Day 5: Granada
05/22/2009
I went to bed late and then woke up early to a horrible screeching noise. What kind of bird makes that crazy noise!? The local youths had partied all night across the street until almost 5 a.m. The horrible, screeching noise was a traffic officer directing traffic at the corner with his furious arm movements and whistle. The cool morning air helped to wake me up before I went to breakfast at the hotel next door. I was grumpy this morning (no big surprise-I’m grumpy every morning).
Rachel and I go to the bank because her card will not work in any of the ATMs. The Spanish bank was unable to help; they thought there was something wrong with the magnetic strip on her card. Her American bank offered little assistance and we had to find a solution for her amongst our group.
We are packed onto the bus for a quick ride to the Alhambra. The Alhambra only allows a limited amount of visitors every day and if you are late for your tour, you just don’t get in. People wait months to get tickets to visit this treasure of Granada. I really loved Toledo and I was afraid that I would not truly appreciate the beauty of the Alhambra.
My tour of the Alhambra was led by Gabriela.
Completed in the late 14th century, the Alhambra was built to represent heaven on Earth for the Nasrid emirate. Alhambra means “red one”. Made from red clay, it was whitewashed when it was constructed; the Moors considered it to be “a pearl set in emeralds”. The Alhambra is a palace-city. Utilizing the melted snows from the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Sultan’s Canal freed the palaces from being dependent upon water brought up from the Albaicín.
Granada was the last region of Spain to be reconquered by the Christians in 1492. King Ferdinand II and Isabella were so impressed by the beauty of the Alhambra that it was not damaged (their grandchildren had no qualms about ripping up the place, though).
We entered through the Generalife Gardens (Architect’s Gardens). Generalife was the summer palace built in the early 14th century. There was a magnificent view of Granada from our perch on the hillside. Gabriela showed us the hydraulic system of the Sultan’s Canal before we entered the Maze.
All of the palaces are built around an interior patio. The patio was used for privacy and is still prevalent in a lot of Spanish homes today.
The Patio del Descabalgamiento (Patio for dismounting) has the signature Moorish arch in the doorway. The top of the arch has a symbol, a key to open Paradise.
There are many courts and we get our tickets checked numerous times. We ramble through until we arrive at the Palace of Charles V. The Palace was a wedding gift for Charles V’s wife, but it was never finished during their lifetimes. The outside of the palace is square and Italian in style. The inside patio of the palace is round. One of the students from South Dakota University sang Ave Maria in the center to demonstrate the amazing acoustics of the patio.
The ceilings of the Alhambra are gorgeous. Designed from wood or plaster, they are all intricate works of art. The plaster honeycomb design looks like stalactites.
After the long walk through the many palaces of the Alhambra, I boarded the bus back to the hotel instead of taking the Albaicín walking tour. Jaime, our driver, mentioned that we were the only tour of students he’d had who were not visiting the Costa del Sol. If we could convince the two other universities to agree to go, we could add it to the agenda.
I walk with Kevin across the street to the supermarket so that he can get some lunch (he ends up with a giant chocolate bar for lunch). It’s time for me to take a nap and I sleep until right before dinner. We have dinner at a Moroccan restaurant. The owner pulls almost all of his tables and chairs out to the patio for us. The sandwich was great minus the green olives (who knew I liked un-pickled beets on a sandwich?).
Rachel wanted pizza. We had the most difficult time ordering pizza. The front desk transposed the numbers of the pizza place. I found the correct number online, only to discover that we were in the wrong delivery area. The woman that answered gave me the number of the pizzeria for our area. I called that number to find out that while the pizzeria was still open, delivery was finished. Finally, Adela and I went walking through the plaza to find a cheese pizza for Rachel. Adela stops a group of young people and asks where to find pizza.
“Pitha?” one young man asked. (Castilian Spanish pronounces c and z like th.)
Adela explains again that she is looking for pizza.
“Pita?” he asks. In the end, a woman in their party tells him to stop being a smart-aleck and directs us to a nearby pizzeria. We return to the hotel with two small cheese pizzas and several of us congregate in Joe and Patrick’s living room to use the telephone to call home.
