We must be mad but we get up shortly after 6 a.m. and set off to catch a bus in the dark and walk through the still quiet streets of central Grenada past this cavorting couple… 

…in order to arrive at the Alhambra just after opening time. Tickets were fully booked online, so we need to book our place to visit the Palacios Nazaries. There are already a number of people there before us, but no problem, we are allocated a slot and begin our journey of discovery…

This place is an absolute Must with a capital M.

From garden… to ceiling…

…from wall to tower…

…from Matisse to steam bath, from stone carving…

 to wooden inlay, from Sultan Mohammed (1238) to Leopoldo Balbas (1936), history exudes from every pore, or if we’re talking about the restored marble lions, every paw… We walk around for hours…

…until we’re so tired we tumble down into town for a cheap menu in the atmospheric back streets of Grenada…

…not without a sneaky look at the Cathedral and one or two of the shops en route…

…Terry is a little distracted…

Those guitars may be wonderful old acoustic, but the Alhambra is ELECTRIC!