I left this morning at 3:20 AM for Granada. By bus, it takes about 5 hours to reach Granada from Alicante. Fortunately, I was able to doze most of the way so I wasn't too tired when I arrived at 8:30 AM.
At the bus station, I caught a taxi to go to the Alhambra--Granada's famous Arabic palace. As some of you may know, I don't really like riding in taxis--especially by myself. It's a fear that's a little irrational, but it can be easy to be taken advantage of in a foreign country.
However, today, my taxi driver was super nice. He told me that it was a shame that I was visiting Granada this weekend because the weather wasn't too good. It was cold and rainy, but he told me that it shouldn't rain too much today so I should be okay for my visit to the Alhambra.
I've become accustomed to telling people that I'm from the Midwest. Any time I say my home state, I just get blank looks. So when the taxi driver asked me where I was from, I was surprised that he actually was familiar with my home state--you know "the West," "pistols," and "cowboys"! He asked me if it was still like that. I had to admit to him that there are no longer outlaws in my state--other than the ones that dress up for the tourists!
At 9 AM, I met up with two other Fulbrighters at the Alhambra, and we entered the gardens surrounding the palace. This area is called the Generalife (Garden of the Architect) Gardens but also includes the Generalife Palace. These gardens and palace were constructed around 1300. The palace was meant to be a retreat for the Nasrid rulers.
Next, in order to escape the cold, we entered the Palace of Carlos V. This palace was build in 1527 (symbolically situated) right next to the Nasrid Palace built by the Arabs. Inside the middle of the palace, there is a circular patio. On the first floor, there is a museum with artifacts found around the Alhambra--such as pottery, coins, clay toys, etc. One of the most interesting parts of the exhibit was the excavation of a water channel built during Christian occupation of the fortress. Apparently, when archaeologists examined the water channels later, they discovered that later Christians used Arabic tombstones in the construction of water channels.
The Palace of Carlos V also houses the Museum of Art for the Alhambra. We didn't visit this museum because it had an additional fee, and we were running out of time. On the second floor, there was an exhibition about Owen Jones--a British architect who became fascinated by the Alhambra. He came to Granada to study the Alhambra and eventually created many buildings in England imitating the style of the Alhambra.
After the Palace of Carlos V and a visit to Customer Service, we finally made it to the Nasrid Palace--the heart of the Alhambra! This palace was built around 1330 at the end of the rule of the Nasrid dynasty. The Palace is composed of three parts: the Mexuar Palace, the Comares Palace, and the Palace of the Lions.
The Mexuar Palace was mostly used for administrative and governmental purposes. The Oratory (connected to the Mexuar Palace) was used for worship.
The Comares Palace was the intermediary between the public and private areas of the Alhambra. It is here--sitting at the top of the stairs--that the ruler met with his vassals and held audiences with petitioners.
The Palace of the Lions is perhaps the most iconic of the Alhambra's sights. It includes the Patio of the Lions--which has 12 lion statues (each a little different) that form a fountain. Unfortunately (as well as fortunately), they are working on renovating the Patio of the Lions so we couldn't see the fountain in all of its glory. Instead, there is a small exhibit showing the restored lions. If you look closely, you can notice the differences between the 12 lions. I found that the differences tended to be in the mouth, the mane, and the feet.
After visiting the palace, we strolled through the upper Generalife palace. As we prepared to leave the Alhambra, it started to rain--so we went in search of a dry place and warm food!
Next, we checked into our hostel--Makuto Backpackers--and went on a walking tour of the city. Rather, I should say that we went on a walking tour of the old city--the Albaicín. This part of the city is full of small, narrow, winding streets. It's like a labyrinth! When we were on our own, we got lost every time! The Albaicín has the best views in Granada, and we stopped at a few to take in the spectacular view of the Alhambra and the lower city. Our guide told us that Albaicín is the most expensive part of the city to live in. Everyone wants to be able to say that they have a view of the Alhambra from their apartment. So people sometimes share these apartments with 3 or 4 other people!
Finally, we went out for some tapas and a flamenco show. I've been to other flamenco shows in the past, and this one was alright in comparison. I write about what I know about flamenco on another day. This show just lacked a little bit of spontaneity and some of the depth of emotion. However, the cantaor made up for it because he was a character! He was a little old man and looked like someone's grandpa. Later, he got up a did a short and furious dance. I was scared he was going to have a heart attack! Turned out he just had a little bit of spunk.
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