The Alhambra and Generalife

The Alhambra is a set of magnificent Moorish palaces.  It is a daunting task to even attempt to describe the things we have seen there.  The detail is unimaginable on every square inch of the palace buildings.   It is very hard to convey but here is a small sample.  I can just imagine what this must have looked like before all the blue paint came off of it.

The scale of the Alhambra is enormous.  It sits sort of in the middle of Granada but way up on the top of a hill (of course) which ran for more than a kilometer.  It was the home of the Moorish emirs who ruled the area, along with a whole town that supported the palace. It was a place of refuge for Islamic people when the catholics were taking over the rest of the Europe.  We spent over 4 hours touring it.

We opted for the early tour for fear that it might be too hot later in the day (good idea!)   We arrived at the entrance around 8 am and the sun light was spectactular - lighting up the buildings just right.  We rented audioguides which were actually pretty good despite what the tour book said.  The American author Washington Irving came by the Alhambra in the first part of the 1800's when it was more or less in ruins and liked it so much he moved in.  It inspired him to write 'Tales of the Alhambra' and the audioguide was mostly someone reading his words of description and telling tales of the Moors who ruled from there from the mid thirteenth century til 1492 when the Catholics took it over.  They then built over various parts of the palaces and added to it.  Napoleon even used this place as a barracks for a while.  He even tried to blow up part of it but one of his soldiers cut the fuse line (thank goodness). 

I actually filled up my camera taking pictures but I will post just a few here to give the idea.

 Along with the many buildings, there were beautiful gardens with many ponds and waterfalls.  The sound of flowing water was everywhere.  Supposedly the Alhambra was built to create paradise on earth.

Larry's theory about the water, is that the Moors sort of worshipped water since it was so scarce where they originally came from.  Perhaps. It was lovely.

The emirs who lived in the palace apparently found palace life too hectic and they established a magnificent country "summer home" less than a kilometer away.

On our way over there, we were fascinated to see a man repairing the walkway.  It must be something to learn these old time crafts and maintain a place such as this.  We stopped and talked to him and found out that after placing each stone by hand, he tamps down the rocks in the sand/concrete to get them level.  He showed us the tamper-downer.  It was a pole with a large cement block on the bottom.

The summer palace is called Generalife (pronounced henna-rah-leaf-ah).  It is surrounded by huge gardens and provided some great views of the Alhambra.

After exploring Generalife, we hiked back to the far end of the Alhambra where the military buildings were.  It was more in ruins than the palaces but was still very interesting and provided commanding views of the city of Granada. We climbed to the top of the bell tower, of course to get the best view.

All this and it was only lunchtime.  Just imagine!   We hiked back down the mountain into town and found lunch at a nearby restaurant which had about a million hams hanging from the ceiling!  We had some typical rgional food (for a change).

(I still look tired, don't I?  Maybe I am just very relaxed...)  That's a plate of beans (unknown kind) and ham with a perfectly fried egg on top, a plate of fried potatoes and peppers in oil, ham croquettes and, of course, bread.  It was all delicious.

Okay, so then came the eagerly anticipated and well earned siesta back at the hotel.  (Did I happen to mention that we WALKED back down into town from the Alhambra?)  Once we recovered from the morning activities, we walked back to town visiting an impressive monastery on the way. 

I haven't been in so many churches since I was touring Europe with my parents in 1961!

Phew, what a day.