ALHAMBRA

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October 24 - Granada

Once again I am off at the crack of dawn, 8:30, to visit the Alhambra. We are docked at Almeria and it takes about 2-21/2 hours to reach Granada. The countryside is desert, reminiscent of Nevada. The soil is beige and grey. There is little vegetation but strangely there are the remnants of terraced hillsides and dry stone retaining walls so at one time it must have been fertile enough to plant.
We pass small villages. Each has a prominent church and a watchtower. The houses are built on the hillside and the architecture echoes the Moorish past, narrow winding streets and low white buildings. We pass one town where people live in caves and have for generations. This is not to say that they are cavemen. The limestone hills here are pockmarked with caves and some are habitable. Facades, some quite elaborate, with patios and gardens, cover the entrances.
We arrive at the Alhambra and meet our guide Nacho (short for Ignacio) and for the next four hours we walk and climb and stand in this fantastic complex of gardens and palaces. I won’t bore you with the history of this site but just say that it is magical, a mixture of a Moorish stronghold until 1492, then a Christian stronghold. The buildings and gardens echo both eras. Located on hills overlooking the city it was a completely self-sufficient complex. Vegetables were planted in the valleys and fruit trees grew in every garden. Water ran down from the mountains and provided drinking water, irrigation and fountains entirely by aqueducts and gravity.
After the Moors were driven from Spain, the Alhambra was the home of the Kings of Spain and a Princess. Catherine. Catherine of Aragon was destined to marry Henry XIII and become queen of England, the first of Henry’s six wives. She arrived in England at the age of 15. I cannot imagine her feelings as she left the beautiful, warm, sunny, fragrant palace and gardens of the Alhambra to sail to the damp, chill, drafty and very strange land of England.
On our way back to the port, we passed by the road that leads to the ski area just outside of Granada. It is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and there was snow on the peaks after last week’s snowfall.
From Granada, in the winter, you can drive the ½ hour and ski or drive 45 minutes and be at the beach. Although the day was long it was well worth it. I have been fighting a head cold so I grab a snack and head for bed. Thank you Alka Seltzer Cold Plus!

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