THE SIERRA NEVADA

After our hard day of hiking around the Alhambra we decided to find a Laundromat and then do a driving tour.  Our hotel staff assured us we could find a lavandaria automatica just down the hill, so we got all of our laundry together and packed up, and with high hopes we drove down the hill.

The instructions were good, and we came to a little block of businesses.  Most of the metal rolling doors were down, so after we went around the block a few times we both got out and started looking on foot.  I found the right door, but they didn’t open until 1pm. 

I headed back to the next block to find Don.  He had, as he often does, struck up a conversation with the local, the innkeeper Jose Navarro Bautista, aka Pepe.  They were having a fine conversation, and before I knew it we were checked in to the Hotel Albero for the night.  The room was very comfortable and the price was 1/3 of what we paid just a short distance up the hill.  We were able to go online and receive and send email, too.

Our host was very helpful, with good suggestions for touring as well as providing numerous services.  He took charge of our laundry as we left our luggage and headed out on a drive to the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

It was really a pretty short ride up the mountain, into the forest, and before we knew it we were surrounded by snow.  We drove to the top of the mountain where we found a large ski area, plus hiking and mountain biking.  After looking around a bit we headed back down the hill, stopping at an interesting historic hut of some kind, where they had a still!?  We never could figure out what they distilled there, but it was interesting to see.

After returning to the city we drove on to an interesting Carthusian monastery, recommended by Pepe.  The church was very ornately decorated with Baroque stucco, a golden screen and paintings by Jose de Mora.  We have seen many churches worldwide, and this one rates right up there with the most elaborate ones we have seen.

We can heartily recommend the Hotel Albero, Avienda Santa Maria de la Alhambra 4, 18008 Granada, Espana.  hotel@hotelalbero.com, www.hotelablero.com, telephone 958 22 67 25, fax 958 22 27 62.  You will find the owner, Pepe, speaks very good English, is very helpful and friendly, very computer literate, can arrange anything you might need, and provides very clean, comfortable lodgings for a bargain price.  When you visit the Alhambra, select this place to stay.  Get there the afternoon before you go to Alhambra, spend the night and then take the local bus up the hill to the site.  You will be glad you did.  You will be rested for a long day of walking, save e18 in parking fees, and be able to go back to your room for a cool siesta during the heat of the day.