Granada and the Alhambra

Our plane arrived in Spain at 11pm and we had an hour and a half drive to Granada. We finally arrived at our hotel in Granada about 2am.

Granada is set in a beautiful area of Spain. They still have snow capped mountains in the background as you can see in the picture. The city itself is made of heavy stone construction. It is picturesque with beautiful flowers everywhere. The streets are paved with little tiny cobble stones in the Roman fashion. The streets lead up into the hills and are very narrow. There are many outdoor cafes and plazas.

We are staying at a converted monastery and it is quite beautiful and stylish. Our morning was a walking tour of the Alhambra. The Alhambra is set strategically high up on the mountain overlooking the city. It is a quite large walled palace complex complete with amazing gardens. The structure was built by the Moors (Arab invaders from North Africa) and was the home for many generations of Arab Rulers. Eventually the Christians defeated the Moors and after several battles expelled all Moors (and Jews) from Spain. Don’t you just love religion?

At any rate, the Alhambra then became the palace of the Christian Kings and Queens of Spain (think Ferdinand and Isabella). They had the sense not to destroy the Moorish Architecture and lived in the palaces that were intricately decorated with Arabian Tiles and writing. The gardens are wonderful.

Granada has a major university including a combined Arabic / Hebrew department. They must have some interesting faculty meetings. In the afternoon we engaged another guide for a walking tour of the oldest area of Granada known as the Albaicin. It is on a separate hill from the Alhambra but looks out towards it, with the snow capped mountains behind. As we walked through the narrow twisty streets we would see old Moorish homes now being gentrified and looking beautiful. There are lots of plazas with bars serving the many people who come out for leisurely drinks. It is very appealing, we stopped for our first sherry in Spain. It was cold and dry Sherry, very good. With it they served a free Tapas, a huge plate of fabulous French Fries, cut very thick, with a mayo and paprika sauce. Yum! After a dinner overlooking the Alhambra, we returned to the hotel and had drinks in the beautifully lit open courtyard. I had a sweet sherry this time. It could become a habit.

The picture that looks like a lamp, is a street light. They are over the area we are staying in, aren’t they cool?