Spain
la Universidad de Granada Botanical Garden

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    • Day 10

      Alhambra

      April 2 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

      La cathédrale de Grenade la seconde plus grande d Espagne...les ruelles ....les souks....ne pas oublier l apero..puis les tapas....la visite de l Alhambra...les souks de nouveau...pour finir par un couscous dans un resto syrien 😉 oui vraiment nous avons adoré le charme de cette ville ❣️Read more

    • Day 236

      Granada

      June 19, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Granada klingt wie Granatapfel? Korrekt. La Granada ist Spanisch und heißt Granatapfel. Es ist auch die Wappen-Frucht der Stadt und an vielen Straßenpollern und Toren zu finden. Es sei wohl umstritten, ob die Stadt den Namen der Frucht zu verdanken hat, oder umgekehrt.

      In Granada mache ich mal wieder etwas Sightseeing, merke aber dass ich bei historischen Fakten kaum noch aufnahmefähig bin. Die Araber kamen irgendwann mit ihrem Islam und wurden dann wieder von den spanischen Christen vertrieben.... Burgen, Schlösser, Kirchen, Moscheen.... Granada war auf jeden Fall die letzte Stadt die 1492 von den Spaniern zurück erobert wurde. Und das ist auffällig, denn hier sind die arabischen Einflüsse noch am meisten spürbar und sichtbar. Es gibt sogar einen Souk, einen arabischen Markt. Der Baustil von Moscheen und Kirchen vermischt sich hier oft. So sieht man vielmals Minarette an den Kirchen, der als Kirchturm umfunktioniert wird. Der maurische Stil ist hier extrem im Stadtbild sichtbar. Man fühlt sich teilweise wie in Marokko und da war ich ja erst vorgestern, ich weiß wovon ich spreche.

      Alhambra ist die wohl bekannteste Sehenswürdigkeit, kostet 30€ Eintritt, mit Führer wesentlich mehr, soll aber empfehlenswert sein. Ich hebe mir den Besuch für das nächste Mal auf. Denn eines steht fest: nach Andalusien möchte ich wiederkommen.

      Witzigste Begegnung hier war ein Südkoreanisches Pärchen, was mit mir an einer Tapas-Tour teilnahm. Irgendwann übernahm ich die Städtetour für die beiden und zeigte ihnen die europäische Welt und die Welt des Biertrinkens.
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    • Day 27–30

      The Beautiful City of Granada

      January 29 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      Before arriving in Granada, we saw snow on the Sierra Nevada mountains that rise up behind the city. People can ski here from November to June! And Grenada is only one hour away from sandy beaches. Amazing!

      There is way too much history in Granada for me to read and to try to put its history in a nutshell. Basically, it was once a Muslim kingdom. The Catholic monarchs captured the city in 1492 and ended the Islamic presence on the Iberian Peninsula after 800 years. From then on, a lot happened. Too much to write about but super interesting.

      The monarchs were ones that we know - Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. Also this was the place where the Catholic Kings signed an agreement in April 1492 and accepted Christopher Columbus’ terms to undertake his famous trip. The document granted Columbus the titles of Admiral, Viceroy and Governor-General of all the lands he would discover and set the condition that he would keep a tenth of all future profits.

      Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand chose to be buried here, in Granada’s Cathedral.

      In Spanish, Granada means pomegranate. According to the stories, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella chose the fruit as a symbol of their final victory over the Moors, and that fruit became the city’s symbol.

      Granada is a lovely university city full of young people, (over 50000 students), parks, fountains, restaurants, flat walking streets and historical buildings. Streets are narrow and wind through the city. It is a pleasure to stroll on its streets and try to take in all of its beautiful sights. On top of that, it is a safe and friendly place to be with a laid back vibe.

      When I was researching what places to visit or things we could do here, one website mentioned 183 places! What to choose? We are here for only 3 nights, 2 full days. Yikes! Of course, we had to see the Alhambra so that was easy, but what else? Cave houses? A Flamenco show, The Mystery Man exhibition? Churches? Monasteries? Arab market? Free tapa bars? Wow. Where to start?

      Our comfortable and quiet hotel, Casa de Reyes, is in a perfect spot for seeing whatever we can fit in to see. And it is decorated with beautiful stained glass fixtures and traditional decorated plates.

      Anyways, we do have a bit of a plan. The Alhambra had to be pre-booked, so that was done a couple of weeks ago, and the rest will fall in place.
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    • Day 28

      A “ Menu del Dia” & Free Tapas

      January 30 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

      Did I mention that tapas are free here with a drink? With every round of drinks, you also get a free and delicious small plate of food. It’s part of the local food culture.

      Tapas can range from something as simple as a plate of olives or potato chips to a bowl of stew with bread. In Granada, some of the tapas we ate or saw included fried fish, soup, olives, ham, croquettes and even mini hamburgers.

      If you are smart and don’t want to spend money on food all you have to do is order the caña, a small beer, 8-10 oz. It’s not quite equivalent to a can of beer. The benefit of ordering a caña is that it still comes with a plate of tapas. Yes, it’s smaller, but it’s also cheaper. The caña is the perfect companion to tapas. Lol.

      Our hostess suggested a great place for tapas in Granada called Las Bodegas Castañeda. It is right in the middle of the old town, just around the corner from Plaza Nueva.

      It looks like the kind of place that would be a tourist trap with Its decor - legs of ham ready to be sliced at the entrance, stuffed bull heads, big barrels made into tables and plenty of wood. It looked a bit like a movie set of a tapas bar, designed to bring in tourists. But I think that we were the only tourists there.

      So, we went in to get a drink and try their Menu del Dia (menu of the day) , for around $18 Cdn each. We ordered an Alhambra beer and a new drink for me - Tinto de Verano, red wine, soda, lemon and ice. Mmmn. So refreshing. Of course, two tapas came with the drinks called Migas. And olives and toast. Delicious. Will we really need a big lunch?

      Next came the menu choices - 5 starters, then 5 main courses and small dessert. Oh, oh.
      But we had already walked 8 km and it was 3 pm…

      I chose a salad (enough for a meal) and Chris chose a vegetable stew (like ratatouille). Both were so tasty. Can we eat more?

      Our main courses were ribs over potatoes and a chicken in sauce dish over couscous. It was so good and I felt like another Tinto de Verano!!! Guess what another tapa came with it - some bean dish that neither of us could even think of eating!

      Then a dessert? No way! We got it to take home with us - a small traditional pastry that is soaked in Sherry. We saved that to have later with our tea.

      What a meal! We’ll have to walk another 8 km after I recover from my Tintos!
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    • Day 9

      Grenade la magnifique

      April 1 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

      Enfin le soleil...les Champs d oliviers par milliers et la sierra Nevada enneigée et l arrivée à Grenade...ville superbe ...mélange arabo-chretien qui a donné le Al Andalou...rue Elvira on se croit en terres arabes ..on a déjeuné libanais...puis départ pour la visite des deux quartiers les plus anciens de Grenade qui ont écrit l histoire de l Espagne avec notamment la naissance du flamenco et les styles des maisons appelées carmen (rien à voir avec le prénom )...je voudrais tout vous raconter mais c'est impossible. Vous aurez compris que Grenade nous a conquis 🫠Read more

    • Day 65

      Granada

      August 4, 2020 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      Hier in Granada endet meine Südspanienreise. Leider musste ich aus meiner so günstigen Unterkunft abhauen. Ich bin in einer Messi-Wohnung gelandet. Eigentlich wollte ich bis Sonntag bleiben. Das geht leider überhaupt nicht. In Zukunft buche ich über Booking nur noch eine Nacht. Und dann hänge ich Nächte ran. Daraus habe ich hart gelernt. Die Stadt ist wie leergefegt. Durch den Virus fehlen hier ca 95 % der Touristen. Es ist fast gespenstisch. Aber der Besuch ist lohnenswert.Read more

    • Day 28

      Our Hotel - Casa de Reyes

      January 30 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

      As we were leaving the hotel to do a morning walk, our hostess Carmen waylaid us and told us to come with her as she wanted to show us something.

      She told us that the owner of the hotel owned 5 buildings in a row and had the plan to make a big hotel that contained a museum of medieval objects. She opened the door to House 13 and we were stunned by what we saw.

      We walked into a medieval foyer full of large olive wood carvings, knights in armour, swords, shields, heraldry, stained glass and even a large Don Quixote and Sancho Panza sculpture! It was the hotel’s museum.

      Once we got over the initial shock of seeing such a room, Carmen told us to look around as she had to get back to her desk. We could look around and then close the door when we were done.

      Well, the next room was a medieval dining room with a table set for six. The next room was once again jaw-dropping with what looked like two huge doll houses.

      You have to check out the photos. It goes without saying (but I’m saying it anyways) we were pleasantly surprised by our ‘detour’.
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    • Day 16

      Granada, Spain

      April 24, 2016 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

      Arrived late this arvy to the Hotel La Casa De La Trinidad. The train line was not open all the way. They are doing works on the line so we had to get off at some place and be bussed here. Purchased our tickets to Algeciras for Monday (Anzac Day) which was a bit of a challenge. The fella spoke no English at all but we managed. Finaly got a cab to the hotel. Great hotel. Close to everything and the room is really good to. Breaky included as well as wifi.
      Walked around a bit this afternoon. Stopped for a late lunch across the way and had seafood paela and chicken paela and a couple of cervacia estrella galicia. Nice beer. Cam across the biggest cathedral just up a bit from the hotel. wandered through the laneways and discoverd them filled with Moroccon stores and spices. What a segway into the next part of our trip.
      Walking tour today was great. Well worth doing. Booked it through Viator. After tour we walked up the hill to a lookout that looked out over the city and castle and the snow covered mountains in the background. Breathtaking, particularly on such a beautiful day.
      I think next time we travel we will book a tour guide/walking tour/bike ride tour in each place as it is the best way to see around the place and get information. You can also ask whatever questions you want and get answers to at the time. I also think next time we come here to Spain we will spend the same amount of time here but visit less places. More time in each place will give us oppotunities to see inside some of these places.
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    • Day 127

      Mehr ist mehr: Granada

      October 28, 2021 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      Auf unserer ‚Places to see‘ Liste standen nicht allzu viele Städte, aber eine war von Anfang an klar: Granada und seine Alhambra. Sie gilt als wohl schönstes Monument maurischer Architektur und ist Spaniens meistbesuchte Sehenswürdigkeit. Weswegen wir drei Tage vor unserer geplanten Besichtigung schon ziemliche Probleme hatten noch ein Ticket zu ergattern. Es gibt so viele verschiedene Buchungsmöglichkeiten und Anbieter, dass wir beinahe ein Ticket ohne die prächtigen Nasriden Paläste gebucht hätten, aber dazu später mehr.

      Die Stadtbesichtigung starteten wir auf den Spuren der Christen: zuerst im Kloster Monasterio de San Jerónimo, dann weiter in die Basilika San Juan de Dios und schließlich noch in die Kathedrale von Granada. Und was soll man sagen: wir waren überwältigt. Diese kunstvoll bemalten Decken, üppig dekorierten Altäre mit unzähligen Skulpturen und Schnitzereien. So viel Gold, Stuck, Bögen und Schnörkel, dass man gar nicht weiß, wo man zuerst hinschauen soll. Zum Glück gibt es jeweils Audioguides, die einem ein bisschen Orientierung und Erklärungen liefern.
      In der Basilika konnte man in die Kuppel des Altars gehen und dort einen Raum mit reich verzierten Reliquien besichtigen - Knochen, Zähne und ganze Schädel in gläsernen Vitrinen.
      Fast genauso faszinierend war aber das alltägliche Werkeln in der Kirche. Eine Seniora richtete die Blumenarrangements neu her, während der Priester mit zwei Gehilfen eine Heiligenfigur neu einkleidete.

      Nach diesem katholischen Prunk, folgt das Kontrastprogramm: die orientalischen Gärten, Paläste und Wehranlagen der Alhambra. Trotz Ticket mit Zeitfenster, müssen wir uns vor den Nasridenpalästen in eine lange Schlange einordnen und sogar die Ausweise parat halten. hier ist wirklich viel los, aber das ist es wert. Mehr als 4 Stunden brauchen wir um alles in Ruhe zu erkunden.

      Passenderweise lassen wir den Abend dann beim Marrokaner ausklingen. Wir haben noch nie Marrokanisch gegessen und bestellen auf Gut Glück: natürlich Tee und Tajine - geschmortes Fleisch und Gemüse aus Tongefäßen. Sehr lecker!
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    • Day 3

      Day 3 Granada

      October 10, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

      Partite da Cordoba siamo arrivate a Granada percorrendo una strada bellissima con panorami brulli e quasi desertici. A Granada dopo aver salutato Frey, la nostra host in questa città, abbiamo fatto un giretto per il centro e bevuto una cerveza con tapas gratis, come è usanza del posto. Seguendo alla lettera la Lonely Planet ci siamo perse per le viuzze di questa città, ricca di contraddizioni tra edifici antichi incastonati tra altre case completamente diverse e altri più monumentali. Nel pomeriggio ci siamo poi incamminate per la ripida salita della alhambra dove abbiamo fatto un tour guidato per 2 ore. Nonostante la guida fosse in spagnolo e non potessimo accedere all'interno, è stato un percorso molto interessante in cui abbiamo scoperto nuove cose sulla cultura araba, come ad esempio il concetto di privacy in contrasto con la cultura cristiana. Non ci siamo fatte nemmeno mancare il museo dell'alhambra, interessante per i reperti ben conservati. La sera, dopo essere ripassate in camera a coprirci (Granada è sicuramente più fraschetta di Cordoba) siamo ritornate all'alhambra, sempre a piedi, ma per una via molto suggestiva. Qui abbiamo visitato i giardini del Gentalife di notte, erano molto bui, ma in questo modo molto suggestivi. Tornate in città abbiamo cenato marocchino, cena molto buona a base di tajin, riso e salsine.Read more

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