Granada - The Alhambra

Granada was a quick one-and-a-half hour flight from Barcelona, but a world apart as it is up at an elevation of 738 meters (2421 feet) at the foot of the backside of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. You feel that extra elevation; it's cold here. The major tourist attraction here is the Alhambra, the fortress crowning a hill that was the last Moorish stronghold to resist the Christian reconquest. When it fell in 1492 it marked the end of over seven centuries of Muslim rule in Spain.

Inside the walls of the Alhambra are a complex of structures including the ruins of a fort dating to the 13th century and earlier, an unfinished renaissance palace built by the conquering Christian King Charles V and, most importantly, the Palacios Nazaries, the Moorish royal palace. Built mostly in the 14th century, the various rooms and courtyards of the palace seem to have every surface decorated in intricate geometric patterns and Arabic inscriptions (graven images of humans and animals were frowned upon). Water is everywhere, flowing in channels, bubbling from fountains and filling reflecting pools.

You need an appointment to enter the Palace so the number of visitors is limited, although I almost would have welcomed the extra body heat of several more nice fat tourists because it was COLD in there. Clearly, we were underdressed. But the breezy rooms, abundance of shade and cold stone floors left us shivering. When we found a sunny area in an open courtyard we would stand in the bright spot like lizards soaking up the feeble winter rays. The palace was truly beautiful and I hope we didn't rush through it just to end our icy suffering. We rented an audioguide for our tour but it was extremely lame. The descriptions were apparently meant to be in the voice of Washington Irving, the American writer who lived here in 1829 and wrote Tales of the Alhambra, which popularized this place. The guide would say things like, “...or perhaps you would like to remain in this vestibule and ponder the scene those centuries past. But that, my friend, I will leave to you.” Unbearable.

The Generalife Gardens were the last part of the Alhambra that we visited. Here were the sultan's fruit and vegetable gardens, as well as manicured gardens, more fountains, and a small summer palace. Apart from their aesthetic value, the gardens were mostly exposed to the sun and so offered us a chance to warm up after the palace. Then it was back to the hotel to pile on more layers of clothes.

The Alhambra, as seen from the opposite hillside. Notice the snow-capped mountains in the distance.