Parador Granada Spain

Parador Granada. First, the bad news. This is the most expensive parador of them all, except in the off season using a special promotion such as the Golden Days, the prices are astronomical and, at most times of the year you have to reserve at least six months in advance. All this despite the fact that although the accomodations are in every way up to parador standards, they're by no means super luxurious. (We did get lucky one year, our room wasn't ready when we arrived and rather than make us wait they upgraded us to a suite, which was lovely). What we have done in the past is to husband our Amigos points until we had enough to stay there for free. The good news is that the parador is situated inside the Alhambra grounds so that one can visit it at any time of day that one wishes. That may not sound like a very big deal, but it is. If one arrives from the outside, unless one's on a package tour, something we don't much like, one has to stand in very long lines for tickets, for as much as two hours and it may happen, especially in the summer, that by the time you get near the ticket window that day's allotment has been sold and you're out of luck. (If you're willing to make do with fairly basic accomodations the little Hotel America is also inside the grounds, but rooms there are even harder to get than those at the parador). Anyway, the Alhambra is truly one of the wonders of the world. If I could see only one place in Spain, this would be it. The Moors held out in this hilltop fortress against the advancing Christians until the end of the fifteenth century, so what you have here is Moorish architecture in its full ripeness. The emphasis is on decoration. The filigree carvings of the Nasrid palace attain the very heights of what effect can be achieved with non representational art forms. The Lion's Court, a gift of Granada's Jewish community as a token of thanks for being tolerated there, is one of the most charming small interior spaces that I've encountered.The vast gardens of the Generalife are a splendid example of Arab soil management in dry climates. The views of Granada lying far below are nothing short of stunning. As a bonus, there is a palace built within the grounds by Charles I so that one can compare the Moorish and the Baroque cheek by jowl. The entire complex simply blows one away. And, at the end of a long day of exploration, to enjoy a drink in the parador's shaded courtyard with a fountain splashing happily in the background is sheer heaven.