Granada Day 4

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I woke up around 10 and waited for the Ozzie that I met yesterday to meet me in the hostel lobby. I read some, napped, and then read some more. Reading really has made homesickness less noticeable.

I met him downstairs at 1 and we actually ran into another Ozzie that I met the night before and the three of us went to Alhambra together. What was really cool was that we got to the Alhambra at around 2:00 pm and that is when the afternoon session started. There are 500 tickets in every session but we were there at the very beginning when most of the tickets were still available. Our time to enter the Nasrid Palace Grounds was perfect too. It was spaced so that we did not have to do much waiting anywhere.

Here is the link to the site for the Alhambra: http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/. Click on Welcome not Bienvenido because you don’t know that language.

The first visit was the Alcazaba. It is the western tip of the complex and also the oldest part. You can tell that the defense of the fortress was the foremost thought in the creator’s mind because this was plan and simple a lookout for enemies and a medieval castle. The Arabs built it so it has a much different feel. But that is the case for the entire thing and that is why I love it so much. It was a maze of towers and walkways that would plague any attacker.

Our next stop was to the Nasrid Palace and that was a spectacle. After building security for the complex, the Arabs built the most spectacular palaces that I have seen. It beats the newer post-renaissance palaces by far. The craftsmanship of the marble and stone is unbelievable. Every pattern is down and repeated hundreds of times like wallpaper. But upon closer inspection there are subtle differences in every piece making them all have their own identity and personality. I couldn’t believe it. I had to put my hand on them and feel them to make sure they were real. The marble had been aged smooth. The floors through the palace were mostly of marble that had been smoothed perfectly at each step. There were pools that remained perfectly still and reflect light like glass and were accented by marble fountains. Lookouts shaped as if they were right out of Disney’s Aladdin amazed me every step of the way. If you cant tell this thing was freaking cool.

After that we went to the gardens and saw more fountains and hedges trimmed perfectly. We saw the Museum of the Alhambra, which is the big square building with the circle in it. It was cool but I liked seeing the actual things right outside more. I saw the palace baths (the still smell like baths) and continued to see the farm of the complex. It grew things for the restaurant there (we actually snuck into a place we weren’t supposed to be and got escorted out while I played dumb American that did not know much Spanish tee-hee).

Our last stop in the Alhambra was the Generalife. Don’t ask me why it’s named that because I honestly have no idea. It is the same in Spanish so I could not tell you its origins. The garden there was massive and there were a lot fountains and waterways everywhere. They had a very sophisticated water system in place from early on. It channels water down from the mountains by tapping into natural springs.

Hands down this was the coolest place to visit in all of Spain for me. There is nothing that comes close and though I was worn out, I was well satisfied. I took a nap and got ready for the tapas tour, which turned into watching the game (Spain v Ireland). I had fried squid, a baked potato with cheese and beef, and beef and fries. All were good and the game was better. Spain took care of business and every time they scored the entire place went nuts. And by the entire place I mean Spain itself went nuts. It was a great time.

That is all I can say for this day. Unfortunately I do not think that I can write any more and I am going to head off to bed and get ready to return to the states. You will hear more from me later though. Hope all is well. Later…

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Photos

La Alhambra
The Top

Nasrid Palace
First room of the Nasrid Palace.