In the winter of 1996, I traveled for a month through Spain and found Andalusia, and Granada in particular, to be one of the most romantic spots in Europe. Granada is the place where Boabdil, the last Moorish king, surrendered his kingdom, completing the Christian re-conquest of Spain. It was also the center of European culture from the 13th to the 15th centuries, when art and architecture flourished and the Alhambra became a symbol of the city's glory.
Travel through Spain was easy, with inexpensive bus service from the main terminal in Madrid to Barcelona and points south (about $20 from Madrid to Seville). Once in Andalusia the easiest way to get from city to city was by the regional RENSE train system. No advance tickets or passes were necessary, and the trains were frequent and cheap--about $15 each.
After ten dark rainy days, glorious sunshine welcomed me to Granada. I stayed in a wonderful family-run pension called Huespedes Gomerez, centrally located on the street leading up to the Alhambra and a 5-minute walk from downtown. The rooms, with shared baths, were spotlessly clean and neat and cost about $20 a night (note: the friendly owners do not speak English). The real treat was the Alhambra itself, the famed Moorish palace situated at the top of Sabika Hill. I spent a full day strolling through the complex, which in addition to the main palace includes two museums, the Rennaisance church where King Fernando and Queen Isabel are buried and the Generalife summer palace ruins and garden complex.
Fellow travellers recommended I top off my stay by wandering about in the old Moorish quarters of the Albaicin, set on a hill directly across from the Alhambra. Here I found many beautiful Moorish buildings, baths and patios, and when I reached the top and secured a spot in the square of a small church, I had a commanding view of the Alhambra and the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains. At sunset one could see the reddish walls of the Alhambra radiate every shade from copper to bright amber (giving testimony to the palace's literal meaning in Arabic, "red."). Adding to this special moment was soothing Flamenco music performed by the gypsies that reside in the caves in the adjacent Sacromonte Hills. It was a most appropriate way to bring my trip to an end. -
---Iman