One city, desires, five possibilities: Granada

THE MORNING LIST

Follow in the footsteps of the poet who expresses the soul of the city, rediscover the Arab splendors of the city, slip into the house-gardens hidden on the hills, but also discover the rock spirit of the city and enjoy its generous tapas … Granada, proof by five.

Walk in the footsteps of Lorca

Granada and its province inhabit his work, he speaks of its seduction like no other. In Fuente Vaqueros, the birthplace of Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936) has become a museum, like, in Valderrubio, the family property and that of the neighbors who inspired The House of Bernarda Alba. In Granada, city of his youth where the poet returned before his assassination by the Francoists, a center houses his archives. Her statue sits in Café Chikito, near that of Mariana Pineda (1804-1831), executed for her liberal ideas and heroine of the playwright’s first play. His poetry bathes the hills of the Alhambra and the Albayzin with a “salted light by the nostalgia of the sea”, floats in the gardens of the Generalife where ” the waters are torrents of rose », vibrates in the caves of Sacromonte when a flamenco musician sings his « gypsy moon ” and ” the guitar makes dreams cry “.

Immerse yourself in the Arab-Andalusian heritage

One cannot (re) come to Granada without visiting the Nasrid palaces of the Alhambra, lacework of marble and stucco, miracles of fountains and basins where one tries to preserve emotion despite the tourist rush. But the Arab-Andalusian heritage is also found in the Albaicin district, which we discover in the company of Amélie Laigle, a passionate and joyful French-speaking guide: the Corral del carbon, a former caravanserai from the 14th^and century, the Islamic baths of Banuelo and, on the hill, the charming palace of Dar-al-Horra, where lived Aïcha, the mother of Boabdil, last sultan of Granada. Reconnecting with this past, the pretty mosque inaugurated in 2003 and its garden offer peace and a view of the Alhambra. And the dreamed Orient flows through the luxurious decor of the Al Andalus hammam, built over ancient baths.

Get lost in the “carmenes”

The Carmenes, house-gardens on the hills, embody the art of living in Granada. They combine the luxury of the view of the Nasrid palaces or the plain of La Vega with the sensual intimacy of fragrant orchards and the murmur of water. Some are accessible when they are museums, such as the house of the painter Max Moreau, that of Manuel de Falla – the composer friend of Lorca –, or the imposing eclectic residence of the painter Rodriguez Acosta. If the Carmen de los Martires is a very popular park, some green spaces are still sweet secrets like the Carmen de la Victoria which belongs to the university. The Mirador de Morayma, a restaurant created in a house-garden by a lover of local culture and gastronomy, is a must with its terraces overlooking the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada, its rooms covered with paintings and its good Granada cuisine. .

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