My Day-Trip from Sevilla to Granada
Let me start by saying: don't do this. Don't make Granada a day-trip from Sevilla. You will spend 5 hours of your day commuting back and forth and the rest of your precious time rushing. Instead, learn from my overachieving mistake: dedicate a night or two to stay in and enjoy this gorgeous city. You won't regret it!
SEPT 22, 2019 - my 30th birthday!
Gabe made us some scrambled eggs with avocado for breakfast and I made a tea, hoping for a bit of caffeine, as the coffee shops weren’t open yet. Then, we located Bird scooters to ride to the rental car place at the train station.
Note: In retrospect, the Birds did not save us enough money to make the hassle and wasted time worth it. Would call an Uber for this particular journey next time. Especially because by the time we made it we were wind-blown, sweaty, and annoyed.
We walked to the back of the station toward the rental cars where our white Fiat convertible was waiting for us.
It was a 2 ½ hour drive both ways, so our time in Granada was precious. I had the day planned out to the minute. And we were running late!
Once we found parking in Granada, we walked straight to a teteria (tea house) called Alfaguara for a very quick lunch & tea. There was only one man working and he kept disappearing to the back or across the street. So it was not “very quick” after all.
There was also no one else dining at the time (I guess we were early), but we ended up getting a tasty Moroccan tea and hummus plate + falafel to share. And some flaky Arab pastries to-go — very tasty.
We didn’t have time to stroll around the cathedral, the royal chapel, the souk, or even get coffee at La Finca, because we had to book it to the Alhambra — no time to spare.
On the way uphill, Google Maps showed that we were losing time. We picked up the pace, but the chances kept increasing that we were going to miss something utterly un-miss-able (I had read that they’re really strict about the timed tickets at the Alhambra).
I would NOT, NOT make it. I would keep going, even if my lungs exploded (they were burning!)
Finally, we made it, with one minute to spare (before our entrance time @2:30). I was one part overjoyed and one part furious at the whole situation — extremely sweaty and breathing hard. This level of exhaustion was not in the plan!
Actually, I had scheduled an hour for us to make this hike and it would have been a beautiful (uphill) stroll. But oh well.
My frustration couldn’t last long inside the awe-some beauty of the Alhambra. OMG.
The Alhambra is basically its own ancient city, preserved within the greater city of Granada. It is an enormous fortress/complex containing numerous palaces, gardens, towers, religious buildings, etc. We spent hours just in the jaw-droppingly-gorgeous, Nasrid Palaces, let alone the rest of the complex! These palaces were incredibly preserved, with every single space covered in intricate decoration. The motto of the Nasrid dynasty: “There is no victor but Allah,” is repeated hundreds of times on walls, arches, and columns.
Leaving the Nasrid Palaces, we headed toward the Alcazaba (fortress and oldest part of Alhambra). I loved looking out over the whole city from up there! It was such a unique sight! All the old ruins, the styles of buildings, the flowers, fruit trees, pools of water - so gorgeous!
It was 6:30 PM by the time we re-entered the city of Granada on our way to dinner. We had reserved a table at El Trillo at 7 PM sharp (the earliest possible, so we could get on the road). The restaurant people looked at us like we were crazy arriving that early. They didn’t even open on time (the time of our reservation)!
Good news was: we got the very best table they had, outside on the terrace, overlooking the Alhambra. I ordered a glass of white wine and Gabe got a sangria, which felt very appropriate and well-earned. Thankfully, by this time, we had recovered more relaxed attitudes.
Despite the great view in the nice atmosphere, I couldn’t shake the “touristy” feel of the place (supported by the fact that the food was not very good). But we did get to see daylight turn to dusk and the Alhambra light up from the comfort of our table.
After we finished our dinner, we walked up more stairs to see an even better view of the Alhambra from St. Nicolas Terrace. Unfortunately, it was way past sunset by this point, so there was not much to see. And it was a bit too crowded for our tastes, so we started our way down.
We walked through the Alcaiceria (souk) on the way back. All in all, we were content with all we got to see in Granada, even if there was a lot we missed. There’s always next time.
