada, recommended for tapas in Granada. We had not noticed that Steves also recommends it, but looking back at his review, while it's very positive, it does not do the place justice.

Not real big, a local crowd, we squeezed along the bar. No bartenders work harder than the ones at these tapas bars, especially this one. The kitchen is immediately behind the bar and chefs there can make eye contact with patrons at the bar. (You can almost make out the kitchen behind those shelves next to Liam in the photo above.) It took about 10 minutes to get into the swing of things, but after our first drink order, we were there.

Bodega Castañeda is an old-school tapas bar, meaning that with each drink you order, the bartender prepares a plate of tapas, that are included with the price of the drinks. The first might be something small, like seasoned almonds or olives, but it can include tapas a bit farther up the scale, like patatas bravas. That, plus the tapas you order on your own, make for quite an experience. It also helps when the chef decides to make a personal impression - coming out from the kitchen to talk to you and bring you a tapas plate.

In Madrid we had been at tapas bars with fancier, more intricate tapas. But not one that seemed as authentic. No English in this place, but we definitely communicated. Best Tapas Bar.

Close brush with celebrity in Granada

Thursday morning we had to catch a train to Granada. So, it was an early morning to get up and out. Fortunately for us, we had already been from our apartment to the Atocha train station twice, so we knew what to expect. This time, though, we had our tickets in hand, so no need to negotiate a purchase at the station. Just get there on time, get to the right platform and get on board.

(EARLY metro ride to train station)

The trip via high-speed train from Madrid to Granada is about 4 hours. The trains are clean, roomy and comfortable. The trip is quite scenic: olive groves, corn fields, mountains, wind turbine farms. Actually, Spain is one of the leading countries in use of alternative energy sources, which is evident from the wind turbine farms and hydro projects we’ve seen while traveling over or through the countryside.

When we disembarked from the train, one thing was very clear: it was HOT. Upper 30s (90s for you Americans). I decided we would not try to figure out public transport to our hotel - we’d splurge for two taxis. The boys and I piled into one, Jenny and Ali in the other for our trip to Hotel de Las Puertas de Granada. On the way, our taxi driver and I had a conversation in Spanish that we both mostly understood. Michelle Obama would be arriving in Granada in about two hours. Great.

We checked into two rooms at the hotel. Jenny and I were on the 4th floor with a nice view of the Alhambra. Lift to third floor and walk up one flight. Kids were sharing a room on the third floor. The rooms were not big, but they had ensuite bathrooms (great showers) and were well-appointed. Carmen, the proprietor, was phenomenal. Fluent in English, she pointed out everywhere on the map we would want to visit or eat at during our brief stay. She also suggested we might go up to the Alhambra that afternoon to pick up the tickets the hotel had reserved, so that we would not have to deal with it the following morning when our tour was scheduled (9:30 a.m.).

(View of Alhambra from our room.)

We dropped our bags in our rooms and headed to lunch. Carmen had recommended a very local, very good tapas bar called Bodega Castañeda. (More on Bodega Catañeda in next post.) As we left the tapas bar after lunch, we noticed a large crowd at the end of the street. Obviously Michelle was nearby or was about to be nearby. Down an alley off the street we were on, we could see a few people being blocked by police and either plainclothes officers or secret service in their “Spain tourist” garb. They would not let anyone through the alley. Near where they stood, several people were holding up cameras and screaming “Michelle, Michelle.” This must be where they were having lunch. They were eating at Los Italianos. Definitely not as great a meal as we had just finished.



Before long, the crowd on the front side of the building started to scream and shout. Michelle was on the move. We went around to the front and saw Michelle and her party crossing the street to visit the cathedral in the center of town. Our hear brush with celebrity over, we headed back to our hotel.