Spring break in Spain–Day 7: Granada

We packed the vans with all our luggage, straightened up the house and headed for Granada eating leftover Magnum Bars for breakfast.

We had tickets for La Alhambra at 2:00 and got there with plenty of time.  Emily and Megan love to get their maps open and figure out where we are…

  

La Alhambra is the last and greatest Moorish palace and one of Europe's top sights, attracting up to 8,000 visitors a day.     A couple views of the city of Granada from La Alhambra…

l

Emily and I had a great time checking out all the tiles.  We were hoping to find the exact tile on the guide map they handed us and we came close but not exactly… similar patterns and colors used throughout the whole palace.

 

This courtyard is the Court of Myrtles.  “The Moors loved their patios – with a garden and water, under the sky.  Women rarely went out, so they stayed in touch with nature in courtyards like this one.”   

The Grand Hall of the Ambassadors

• “The palace’s largest room functioned as the throne room.  It was here that the sultan, seated on a throne opposite the entrance, received foreign emissaries. 
• The room is a perfect square from top to bottom.
• The star-studded domed wooden ceiling (8,017 inlaid pieces like a giant jigsaw puzzle) suggests the complexity of Allah’s infinite universe.
• The walls are finely carved Arabic script.  Muslims avoided making images of living creatures (that was God’s work) but they could carve decorative religious messages.  One phrase “only Allah is victorious” is repeated 9,000 times throughout the palace.  The character for ‘Allah’ looks like a cursive W with a nose on the left side. (look to the picture below)
• In 1492, two historic events likely took place in this room:

1. Culminating a 700 year long battle, the Reconquista was completed here as the last Moorish king, Boabdil, signed the terms of his surrender before eventually leaving for Africa – which expelled the Muslim culture and re-established Christian rule here.
2. It was here that CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS made his pitch to Isabel and Ferdinand to finance a sea voyage to the Orient.” (Rick Steves Spain)

 

Here’s the group standing right where Columbus stood to pitch his voyage to the Orient…

   

Matthew hiding in a corner and playing peek a boo.  He was giggling so cute.

     

After touring La Alhambra we made our way back to the vans and plugged in the Hotel’s address into our GPS.  The hotel was right downtown and our GPS decided to take us on some of the skinniest roads in town – some that we had to pass and be ‘rerouted’ because we wouldn’t have fit.  Always an adventure trying to navigate a van through a European city.  We found out hotel on a busy street filled with shopping.  We checked in and took our bags to our four rooms.  Two for the Johnsons, two for the Chuggs.  Then Chris and Jared went in search of where to park the vans while we relaxed a bit in our hotel rooms.

When they got back we got ready to walk through the city hoping to catch a bus up to a great Alhambra viewpoint.  When the bus came we realized there was NO WAY we were getting on.  It was already filled beyond capacity and when the bus driver saw our pack of 15 he just shook his head and kept driving.  So instead we decided to walk and I’m so glad we did.  We walked through a fun shopping district, in the direction of Granada’s Cathedral and then around it to the Albayzin – Spain’s best old Moorish Quarter… It was SUCH a fun area with cool shops of clothes and trinkets, colorful corners, narrow streets, vendors with imported North African goods, bright flowers and big canopies.   I held back a little to enjoy the atmosphere – but not too much.  Supposedly these streets aren’t the safest after dark.

Albayzin – Spain’s best old Moorish Quarter

  

From the Albayzin area the cobblestone streets slant and wind and zigzag up hill.  It was easy climbing though and really fun to check out the old neighborhood on our way to the San Nicolas Viewpoint.   I’m so glad the bus was full. Our walking tour of Albayzin, the climb to the viewpoint and seeing the Alhambra as the sun set was my favorite part of the day.    It was just beautiful.

San Nicolas Viewpoint of the Alhambra

     

La Alhambra at night…

 

Once it was dark we zigzagged our way back down stopping at a little hole in the wall to get some tortilla sandwiches – which we’ve had quite a few times by now, and love.   We ate as we wandered and then sat down on some steps to finish.  A nice couple took our picture for us.

Carefully walking back through the Albayzin I found a dress that I loved for Katie and bought it.  It’s so cute on her.  That’s my kind of souvenir.    We headed back to our hotels and said goodnight.  Chris and the boys headed to one room and the girls and I headed to ours.