I shifted in my seat and wound down the window to breathe in the crisp mountain air. I felt as though I had been in the Sierra Nevada forever as the perfect azure blue sky pierced my closed lids. I forced opened my eyes and saw the road signs for magical cities like Seville, Cordoba and Cadiz calling to us as we passed.
The road seemed to be going on and on in a shimmering haze. Gnarled, ancient olive trees stretched as far as the eye could see with their precious crop glinting in the sunlight. Then with another breath, the scent of lemons was everywhere.
Then the cool raindrops misted my face as a raincloud passed overhead. Soon it was gone and the lemon scent was intensified all around us. “Wow, what’s that fabulous smell” said my husband as he took a deep slow breath. We had hardly spoken in the two hours we had been travelling as we were both enjoying the Spanish classical guitar concert on the radio. “Lemons” I whispered without opening my eyes.
A half an hour went by and then he said “open your eyes and look at the navy mountains in the distance, they look stunning with their fluffy topping of white clouds”.
I looked around as the music changed key and a whole new picture came into view. The well-travelled road to Granada with its white houses and red roofs sparkled in the distance.
The Alhambra Palace soon came into view and we marvelled at such a thing of beauty built so many centuries ago.
We parked the car and began to walk along the cobbled path surrounded by a beautiful garden. We were mesmerised and peeping over the wall we could see Granada in all its glory down below. The perfume of the roses in the palace garden was stunning, filling your senses like a magical mist and somehow brought you closer to the history of this medieval palace. Various shades of pink, white, yellow and cream roses surrounded by perfect lines of scented lavender stretched your eyes out into eternity.
The large oak door blocked our path and then we were summoned through by an old curator. A cool marble entrance and a thousand twinkling stars above and I knew I would always remember this place in my heart.
Then he whispered “I have just seen a smart restaurant through a chink in the door, are you hungry? I nodded and soon we were seated in the most divine space next to a tinkling stream full of darting silver and golden fishes. I do not remember ordering anything but delicious dishes arrived and were replaced by even tastier ones until finally iced lemon Granizados and coffee arrived to complete our meal.
It was the cool of the evening when we left to find our car and all the visitors seemed to have disappeared into the mist.We had hardly spoken for hours but we had spent one of the most perfect days we had ever had