We went to a café and had a crappy breakfast (but the photos lie: it looks like fun!) and walked up the hill, taking the lower "shortcut" gate into the Alhambra since we got our tickets yesterday, thank allah, saving us big time. We have a 9:30 entry time, and they emphasize to be on time.
We arrived early to find a long queue already waiting.
The Alhambra is the big thing to see here, a fortress on the mountain top, left over from the Moorish conquest of Spain. It is basically a huge, Moroccan type palace and kasbah, situated on the hilltop overlooking Granada.
It would have been really really impressive if we hadn’t been in Morocco already. As it was, it was still pretty great and in such good condition.
I enjoyed looking at the detail work more, now that I am not so overwhelmed by the overall huge feel of the palace and fortress. The plaster work is astounding, the massive wooden doors amazing, and the detailed tile work and cave-like ceilings really well preserved.
A church is now built up on the site, the bell tower with cross looking down on the gardens, as if to say, "HA! Take that, you Mean old Moorish Muslims, you!"
The gardens, with marigolds on steroids, beautiful rows of colored peppers, flowers and plants of every sort; old huge trees and fountains, orange trees and tiled courtyards are beautiful. I am not usually impressed too much by looking at or wandering around gardens, but these were outstanding. The most amazing part to me was all the water running everywhere. I guess they brought the water in via aqueduct from the river, in case of siege, and it bubbles up in hundreds of fountains, inside and out, running down little narrow canals into pools with fish. You can sit and just hear the water flowing all around you.
We left and took the LAC bus out to the train station to pick up our tickets to Cordoba (€78) and then on to Sevilla (€30). We walked back along the main street and through the garden that is built over the underground parking in the center of the city, then through an old gate in the city walls and up into the maze of streets around the Albayzin or old Moorish area. Winding streets, reminiscent of the souks, but you are definitely NOT in Morocco because you are missing all the offensive people.
We walked and climbed up, up the twisty streets, high up the hill, past a house for sale perched on a cliff overlooking the city of Granada (asking price €120,000 and let me tell you, as far as I can see the price is a bargain for the location!) to a small plaza by a church where we stopped for wine, water and a tapa.
While sitting in the shade, we watched the young backpackers go sweating by, loaded down with huge packs slung front and back. I thought to myself, thank god I am older and have the money to sit out the heat with a cold agua con gas!
Then a guy with an out of tune guitar came by and belted out two quick songs, whistling when he didn’t know the words to “House Of The Rising Sun.”
I didn’t tip him.
There are lots of Alhambra beer trucks around, because that is the local brew and is served in every bar and restaurant. What better way to remember and honor the Muslim conquest, than by naming a beer after them?
We again toasted Ramadan, which should be ending soon. Maybe Sunday the 27th.
After resting, we hugged the shade as we continued our climb up to Plaza de San Nicolás for the view over the valley and up to the Alhambra. Wandering around, we looked at the church, the one local mosque, and the plaza where a guy was unsuccessfully trying to sell photos of people posing in front of the Alhambra view, for €3 a pop. It is pretty sad, to see this outdated idea; the guy not quite adjusting to the age of the selfie.
So, of course, Gail and I…
grabbed a selfie in front of the view.
The mosque is one of the few where the Imam climbs the tower and does the call to prayer himself, rather than by loudspeaker. The residents of the area wanted it that way.
It was getting hot, about 39° (102°F) so we looked and just below us was the El Balcón de San Nicolás café, with a shaded view patio overlooking the valley and Alhambra view. So, we settled right in, and wasted away the hot hours of the afternoon, on couches, eating lasagne and a tomato - goat cheese skyscraper, drinking and reading, and enjoying the views over to the fortress, kept cool by the misters. We didn’t leave until after 18:00.
Back through the souks, to our room to drop off some stuff, then out into the evening to stroll along the river until we found a new plaza, cafés lined up in a row under a tunnel made of grape vines. We ate tapas and drank more wine, sitting right underneath the Alhambra, the entire mountain top lit by floodlights.
It kind of reminded us of Athens, when we could see the Parthenon and Acropolis lit up at night.
The evenings and mornings are cool here, almost chilly in the early morning shade. We are surrounded by mountains, the sierra still has patches of snow. I think we must be up higher in elevation.
Once again we fall asleep after midnight, waking up to hear the cleaners go by, washing down the streets before the city wakes.