In His Footsteps: The Places I've Seen: Granada

My bus to Granada left at 10:30am and was about 2.5hours. I slept part of the way and stared at millions of olive trees the rest of the time. Seriously, there are entire hillsides for miles covered in neat plantations of trees. It was incredible.

I broke down and took public transit into Granada, which was a good idea. The hostel was a bit tricky to find, but was so worth it. Clean, safe, quiet, very pleasant atmosphere, friendly staff, free Internet, and close to all the attractions.

Wonderful hostel! They had heat lamps at the tables outside
and it was a great place to eat and chat with other guests.

I found out that the cathedral was going to be closed the rest of the week for Semana Santa stuff so I went there first thing.

For all you music nerds out there :P

At 4:45 there was a free walking tour from the hostel led by a colorful and funny British guy named Nicholas. He took us up to Sacromonte, the old Muslim quarter and the hill where the gypsies used to live in caves. I don’t think I would’ve ventured up there alone so it was a great opportunity. There was also a wonderful view from the top. Granada is a very picturesque city.

On the way up to Sacromonte, through the streets of Albaycin

View of the Alhambra from Sacromonte

As we were walking down the other side of the hill we encountered a procession so I stayed to watch for a bit. The ceremony and symbolism is so intriguing. After reading my previous posts, a friend wrote and told me the the meaning of the participant's costumes: the pointed hats represent reaching toward heaven, and the masks have to with only God knowing our identities.

Once it passed I made my way down to Plaza Nueva and had a light supper of tapas.

mmmm...Tapas :)

Wednesday morning I had a ticket reserved for the Alhambra palace for 8:30am. It’s hard to imagine it being used as a personal residence, and harder to imagine actually living there. The gardens are beautiful, and because it’s up on a hill the view is stunning. But the castles themselves, despite being incredibly beautiful, are drafty and freezing cold. I assume they would have had carpets and curtains and tapestries, but still stone, in the winter is just cold.

Dancing in the gardens all by myself!! :)

Flowers and fountains

The Hammam, or bath house. It is next to the church, which
used to be a mosq

Entire walls covered with this intricate work.

Courtyard of the lions

It looks like lace, but made of stone and plaster

Impressive and obviously made to last forever and
withstand any onslaught.

They say that Christopher Columbus said goodbye to Queen Isabella here before his voyage in 1492. Isabella lived here often and was originally buried in the chapel. Her grandson Charles V Holy Roman Emperor was married and had a residence here. It was the last stronghold of the Muslims, and only defeated with great difficulty. Not surprising when you look at where it is situated, on top of a mountain with a spectacular view of the plains all around. It would be hard to stage a surprise attack from any direction.

Queen Isabella's original tombstone in the Alhambra chapel

Exhausted from sensory overload, and after a late lunch in the sunshine I headed to the hostel, showered and crashed for probably an hour. All that walking is tiring! In the evening I went out to the main intersection and watched a couple more processions.

Bigger processions have military bands,
so cool!

Thursday was my day for exploring. I ditched my map and just wandered, finding unexpected beauty around corners and through gateways. At the Mirador San Nicholas I sat for a while enjoying the sun, the view and a couple street musicians singing and playing guitar.

Years ago, before freezers were invented, donkey boys like the one in the photo would bring ice from the Sierra Nevada everyday for the rich people's consumption. This is why Grenada was able to have icecream in the summer! It was a nine-hour trek, and they would leave the mountains around 2am so that the ice would still be frozen when it got to the morning market.