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Published: October 23rd 2009
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Photo 10
THE ALBAICIN NEIGHBORHOOD Granada...
A beautiful city, perched in the skirts of the Sierra Nevadas...The Alhambra standing gloriously in the midst of it...
This is the deal...You can not just walk to the Alhambra and buy entry tickets...It requires reservation and the only way for that is either at the Caixa Bank Automatic Machine or through the internet...The tickets sold are limited...They recommend two weeks advance reservations...There are people who reserve it one year in advance...I found this out from the Taxi driver in Seville driving me to the train station...A moment of panic...I talked to a lady in the train and she said she was not able to get tickets and that she and her son were planning on getting in line early in the morning around 6:00 am to get the tickets, if any available, at the ticket boot at the Alhambra...Apparantly the lines can get long...So when I arrived at the Hotel Miguelets adjacent to the fort walls of the Alhambra, I was told I can reserve online for Sunday...So that is what I did...I booked online and now I have to get the tickets at the ticket boot at the palace or print them from a Caixa Bank ATM machine...Apparently
Photo 11
ALBAICIN NEIGHBORHOOD-THE MAIN MOSQUE WITH THE MUADZIN CHANTING THE CALL FOR PRAYERS there is a one hour limit to visit the Nasrid Palace ( The Main palace in the fort) as well...So I will keep you updated...
Love,
M
p.s. i will add to the same blog...
pictures later...
M again
Warning:
this one is a bit longer than the others...I had some time to write in the train, before I got sick from the motion sickness...
Sitting in the train from Granada to Barcelona…The train ride is close to eleven hours…This way I thought I will get a glimpse of the landscape between Granada and Barcelona thru provinces of Andalucia, Murcia, Valencia, and Catalonia…It has been a lovely journey so far…I will be in Barcelona for five days…
The Landscape has been dry with hills covered with olive groves…I have to say I have not yet had olives as tasty as olives in Spain…As The train entered Catalonia, there were Citrus tree groves, Persimmons, and Palm trees.
I was in Granada for two and a half days…I thought it would be your typical medieval Spanish city with cobbled, stepped and narrow streets, which it is, but it is has an additional layer, and that is the Spanish Hippies…I was
Photo 10
THE GRAFFITI WALLS OF GRANADA ALONG THE PALACIO DAR-AL-HORRA AND THE MONASTERIO DE SANTA ISABEL LA REAL quite surprised…We are talking dreadlocks, MJ, alcohol, tie dies, beads, no bra, pierced eye brows, free thinking, free spirited, …They conglomerate in the hilly neighborhood of Albaicin, facing the Alhambra, and mainly in an area adjacent to the Iglesia de San Nicholas. I do not mean to stereotype the hippies and portray a cliché image of them, but that was only way I thought I could describe the scene. There were a lot of Young Brits and Americans climbing these hills in this very old neighborhood.
The Albaicin is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Granada, perched on the hill opposite the Alhambra and separated from it by the Darro River (more like a stream) . The neighborhood was mainly occupied by the Moors and the Gypsies. It is currently one the very few Moorish neighborhoods in Spain and holds an active mosque that is situated between two churches. When I got to the top of the hill the Muadzin was reciting the call for prayers, which made the experience a little surreal. The most beautiful views of the Alhambra are fom the Albaicin and the Sacrament neighborhoods of Granada. The Scrament is on top of the hill from the
Photo 2
ALHAMBRA-THE MEDINA Albaicin and holds the Christian cave dwellings.
So that is what I did on Saturday, walking thru the different neighborhoods of Granada from the Gran Via, The main commercial hub and more updated, new and flat, to the old and very hilly neighborhoods of Realjo and Albaicin. Also of worthy mention is that Isabelle La Catolica and her husband Fernando el Catolic are interred behind the cathedral in the Renaissance/Baroque neighborhood of Granada and adjacent to the Moorish university and the narrow commercial alleys of the Moors along the Gran Via. I ended the day with a Donner Kabob Sandwich at a Moorish restaurant.
The only available Tickets I could find for the Alhambra was for Sunday afternoon…So after walking thru the city a little, I took the local little bus number thirty two at the Plaza de Isabelle La Catolica for the Alahambra…I found the whole reservation and access a bit confusing and unorganized…The information is not given clearly and simply…Everyone transfers you from one to the other…Anywho, there are three time zones to visit the Alhambra, morning, afternoon, and night…You have to reserve and select a specific hour to enter the Nazarid palace…If you are a few minutes
Photo 3
ALHAMBRA-THE HAMMAMS late, you loose your chance to enter the palace…you can still roam about the city of Alhambra during the time zone you have selected…They check your ticket at every section of the grounds and scan it…
The Alhambra…Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful…Picturesque, romantique, delicate like lace work, pleasant, calming, beautiful arches, fountains, gardens, streams, canals, vistas, trees, especially Persimmons, flowers…I got there at 1:00 pm and came out around 7:00 pm…I got to do a quick run of the Generalife farming area, and visited the Nasrid Palaces, the Palace of Carlos the Fifth, The Alcazaba and the original fort, the Medina (Town), and the Hammams (baths adjacent to the old mosque, that was destroyed and replaced with a church)…It was dark when I left and the half moon was out, which made it a little of an Arabian Nights experience…The tragedy of it all for me was that the famous Patio of the Lions in the Nasrid Palaces is being rehabilitated. They have relocated the lions to the Carlos the Fifth palace, stopped the fountain and covered it with a big rectangular wooden box, and the worst thing is that they are having problems with reinstalling the lions and starting the fountain…The
Photo 4
ALHAMBRA-THE PALACE OF CARLOS THE FIFTH information is given in Spanish at the entry to the palace…So many people, including yours truly, were a little ticked off…
My last day in Granada ended with having Churros with hot Chocolate syrup at the Plaza De Bibramblas and witnessing the Spanish Police raiding the African street merchants who were selling knock off designer bags...It was quite the show, but the funny thing was right after the police left, they started setting up their merchandise again, and it was business as usual...The vendors display their merchandise on a rectangular cloth that has strings on four sides...As soon as the police approach, the vendors just pull the strings and turn the cloth into a large pouch which holds all the bags, then they run like guzzles and disappear into the narrow, dark streets, waiting for the police to leave, and then reappear...A couple of them lost a few bags that fell from their pouches and were confiscated by the police...
So here I am taking the afternoon off like the Barcelonians, resting in the apartment, and finishing the Granada entry...I will continue on Barcelona later...
Love you all...
M
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