So, now that we had had our fair share of Madrid’s madness, we were on our way again. We drove south through the Spanish countryside to the town of Granada in southern Spain. The drive was truly remarkable; in the early parts we were on a plateaued terrain where we could spot horses roaming freely; enchanting. As we moved further south, more variations in the landscape came about, we passed through hilly areas, vineyards, coasts, barrens desert-like plains, rivers and fertile forested plateaus. The variations in the landscape through the country are pretty vivid. It was nightfall by the time we got to Granada.

The next morning when we got off our hotel and on to the streets of the town; we could immediately sense the unmistakable appeal it had; it was very tangible, so special; had joy written all over it. We strolled through the town and had the best coffee of our trip. Naturally, we fell more in love with this town.

Granada is a beautiful little town nestled amongst the alpine range of Sierra Nevada. Laced with old baroque churches, gothic architecture, cobbled stone streets, secret alleyways and town squares; we felt like we were in some kind of a celebration here. The day for us was just browsing through the town; we were mesmerised to the hilt and awestruck by this special little town.

Our hotel was in the “Centro” Everything was so accessible by foot from here. There are incredible dining options all around. You would be spoilt for choice. In the evening, we went to a cave to watch a traditional flamenco show.

The following day, we had booked ourselves a tour of Granada’s crown jewel – the Alhambara; sitting atop a plateau with unparalleled views of Granada, it is arguably one of Spain’s most famous structures. It served as a palace and fortress for the Nasrid dynasty in a bygone era. When Granada was conquered by the Castilians and when then reining sultan surrendered Granada and Alhambara to the new monarchs, it was imminent that the Alhambara would be completely destroyed. However, in case of Alhambara, the Castilian queen ordained against the destruction of Alhambara citing it that the structure “was a gift to all mankind”. The Alhambara is perhaps the most captivating feat of architecture that we had ever come across; it is unfathomable how they could build something like this centuries ago. The acoustics, the geometrical genius behind the design of the structure, the artefacts, the adjoining gardens, the fountains; they just keep on coming at you. You could spend days here and would have barely read the foreword to the story. Bedazzled and flabbergasted, we were. This was perhaps the first historical place where despite it being hot and humid and despite walking on exhausting trails, the kids, even after hours were as amused as they were in the beginning of the tour and kept on asking questions to our guide. There is just so much of history and culture here to delve into. Strongly suggest a good guide to lead the tour here.

We were to leave today but we ended up extending our trip for a couple of more days. Our storuy with Granada was not over yet ! The next two days were all about being at our own pace and just enjoying the town – we loved it. There is an incredible science museum here; we were just coming off Madrid and the Gugenheim so we decided to give it a pass but from what I hear, it is really interesting.

The following morning, we stopped at the Mirador de San Nicolas and waved a “so long” to Granada and its Alhambara.

Next stop – Seville