Granada and Ahambra. A highlight of our entire trip.

We arrived in Granada still uncertain if we had managed to purchase tickets to visit the Alhambra.  We’d tried several tourist offices and on-line services which were all sold-out; eventually we’d purchased a morning tour on-line.  Only the message from the website was “thanks for your purchase, you should receive the tickets for your visit within 48 hours” and it was less than that until our visit was due to take place.  We knew that if we didn’t get on the tour we could queue up for the tickets which are released ‘on the day’ – but advice received from several sources was to start lining up by 6:30am (if not earlier) and you know we’re not that good at mornings.  It was with great relief I saw them pop up on my phone as I connected to the free wi-fi in our hotel.

The unlucky ones sans tickets.  Probably all on line looking for guided tours with spare tix. 

Our hotel was in a charming old building built in the traditional manner around a courtyard (now roofed over).  We had aircon, a mini-bar, a bathtub in the bathroom, and if we didn’t love the two single beds pushed together and called a double, well we’ve had that in hotels that cost a lot more that €40 per night!  And I’m sure (after my previous post on Madrid) you don’t need me to say our next task was wandering the streets of the old town and eating tapas!  Granada is very civilised – one drink = one free tapa.  Some we enjoyed more than others.

Yum Yum Hummus

Cold Tomato Soup

Pate with gorgonzola or anchovies?

Olives and something. 
What?  Matt wonders...

Churros, by the way, are highly over-rated.  I'd really rather have a nice fresh cinnamon doughnut (Matt is shaking his head in horror.  I had to tell him beer is also over-rated).

The next morning we caught a taxi up the hill and joined our tour group to see one of the world’s most beautiful historical sites.  We started with the Generalife Gardens (pronounced Heneral-leafy) and Summer Palace.  We don’t often join guided tours, preferring to be able to linger over interesting spots and hurry through those which don’t catch our fancy, still you do learn a lot that you don’t find out only from reading or audio-guides.  The guide was very good and despite the enormous crowds managed to pace the trip well.  The gardens are astonishingly verdant.  Originally gravity fed from the mountains and now reticulated and recirculated water irrigates the greenery and feeds the fountains.  We learned that the Muslim fountains are the rounded bubbly ones while the Christian ones are the square ones with jets.

Generalife Gardens.  Beautiful landscaping.

Just outside the wall the landscaping and water features continue.

Next we made our way through some of the public areas and admired hotels which were way beyond our budget before we came to the palace of Charles V.  It doesn’t quite fit with the Arabic design of the other buildings and in fact was never inhabited.  It is of interest mainly because the outside is square and the inside is round.  The acoustics are very good and it is used in summer for concerts.

Not a doorknocker, just a decoration.

The high point of our visit was next as we toured the Nasrid Palaces.  Demand is so high that you are issued a time with your ticket and if you miss your slot, you miss out.  They do have around 6000 people a day to get through without too many bottlenecks.  On approach the complex looks very plain and simple.  This, our guide explained, is a result of a fundamental difference between the Christian and Muslim architecture of the time.  While Christians displayed their wealth and greatness in public (even while private areas might be comparatively plain and simple) the Muslims were not publicly ostentatious.  Their wealth was only on display on the inside, where only invited guests and family could enjoy it.  Even when entering a building the entrance was designed so you went through a zig-zag or offset doors so its glory was only revealed when you were really inside and couldn’t be glimpsed by outsiders.

The first palace, Mexuar Palace, was disfigured by the addition of a baroque chapel.  It's since been removed but you can still see the crowns of Phillip IV on the walls.  The ceiling is still beautiful.

The second palace Comares, or Myrtle Places. including the Hall of the Ambassadors.  The roof of the courtroom was just stunning.  This was the Sultan's official residence.

I forget how many stars there were on the ceiling. 
Count them and tell me?

The mirror pool reflects the palace, representing
the temporary nature of our existence on
this plane.

The final palace was saw was the Palace of the Lions which included the Lion Fountain, possibly a gift from the local Jewish community.

detail of the walls

They used to be in glorious technicolour

The lions of Judah or the twelve tribes of Israel?  No one today knows the meaning of the fountain.

We then walked around the complex seeing the internal gardens and the one remaining original stained glass window.  

Probably not broken because it was very difficult to see!  This was a ceiling light.

The final part of our visit was Alcazaba, the oldest part of the site, the fort.

Remains of the barracks

ongoing excavations

View from Alcazabar to the Cathederal

Matt checks out the engineering of the ancients.

After a much needed siesta we ventured out again to find a few more tapas and maybe a glass of cava or sangria.  The first stop, one mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide and website, we didn’t rate highly at all.   Our favourite stop as we made our way uphill through the narrow and steep laneways was a tiny bar where the owner told us he loved kangaroos, and, like deer they were good eating!  The hummus with Moroccan bread there was possibly my favourite dish of the night (pictured above after the first paragraph or so - after several serves of jamon and manchengo, pate, olives and a cat food salad). 
 

The Alhambra - photo actually from the mosque not the church.

The lanes as we continued up were mostly accessible only to pedestrians and possibly mountain goats and we eventually we ended up opposite the Alhambra at St Nicholas’s Church where Friday evening festivities were underway.  Along with stalls selling the usual tat were some wonderful performers and we took time out to watch the flamenco dancing, accompanied by a ululating singer and drummer, as well as a guitarist.  The energy the performers invested in their routine had the crowd mesmerised – until it came time to pass the hat.  A bit unfair that so many people watched and so few put in any Euros.

 
Over the road at the mosque there was another fiesta, this time the performance was more formal with CDs for sale and seats available for some.  A sign as you entered the grounds requested visitors dress modestly, luckily my skirt and sleeveless top were judged modest enough!  We enjoyed both performances and thought we were privileged to visit an area where different faiths can co-exist so harmoniously.   

Walking back down the street in the late evening twilight we had time for just one or two more tapa before retiring.