Alhambra Awe

So two weekends ago we went to Granada with our program.  That week I finally had my first tennis lesson. There were only five people in my class and none are students but they were all really nice and I spent some time afterward talking to two of the women because class ended early due to rain. (Of course one of the few times it rains in Sevilla is during my first tennis lesson.) It felt really good to get back into exercise and tennis in particular since I miss playing it on a regular basis. The rest of the week was pretty mellow – I did some exploring of Sevilla with Maureen on Friday, but of course the highlight was Granada! It was gorgeous. It has amazing mountain views combined with amazing architecture in the Alhambra. In a word, it was amazing.  We got there on Saturday around noon and immediately went out to explore the city.  Our first stop was Dunkin Donuts because some of my friends love it and we don’t have one in Sevilla, so they were really excited to see one.  After a quick coffee/donut break, we headed up toward the caves where the gypsies used to live.  Some still do live in the mountains but in houses near the caves not the caves themselves.  It was a steep and tiring path up but we finally made it to the cave museum only to find out that it was closed for siesta and not reopening for another three hours. Oh well. We saw some beautiful views from the high vantage point and got in some good exercise.  The mountain actually reminded me a little of Mexico because the cacti and other plants and general color scheme looked very similar to the Mexican countryside.  After descending from the caves, we decided to find some place to eat since a few of my friends didn’t have sandwiches from their host moms.  The first place we sat down wouldn’t let us only order sandwiches and tapas from the table we were sitting at because it had a tablecloth which meant it was for the real menu.  The waiter was pretty rude about it and it seemed odd that they were turning down customers when it wasn’t close to full. We decided not to eat at that place and eventually found another little tapas bar close by where it didn’t matter which table we sat at and had a quick bite.  After, we headed to the Arab markets, which reminded me of Morocco, especially since they were selling very similar items, but less chaotic and overwhelming. Once we had seen more poufs and slippers than we ever wanted, one of my friends and I decided to go back up to the caves to see the museum.  I had forgotten how tiring of a walk it was. After panting my way, we finally made it. Despite the warning of some friends who had just left that the museum was cheesy, we decided to go anyway because, well, we had walked all the way up again! It was quite cheesy – caves filled with arranged furniture and objects showing “what life was really like” back then. Reminded me of an American Girl Doll magazine page.  Still, the views were nice and after all of that walking, we deserved an ice cream.  I got Mars bar flavored ice cream, which had strips of chocolate in it and was absolutely delicious. While eating our ice cream, we started wandering up toward this mirador, a lookout point, that my friend who had studied in Granada recommended for sunset.  The streets of that part of Granada are small and winding, but I was with my friend Taylor who is incredibly talented at following maps, so we made with perfect timing to see the first orangey and pink rays fill the sky as the sun began its descent. The sun doesn’t set behind the Alhambra but it still makes the colors of the buildings turn orangey and then purple and then blue. It was an incredible view.  Other than the annoying Spanish guys who came up to us and tried to strike up a conversation when we were clearly not interested, it was a perfect evening.  After about 50 million pictures (have I not already mentioned that I can never get enough of a good sunset) we headed back to the hotel to shower and rest before dinner.  In Granada, and basically everywhere else in Andalusia except for Sevilla, tapas come free when you order a drink, so some friends and I went to a bar and got a glass of wine and dinner included! The tapas were actually really good considering we didn’t get to choose – some yummy French fries with aioli sauce and a bagel panini type sandwich with lots of herbs and olive oil. Afterwards we walked around a while but headed back early because we had to wake up the next morning for our tour of the Alhambra.

mountain view

houses in the mountain

              view of Alhambra from the mirador

sunset at the mirador

don't know how the tower became transparent but I like it

The Alhambra was pretty spectacular. It’s a series of buildings and gardens that used to be the city/fortress where the kings and a few others lived.  It has two different palaces and then the Generalife, which is the summer palace and gardens. The first palace we saw was that of Carlos V who spent a lot of money constructing a palace in the Alhambra before having to redirect that money to fight a war, leaving the palace unfinished until the 1990s. It has a circular interior and is known for its acoustics – apparently they have concerts there in the summer. The next palace – the Moorish Palace – is the really spectacular Moorish architecture that most people probably think of when they think Alhambra. I’ve seen the Mudejar architecture all over Seville and been to Morocco and I was still blown away by this palace.  Normally I think designs all over get very busy, but the carved plaster that goes from floor to ceiling in some of the rooms is just beautiful. Then there was a reflecting pool and since the sky was clear blue that day, the reflection of the archway of the building shimmered. Even there were no lions in the patio of lions (they’re being restored), it was still awesome to see the over 100 columns all around it. And some of the ceilings in the rooms were so intricate, my neck started hurting from all the time I spent craning up to look at them. I really can’t do any of it justice, so I’ll just include lots of pictures so you get the idea.  The Generalife was also beautiful, even in October there were flowers that are probably on steroids they are so big and lots of fountains with criss-crossing water.  There was even a wall covered with reddish-orangeish leaves, so I guess fall does exist in Spain too. At every turn there was another breathtaking view of the mountains, basically I was in awe the entire tour.  Afterwards we went to lunch and wandered for a bit (and got really good dark chocolate gelato) before returning to the bus to go home.  Even the bus afforded us some amazing sunset/mountain views. I think my eyes are still ringing from the trip.