Granada in March Day 5 Silla del Moro Llano del Perdiz

It's Saturday and we have learnt our lesson about early starts in chilly temperatures. We finally venture out at past 10 armed with bread, jamón, just a small bottle of water and pipas. The walk along the river Darro is a lot less chilly later in the day and we are soon walking up the pleasant Cuesta del Rey Chico path up to the Alhambra among trees in blossom and the Alhambra walls. 

It's quite steep and the brisk walk early on is invigorating. Cuesta del Rey Chico brings us out just to the right of the Entry pavilion. Then we continue along the road next to the car parks as far as the roundabout before the cemetery. Here we keep left and follow a road closed to traffic in the direction of our destination Silla del Moro or St Elena castle. It's a pleasant walk and the view of the Alhambra and also of the Albaicin and Sacromonte areas of Granada is spectacular. 

We meet a local gentleman going in the same direction and manage to exchange a few words in our limited Spanish and have a photo taken of the two of us for once.There's nothing much left of the castle but the areas around it with the superb views are open on Saturday (10- 16) and Sunday (10  - 14). It's very pleasant surrounded by nature up there so we continue our walk in the Dehesa del Generalife, the green area above Granada. We pass the Aljibe de la lluvia and carry on up to the Reloj del Sol, at Llano del Perdiz,the highest point at over 1000 metres. 

The air is still cold but the sun is pleasantly warming and there are splendid views of the country and mountains all around and especially the Sierra Nevada. 

There's nowhere really nice for a picnic without sitting on the grass so we go back to Silla del Moro for a discrete sandwich (picnics aren't allowed) on a sunny bench sheltered from the wind. The yellow gorse is flowering and perfuming the area and it's starting almost to feel like spring.

Heading back downhill we stop at the Alhambra Entry Pavilion for the toilets and to fill up our water bottle and then look for Carmen de los Mártires. The entrance is not from the big iron gates on the access road to the Pavilion but round the next corner to the left up an empty dead end road which takes you right to the entrance.

The gardens are very pretty indeed, there are even a few peacocks strolling around and we especially like the upper level with the large pond, 'island' and tower. There's a warm redbrick bench in the sun and we sit a while to rest and relax.

Time to go in search of coffee and a Pionono , a typical small cake of Santa Fe in the province of Granada and very popular in the city. We have already identified where to eat it, but inexplicably when we arrive (because it's three thirty and normally Spanish people are still lunching) the small café pastelería is packed with large Spanish ladies of my age up attacking all sorts of calorie-filled and sweet concoctions. One comes and removes the two chairs at the only free table we were contemplating so we admit defeat and move on. It's a long walk back up to Gran Via del Colon where there's the second Pionono option at Puerta Bernina - Café con leche and Pionono for 2 euros. The cafe' is only moderately crowded, the Pionono is deadly sweet but mercifully small and makes an ideal accompaniment to a sugarless café con leche, and we decide it's worth repeating the experiment.

Next, since we have booked a free visit to Abbadia de Sacromonte for Monday morning, we have to pick up the free tickets, but first we need to print the booking for the free tickets. Sounds complicated but the lady who accepts the bookings tells us where to go to print, in Calle Valentin, just off Gran Via del Colon and luckily the small shop is open despite it being Saturday afternoon.

With that sorted we have a final stroll through the centre and a look at Decathlon before heading back to the apartment.....nearly 20 kilometres on foot today!