Spain, Day Five

When in Granada you simply can not miss the Alhambra. This is a magnificent fortress located on the top of a hill. It consists of several palaces and gardens that have the most amazing view of the town.

Source

In order to enter the palace you need to buy a ticket. This process is a bit complicated. You can pay the ticket online, but you can not just print it, you need to pick it up. We got our tickets from a machine called ticketmaster in the Corral del Carbon building located in the center of Granada. When using this machine it is important to bring the credit card used for the payment of the tickets. I think that tickets can be picked up at the entrance as well, but I am not sure exactly where. It is a huge complex. It is very useful to have a map of Alhambra in order not to get lost and not to miss anything.

You can enter the Alhambra only on the specific time on your ticket. Being late is not an option. And since finding the main entrance can be a bit confusing, I would recommend arriving early. Plan to spend there at least three hours.

Alhambra can be divided into four parts. The general ticket gives you access to all of these. The first part consist of three palaces constructed in different periods. These palaces are called the Nasrid Palaces. They are by far the most crowded part of the fortress.

Make sure you don't miss the Alcazaba, the military area of the complex, with several towers that offer incredible view of Granada. That was my favorite part.

Source

Then, you can't miss Partal, where you can find the portico of the palace, the Rauda, the Yusuf III palace and the gardens.

Source

At last, Generalife, a set of gardens and its palace.

After visiting the Alhambra, we went shopping. I loved the Alcaiceria street full of arabic trinket shops. You can find decorative boxes of all types, ceramics, mirrors, lamps of stained glass, leather bags and ethnic clothing. I bought a ton of useless things, but it made me very happy.

My friend Bella had to buy new shoes as her feet were swollen from walking, but the problem was that it was Sunday and everything was closed. At least the shoe shops. The only shop that was open was Ale-Hop. It was a discovery for everyone! Martha and I were ecstatic to find another knickknack store and buy a lot of things. Bella was relieved to have found some shoes, any kind of shoes. She bought some very comfortable shoes, but not so pretty. As her feet were so swollen, she bought shoes bigger by three sizes than usual.

We had an app on our mobile that counted how much we had walked per day. Every day we did 20 km or more. We agreed that it was too much, and that from now on we would do less. But we couldn't keep that promise. Spain is too beautiful.

Photo gallery