The Traveling Blogcrastinator: Olive the Way to Granada

Monday, November 17, 2025

Leaving Madrid on an early train, we arrived in Granada three-and-a-half hours later. The trains in Spain are nice, especially if you can find a route that does not require you to change trains along the way. We passed an awful lot of olive trees on the way. Miles and miles of them, as far as you could see.

Once we arrived, we took a taxi to our hotel, Palacio Mariana Pineda. It was a little quirky, but it had a great location and great views of Granada’s main attraction from our rooms. The hotel sits on the edge of the Albayzin district, close to Plaza Nueva. It was once a palace, or mansion, and had the typical central courtyard that is such a delightful feature in so many Spanish residences. The beds were very comfortable, but the hotel was disappointing in other ways. For one thing, the heat didn’t come on until 8:00 pm. It was chilly all day and we wanted heat before 8:00. We also think the heat was turned off in the middle of the night. Our “junior suite” consisted of a bedroom at one end of a long hallway (inside the suite) and a private bathroom at the other end. A number of things in the room and bathroom were in a state of disrepair. Things in the shower fell off when you touched them, for example. The breakfast was mediocre and the breakfast room was too small for the number of people using it. The bedroom did have a sort of funky Boho charm with some antique furnishings.

We forgot to take photos. This one comes from the hotel’s listing on TripAdvisor,
under “From management”

We ate a late lunch at Bodega Castañeda, a place that we had enjoyed very much on a previous visit to Granada. It was outstanding.

A fabulous tapas platter

It is known that the Iberian peninsula was, at different times long ago, occupied by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Celtic peoples. Before that, unknown groups left cave paintings behind. By 1 CE the Romans had arrived in Hispania and had established olive and wheat as major export crops. The Romans stayed for 500 years. After the Romans came the Visigoths, from the north.

In 711 CE the Moors showed up, and they would remain in control of Andalusia (the Moorish name for Spain) for nearly 800 years. They were Muslims from North Africa and their culture had developed expertise in mathematics, astronomy, sciences, literature and architecture. Their legacy can be found in Spain today - in the Spanish language, in architecture, and in music, for instance.

Moorish architecture features horseshoe arches, ceramic tiles, geometric patterns, fountains and gardens. The Alhambra, a palace/fortress complex dominating a hilltop in Granada, is one of the best preserved and most famous examples of historic Islamic architecture. It is why most visitors come to Granada. The Alhambra was begun in 1238, and periodically different rulers added on to it.

In 1492, the Reconquista swept the last of the Moors out of Spain and the “Catholic Monarchs,” Ferdinand II and Isabel, unified Spain, expelled the Jews, and sent Christopher Columbus to look for a new route to India. They brought their Royal Court to Granada and made the Alhambra their official residence. It is at the Alhambra that Christopher Columbus obtained financial backing from the monarchy for his historic voyages of exploration.

It is remarkable that Alhambra survived. Instead of tearing it down and building a something less Moorish, which was a frequent pattern, the Catholic Monarchs and their successors chose to move in and use the Alhambra themselves. Did they recognize it as an architectural treasure?

To get a sense of perspective on the Alhambra, we went to Mirador de San Nicolas, a viewpoint in the Albayzin, to watch the sunset. We arrived before sunset, but the small plaza was already full of tourists ready to watch the sun go down and the lights come on.

Alhambra before sunset

The Generalife Gardens

Half an hour later

Ten minutes later

Another ten minutes, and some of the lights have come on

Part of the crowd at the Mirador (Viewpoint)

We walked back down to the river and enjoyed several unexpected views of the Alhambra. The Albayzin is primarily comprised of very narrow alleys, twisty lanes, tiny plazas tucked in here and there, and cobblestone surfaces.