Granada

We arrived at Granada around 3 p.m. As usual, we ended up parking and walking to the hotel.  The GPS continued to have issues on narrow streets of the old city.

After settling in we walked down the street to the end of the block where there was a river and three outdoor cafes sitting under the Alhambra perched above on a hill.  We picked one of the cafes and sat there for the remainder of the afternoon. We deserved some down-time after the excitement of the narrow-street driving.  

We found a nice restaurant for dinner which, as is usual in Spain, didn’t open until 8:30 p.m. 

The morning of day two was spent at the Alhambra. We saw most of the major parts of the site, including the citadel and the gardens of Generalife.  It was a lot of walking. We left Alhambra around noon and went to another cafe near to the hotel. The service was poor and the waiter was grumpy. 

After lunch we walked to the Cathedral, and then we took the bus to go to the monastery. The bus ride was fun; the sites were a little disappointing.  

That evening we went to a Flamenco dance show which was hosted in a restaurant very close to the hotel. It was beyond expectation.  It started slow, but halfway through a fifth dancer came onto the stage.  He was the ringer.  While the first four dancers were good, this fellow was spectacular. 

On our last full day in Granada we returned to the Alhambra. This time, with a guided tour. While the group was large, each participant was fitted with a wireless headset and the guide communicated through that rather then yelling across the crowds.  Much more civilized.  The tour covered the irrigation system, the Palace and the gardens of Generalife.   

After the tour, we walked to the city, had a late lunch and then went on a tour of an olive farm. The tour was interesting, but expensive. We also added a wine tasting package; 3 of the 4 wines tasted were subpar.