Since I couldn't figure out the Alhambra's online reservation system, I got up just after 6 am on Wednesday, February 23, 2011, showered, changed, and left the hotel around 7 am to go get in line.

I caught the 7:10 am minibus 32 from Plaza Isabel II up to the Alhambra.  Cost was 1.20 euros ($1.65).  There were 3 people on the bus!  It's a long way up, so the minibus (especially in the dark) was well worth it.		The Japanese lady on the minibus (a staff news reporter from Osaka!) and I were the first people to arrive to line up for Alhambra tickets.  Here I am, waiting for the ticket window to open.  While waiting, I ate breakfast (yogurt, donuts, and a banana).  This was the only time I was truly cold in Spain.
		Here is the beautiful wall map of the Alhambra, just to the right of the ticket line. My 8:30 am timed ticket cost 12 euros ($16.50).
My first views inside the Palacio Nazaries (the jewel of the Alhambra complex) were of the mexuar.  Highlights included wooden puzzle ceilings and fancy plasterwork.		The arches were so pretty!
		This was the first courtyard inside the palace.
This is the Courtyard of the Myrtles (notice the hedges). At one end of this courtyard was the lion fountain exhibit, where they had the restored lions and the details of how they were restored.
One more view of the Courtyard of the Myrtles.  The wooden screens on the second floor were very delicate!
The beautiful wooden ceiling of the Ship Room.		The fancy plasterwork of the throne room (Salon de Comares).
The plasterwork on the walls was so intricate!  I would love to see how it was created.  I'm glad I don't have to dust it all :)
The plasterwork was just jaw-droppingly amazing, like having custom-carved wallpaper.  Pictures can't do it justice.  You'll have to go see it yourself!
A layered ceiling		Another gorgeous arch
A close-up of a wooden ceiling		OK, so self-shot photos aren't always perfect.  I tried to get myself centered under the arch, but it didn't quite work :)
Here's the room where the American writer Washington Irving stayed when he wrote Tales of the Alhambra.		A nice view of the Albayzin (old Moorish quarter) from the Alhambra
Here is the view of the Paseo de los Tristes, where I was the previous night.		After touring the Palacio Nazaries, I headed to the Alcazaba (fort).
My family is filled with fort-loving people, so I felt right at home at the Alcazaba :) This is a view of the Plaza de Armas.		From the top of the Watch Tower (Torre de la Vela), snow-covered mountains could be seen!
After visiting the Alcazaba, I went to the Charles V Palace.  It has a circle-in-a-square design.  Amazing that it is newer than the Palacio Nazaries but not holding up as well.
They were having a neat Henry Matisse and the Alhambra exhibit in the Charles V Palace, but backpacks weren't allowed (not even worn on the front, as in the Palacio Nazaries) . . .		. . . so I stored my backpack in free locker #2 in the very nice bathrooms-lockers-vending machines building close by!  (I hadn't gotten to go to the Matisse Museum in Nice, so I really enjoyed this exhibit.)
		After the Charles V Palace, I walked to see Queen Isabel's original, self-chosen, simple burial site (in the Convent de San Francisco, now a parador [hotel]).  She's since been moved to the Royal Chapel.
Next, I went to visit the Alhambra's Generalife Gardens.  Here is a view of the Alcazaba, Nazrid Palace, Charles V Palace, and other Alhambra buildings from the Generalife.		This is the Patio de Descabalgamieno in the Generalife.
Another view from the Generalife across to the other parts of the Alhambra		Patio de la Acequia in the Generalife.  So pretty!
One last look at the Alhambra's Generalife (here the Patio de la Sultana) before leaving.  I visited the Alhambra for more than 3 hours!
Rather than walk the "normal" way back to town or take the bus, I took the Cuesta del Rey Chico path back to the Paseo de los Tristes. It felt very "sercet" and reminded me, more than anything, of  the Chemin de Friedrich Nietzsche in Eze, France (just not anywhere near as awesome as that).
Oh, I can see the Albayzin!  I'm almost there!		And here I am, at the end of the Cuesta de Rey Chico trail.
What's at the end of the trail?  Public exercise equipment, just like we saw in Macau!		And just beyond the exercise equipment was the Paseo de los Tristes and a beautiful view of the Alhambra up above.
Walking back along the Darro River, I hit Plaza Nueva.  At the end of this square was the kebab/pizza place where I got dinner.
After lots of indecision, I ended up buying a manchego-cheese-and-tomato baguette (right photo, 3.90 euros [$5.40]) from Tramezzi Cafe (left photo) and eating it, along with a Fanta, a banana, and the rest of my Pringles as I sat in Plaza de Bib-Rambla (photo below) and people-watched.
Plaza de Bib-Rambla, a few blocks from the Cathedral.  Yet another French-feeling part of Granada!
After a nap in my hotel, I took the amazing minibus 35 (fare 1.20 euros [$1.65]) at 4:28 pm all the way through and up Sacramonte's steep hills and tiny, twisty roads. (I never did get a photo of the minibuses I actually took, #32 and #35.) There are only about 8 seats on a minibus, and minibus 35 doesn't come very often. (Maybe I liked it because its schedule is like my bus 20 at home!)
I was worried where to get off the minibus.  I tried to read all of the stops and even counted the stops.  Once I saw these signs, I knew I was close!		And here is the Mirador St. Nicolas, a scenic viewpoint across from the Alhambra.
And here is a very nice overview of the Alhambra!
After the St. Nicolas viewpoint, I did the self-guided walk of the Albayzin and walked back down to Plaza Nueva, only getting lost twice :) It was just after 6 pm, too early for a Spanish dinner, so I enjoyed the Granada paseo while eating freshly-made mini donuts coated with powdered sugar. I got to watch them being made (left photo) and sat to eat them right away (right photo).  So good and so American :) A box of them was only 2 euros ($2.75)!
I almost always shop for groceries at El Corte Ingles when I'm in Spain (or Portugal), so I decided to mix it up and shop at Mercadona, a few blocks from El Corte Ingles.  It was two floors (similar to the store on Cozumel) but had a more limited selection than El Corte Ingles.  I did get Spanish-style, "Little Debbie"-like "surtido dulces" and chocolate-covered peanuts to try, plus an orange drink, all for 1,79 euros ($2.45).		I walked and walked on my final night in Granada, and I found a fun store: Funky Fish!
I just wasn't up for an expensive restaurant meal for my final dinner in Granada, so I walked a few blocks to a kebab restaurant and got a 6-euro ($8.30) Margarita (cheese) pizza.  I took it back to my hotel room and ate it all (so yummy!), along with a can of Sprite, a can of orange drink, the "surtido dulces" snack cakes (not very good, and I didn't notice one was mocha-flavored until I bit in). I took 161 pictures in one day!
Seville photos Cordoba photos Granada photos Madrid photos