Southern Spain: Seville, Ronda, Granada

When people ask where they should visit if they have never been to Spain, most people will suggest Barcelona or Madrid. However, as much as I love cities, I also enjoy visiting the smaller cities and have heard southern Spain was just as nice. Besides, I tend to enjoy going to less touristy destinations.

So for me, my first time in Spain was at southern Spain. What do I remember most? Sangria, Vino con Limon, Churros con chocolate, Yema, Flamenco, and the Alhambra!

SEVILLE

The Cathedral and Giralda Towers

Hotels
To get to Seville, my friend and I arrived at the San Pablo Airport (SVQ). We took a 20mins cab ride to our hotel, Barcelo Renacimiento, which is ~30mins walk to the main tourist attraction areas, the Cathedral and Giralda towers on Av. de la Constitucion. You can't miss the hotel because of its circular shape. It was pleasantly nice and modern in the inside. It reminded us of the Guggenheim Museum in NYC. A bus stop 100 meters away from the hotel conveniently took us to the city center (~5mins). NOTE: the cab ride from the airport is a fixed rate. ASK before you get on because our dishonest driver charged us a few euros more! For those who are in a tighter budget, you can bus it to the city center. http://www.seville-airport.com/location.cfm

The second hotel we stayed at after returning from Granada was at the Melia Sevilla. This hotel was walking distance from the Plaza de Espana and even closer to the city center. The hotel was also very modern and comfortable, great for business travelers.
http://www.barcelo.com/BarceloHotels/en_GB/hotels/Spain/Seville/hotel-barcelo-renacimiento/general-description.aspx
http://www.melia.com/hotels/spain/seville/melia-sevilla/home.htm

The place I can't remember?!

The Metropol Parasol

I heard that the most interesting time to visit Seville would be around their April fiesta. It's when they celebrate all things Andalusian, with bullfighting, flamenco dancing, sherry tasting, etc. But we went in June and felt three days at Seville would suffice.

At Seville, I would recommend touring the vicinity of the Cathedral area and the Plaza de Espana. Though there are other beautiful cathedrals and buildings, those two were the ones I found most delightful. The Gothic styled cathedral is said to be the third largest cathedral in the Christian world. Unfortunately, we never got the chance to visit the inside. We arrived there twice very late in the afternoon, close to the closing time, and for some reason could never find the entrance?! But viewing the structure from the outside was well worth it. We arrived late one of the days because one of the afternoons we had spend too much time snapping pictures of the Plaza de Espana. The Plaza de Espana was built for the Spanish-American exhibition of 1929. Despite that it was built fairly recent, I thought the plaza was a beautiful walk especially with its polychrome ceramic decorations. The bull ring located along Paseo Cristobal Colon is also something to look at if you never saw a bull ring before. And lastly, if you have time and like modern architecture like myself, walk over to the Metropol Parasol, a wooden structure about 450ft long and seven stories high located at La Encarnacion Square. The structure reminds me of a honeycombed waffled potato chip and is pretty cool to walk under!

Dining

In terms of dining, churros is the typical breakfast treat for the Spanish. They typically dip the churros into chocolate or coffee. We never tried it but I am sure it's greasy good! Plaza Nueva area is a good option for tourist to dine. There are plenty of restaurants there and good for people watching. Unfortunately, I can't remember this one amazing tapas place recommended by this local who sold these amazing Portuguese egg tarts near the vicinity of the Plaza Nueva! They served contemporary tapas and it was just tasty. We tried to locate the man from the tart shop again to thank him but couldn't find the narrow street where his store stood. If you so happen to find this tiny store that sells only Portuguese egg tarts, then ask him for dining recommendation and don't forget to try the tarts! Another great tapas place we liked was called Bar de Tapas Catalina located on Paseo Catalina de Ribera 4. Next door is Vineria de San Telmo, which was recommended to us by locals and the initial restaurant we wanted to try. However, it was packed and had another hour wait. But Bar de Tapas Catalina was just as spectacular too with cleverly made range of tapas. They had a goat cheese with dates dish that looked like a fried popsicle that was absolutely YUM YUM YUM! But I have to admit the sangria and my new favorite, Vino con Limon, are amazing in Spain. They are absolutely delicious and cheap! For someone like me who rarely drinks, I actually drank every day because I have never had sangria that tastes so refreshing and have never heard of mixing red wine with lemonade in NYC ever! NOTE: tipping at restaurants isn't required but normally people would leave their change or give one or two euros.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/catalina-sevilla
http://www.vineriasantelmo.com/index.php/en/


RONDA 

Ronda is a small charming city in the province of Malaga. Only two hours bus ride from Sevilla, Ronda is a good stop over if you were heading west to Granada. What attracted me to Ronda when I did my research were the images of the stunning cliff side city. Ronda is apparently one of the most ancient cities in Spain and sits on a plateau of a large rock outcropping. This city is known for its three bridges. The Puente Nuevo bridge splits the newer district from the old district and is the most popular of the three bridges. Most of the tourists are seen convening around there. Between the new and old district, we enjoyed walking around the old city more. You would see remains of prehistoric settlements dating back to the Neolithic Age and with the picturesque rural landscape of Spain, it is just gorgeous!

Hotel 
You can navigate Ronda by foot in one day. But it's also nice to stay for a night if you can spare. We stayed at the Hotel Acinipo, which is conveniently steps away from the Plaza de Toros (oldest bullring in Spain) and several blocks away from Puente Nuevo. The hotel was small but did it's job for one night so we had no complaints. The room was clean, simple, and modern. It was definitely at a great location and cost only $78 a night. Split between two people and it's at a cheap price. http://www.hotelaciniporonda.com/

Dining

Pionono yema y chocolate!

In terms of where to eat, our front desk suggested De Locos Tapas. According to tripadvisor, it is rated #1, so this place must be good! But the restaurant wasn't opened for dinner yet when we were there and we were starving so we ended up eating at Casa Mateos (http://casamateos.com/) and had our first vino con limon! After being introduced this drink here, it became our signature drink for the rest of our trip in Spain. I seldom drink but this was so good that I ordered it almost every day when I was in Spain! And finally, if you like sweets, there are two bakeries that I must mention and recommend! I always hear about these sweets made by nun's and how good they are. So by happenstance, we walked by La Casa del Dulce in the old town which sell these mantecada biscuits, a specialty based on almonds topped with sugar icing (Calle Tenorio 11). And near our hotel, there is a strip that runs several blocks where people can go shopping. And at this one courtyard, which you can't miss because you'll see all these restaurants, is a bakery that I believe is called La Yemas del Tajo. The lady at the shop recommended me their most popular dessert, which was this chocolate mango yema cake. Yema are normally these egg yolk cakes. This one was like a hybrid with some chocolate and mango jelly. It was DELICIOUS! My mouth is salivating just thinking about it.

View from old bridge.

Plaza de Toros - I got lucky and took a quick shot before people roam into view.

GRANADA

View of the Alhambra from Mirador de San Nicolas

Out of the three destinations that we've been, Granada would be my favorite. When people say you must visit the Alhambra, take it literally. The Alhambra, or the Red Castle, is one of the most fascinating and impressive monumental complexes that I have ever seen. What's remarkable to me about the Alhambra is the interior, the intricate designs of Arabic inscriptions that are woven into these geometrical patterns in the walls, floors, and ceilings. I was beyond impressed with the level of craftsmanship and the amount of time it had to take to create such detail on each tile and space. It was absolutely amazing but somewhat despairing as well knowing that we will never find such craftsmanship in our modern day architecture.

The Alhambra was originally constructed as a fortress in 889 and later converted into a royal palace in 1333. By the 13th and 14th centuries, the Alhambra was a palace, citadel, and the residence of the Moorish dignitaries and elites. In 1984, it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The complex is divided into four different areas: the Nasrid Palaces, Alcazaba or the military area, the Partal area, and the Generalife or garden area.

Alcazaba

Court of the Lions inside the Nasrid Palaces

I would highly recommend getting the tickets in advance if you want to visit the Nasrid Palaces.  They have restrictions on the number of people visiting this area and you are only allowed to enter that area depending the hour indicated on your ticket. If you do not visit the Palaces within the indicated hour, you will lose the right to visit this area, although you can visit the rest of the Monument. Do not forget that the visit to the Nasrid Palaces finishes an hour before the closing time, and it takes at least 30 minutes to tour the Nasrid Palaces, so you should visit the Generalife and the Alcazaba beforehand. Also you can visit the Alhambra complex either in the morning shift (8:30-2pm) or the night shift (2-6pm or 2-8pm depending on the months you're visiting). My friend and I paid a bit more by ordering the tickets through our hotel, picking the morning shift and the Nasrid Palaces ticket for 11am.

If you are following our schedule, it is advisable to get the tickets the day before because it's a 30mins walk to the entrance pavilion where visitors collect tickets. And then it's a 30mins walk back to the Alcazaba and Nasrid Palaces areas. Trust me, it doesn't sound necessary to get the tickets beforehand but if you wandered in from the entrance pavilion into the Gerneralife grounds, you'll most definitely end up taking pictures and embracing the beauty of the gardens that you'll end up rushing to the Nasrid Palaces and leaving not much time to visit other grounds before the 2pm deadline. SO, if you are following our schedule, 1) get the tickets the day before 2) start the visit by entering at the Puerta de la Justicia (Gate of Justice) and NOT by the entrance pavilion. From the Gate of Justice, you'll end up near the entrance to the Alcazaba so visit that place first. And then at 11am, (if you're ticket to Nasrid starts at 11am), head to the Nasrid Palaces which is next to the Alcazaba. 3) after that you can head to Generalife before 2pm. 4) then complete the rest of the complex that doesn't require passes.
http://www.alhambradegranada.org/en/info/ticketsale.asp

After our visit to the Alhambra, we had enough time to walk to Mirador de San Nicolas and get a great view of the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada mountains. You can walk along Carrera Del Darro -> Paseo de Los Tristes -> turn left on Cuesta del Chapiz -> turn left on Carril de San Agustin -> and walk until you reach San Nicolas plaza. After taking some great pictures from that viewpoint, you can walk back along the CTA de San Gregorio street toward the Cathedral at Gran Via de Colon Street. There are some great bars and souvenir shops along the way.

Dining 
There are a few restaurants along Carrera Del Darro street towards Paseo del Padre Manjon, which faces the back of the Alhambra, which can be quite enjoyable during lunch or dinner times. Though the food at these outdoor seating areas was not something to rave about, dining with the Alhambra view at night can be very romantic! It's just a great hang out spot for people. Just be warn though that there will be spurts of local musicians performing and then approach you afterwards for some donations. At Paseo del padre Manjon, we also treated ourselves for a more pricey affair at Ruta del Azafran. Dinner here was good. Other places to eat would be south of the Cathedral area, near Plaza de Las Pasiegas and Plaza Bib-Rambla. There are quite a number of restaurants there as well. http://rutadelazafran.com/ 

Hotel
While at Granada, we stayed at Puerta de las Granadas. It's situated at a fabulous location because it was on the same street that leads you to the entrance of the Alhambra. It is also very close to the city center. The rooms are very small but it's not like you'll be in the hotel that much anyways. http://www.hotelpuertadelasgranadas.com/

View of Granada from the Alcazaba

Geometric patterns

Water fountain at the Generalife

 

Intricate ceilings at the Nasrid Palaces