Goodness, Granada is chilly. Sevilla's elevation is seven meters (23 feet). Granada's elevation is seven hundred thirty-eight meters (2,421 feet). That Z-axis will get you every time, the temperature is right near freezing.
We try to shake the chills by walking from the Catedral to the Paseo del Salón, downhill, southeast, towards the Rio Genil. We turn off the Calle Gran Vía de Colón, the 'main drag' of central Granada, and run into the back of the Catedral. The Romanesque-Gothic windows with script fading on the stone blocks, this reminds us of Ciudad Rodrigo.
The main facade of the Santa y Apostólica Iglesia Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de la Encarnación de Granada (sixteenth century) is unusual (to say nothing of the formal name): a trio of deep, vertical arches, but 'thin' at the top. There's not much ornament, just enough to place it in an era (maybe Baroque). The facade feels almost Brutalist.
The Catedral faces a compact, irregular space, the Plaza de las Pasiegas. There don't seem be be 'roads' that actually join the Plaza, just a maze of dark passages. Yet a stream of tour groups transit the the area.
From the Cathedral, we slip down an alley and, just a few feet away, find ourselves in the Plaza de Bib-Rambla, a much broader, quieter space. In the center is the Fuente de Neptune, also known as the Fuente de los Gigantes for the splendidly hideous creatures (mermaids?) supporting the lower basin and drooling its contents.
Continuing to the southeast, down another alley, we suddenly find ourselves in 'modern' Granada; the buildings are a bit higher, a bit newer, and there's lots of traffic. We cross the big rotary at the Puerta Real, and enter the Plaza del Campillo where there is another fountain, the Fuente de las Batallas. Through the branches of the bare trees, we can make out the snowy caps of the Sierra Nevada.
The Calle Carrera de la Virgen is a tree-lined mall that connects to the Paseo del Salón, more effortless, slope-assisted travel. And we arrive at the the Rio Genil and the Fuente de Las Granadas. This fountain counterpoints the Gigantes, with spray arcing between the lithe damsels and pomegranates. But the Rio is disappointing, being nothing more than a concrete channel with a thin stream, the area presumably engineered for flood control.
All this while, we are glancing to our left, hoping to glimpse the Alhambra. At the end of the Salón, we turn uphill. The ascent brings us to the Campo del Principe. Google maps says there's not much Granada left between us and the Alhambra, but we still can't see it. Instead, there is a Crucifix and views of cartoonish Hotel Alhambra Palace.
To the west we notice a set of towers, but those are on the Carmen de la Fundación Rodriguez-Acosta, a local house-museum, not the Torres Bermejas or the Torre de la Vela.
By now it's check-in time at the apartment, and we have to deal with luggage and dinner, so we head north. On the way we discover the Iglesia de Santo Domingo (sixteenth century). We can't help but think that this is a better application of the 'triumphal arch' than the Catedral, even the bell tower seems better integrated. The painted columns behind the real columns create depth, and the terrace above the arches helps keep things tied together.
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