Around the World in 119 Days...and then some!: Day 72: Elche/Granada, Spain

The only real spot of touristic interest in Elche is El Huerto del Cura (Priest's Grove) which is a 13,000 sq. m. park area with roughly 1,000 palm trees growing in it. The municipal area of Elche has the largest concentration of palm trees in all of Europe and one of the largest in the world. Apparently the origin of the trees is Phoenician, and they are date palms which produce - not surprisingly - dates. Here's some more educational info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmeral_of_Elche

El Huerto de la Cura was right across the street from our hotel so we walked over there and spent about an hour wandering through it. Besides the date palm trees, there are also tons of other flowers and plants, and also some beautiful ponds and fountains.

Here is one of the pathways through the Huerto:

This is a peacock also strolling on the paths:

This is the cactus area - all of the plants in the foreground are cacti AND the enormous tree-height plants on the left half of the picture are also cacti, which we were astounded to realize. As you can see, they are as tall as some of the palm trees on the right hand side of the picture.

Here is a close up of our peacock friend:

This photo is for our "roommate" Delilah. Note that there are 3 turtles in this picture (the third little one in the foreground is hard to see).

We spent most of the afternoon driving from Elche to Granada (3.5 hours), and as we got closer to Granada, there were a lot more mountains (the Sierra Nevadas). We have also learned that it gets very cold in the winter and actually snows in Granada even though it is in the south part of the country.

Here is a view from the passenger seat of our speedy Citroen:

The hotel we booked in Grananda (Casa Morisca) is a restored Moorish mansion and has a beautiful central patio with a fountain. Apparently the hotel has one some award for best restoration in both Spain and in Europe.

Here is Frank coming out of our hotel doorway which has a tricky part that you have to step over:

Our hotel is in an area of Granada called the Albaicin, which is the historically Moorish (or Arab) area of the city. We are right off a street that runs along the Darro river and from which there are great views up to the Alhambra (which we have a reservation to visit tomorrow).

The road that runs along the Darro river has an area, right in front of our hotel street, that opens up into a beautiful plaza with some outdoor cafes and a fountain (which you can see some people playing in if you look closely):

We went to visit the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel), which is where Fernando and Isabel (the Catholic monarchs) are buried. Unfortunately you can't take photos inside. We tried to visit the Cathedral but it was closed for an event, so we will give it another go tomorrow. Here is a picture of the outside in the meantime:

Our afternoon/evening plan was just to stroll through the city to "get the spirit of the place", as my dad would say. This is one of the narrow, interesting streets with various things hanging over it.

Granada has a fair amount of fountains and plazas that are a refreshing place to take a break from the intense Granada heat.

Here is one of the wider, more upscale boulevards:

After another one of our wonderful tapas dinners, we slowly made our way back to the hotel, stopping on the way to sit and listen to a flamenco guitarist playing in the plaza near our hotel. She was very good!