Granada and the Alhambra

Part of our trip this past weekend was a visit to the town of Granada. It’s a hilly little town located about 300 miles southwest of Madrid and takes about 4 ½ hours to get to by bus or train. We decided to couple Granada and Sevilla together as they are only about 3 hours apart. Trisha and I arrived in Granada in the early afternoon and were initially impressed by how different the landscape was from Madrid and the local towns we had seen. The city of Granada is situated against large rocky foothills and is close to the base of higher elevation mountains. The city has some typical Spanish buildings and apartments, but the noticeable differences are its Moorish architecture and North African influences. The result of these influences is the giant Alhambra fortress (which was our main reason for coming), white stucco houses with brick roofs, and a city full of Arabs, Romas (Gypsies), Spaniards, and hippies. Yes, the hippies seem to be drawn to the allure of this city and could be found selling handmade goods or playing second-hand instruments on the street for money. Spain is diverse, but this town has a uniqueness all its own.

Before I start describing our trip to the Alhambra, I must tell about our accommodations in Granada. We researched and reserved our rooms for Granada and Sevilla prior to our arrival through Hostelbookers.com. Although many hostels are the dorm-like accommodations for 20-somethings that most are familiar with, many hostels offer private rooms and are more like hotels with great rates. Our Sevilla accommodation was just that, however we went out on a limb in Granada. The hostel we reserved there is called The Rambuten and the reviews we read online were very high, mostly commenting on the great view. And they were correct, as the view was extraordinary. After climbing fifteen minutes from the town center up steep cobblestone roads to get to there, we soon discovered we were in for a rather young and eclectic experience.

Rambuten had no signs or displays to greet us, just a small house teeming with young international travelers. It was a lot like going to someone’s house to stay over, as there was no front desk and you just pay cash (very cheap I might add). The front patio, which looks out to the Alhambra, was a mixture of young travelers: an Australian, 2 women from Argentina, 2 guys from Berlin, 1 guy from England, another from Wyoming, and a few women from France. The norm at Rambuten appeared to be sitting around, chatting, smoking, drinking beer, and maybe playing Playstation or watching a movie. All these international folks were very nice to us. We laughed the first night as we traversed from our private room through another room then the staff kitchen to get to the bathroom. Privacy was not part of the equation here. We adjusted and found the experience to be an interesting change even though we were about eight years too old for the place and probably not as exciting as their normal clientele.

Our main reason for Granada was the Alhambra fortress. This is a site so popular you must make reservations a least two-weeks in advance as they only allow a limited amount of guests in per day. The photos of the Alhambra included in this blog……..oh sorry, someone dropped their camera during tea time…..actually I recommend Googling Alhambra for a closer look. The fortress is popular because it is the last remaining Moorish building left in Europe. The Moors, which are the modern day equivalent of North African Muslims, lived and ruled in Spain from 711-1492. They were very tolerant rulers who allowed Christians and Jews to practice their faith in peace, and were extremely advanced in mathematics and science. They were the light of the world during the European “Dark Ages.” They constructed the fortress and palace over generations and the Alhambra was the result. The palace was also the site of their final retreat from their decades long battle with Spain. The Moors final surrender took place here in 1492. Coincidentally enough, Columbus asked for permission to sail to the New World from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand at the Alhambra in 1492, after they took it over from the Moors.

Trisha and I first toured the giant Palacios Nazaries, which was the main highlight of the Alhambra. This palace was essentially what you reserve your tickets for as you only have a ½ window marked on your ticket to enter the palace, but can stay as long as you want. It was worth it as the Moorish architecture and detail work were incredible. Trisha mentioned that if her camera worked, she literally could have taken 100 pictures in this palace alone. I can’t really describe it all without this turning into a travel book, but it was worth the trip.

After the Palacios Nazaries we explored the other parts of the fortress, which took another 2-3 hours. There were fortress watch towers, a palace built by King Charles V, endless Moorish gardens, a lots of well-fed stay cats roaming the grounds. Guests are allowed to picnic on the grounds, so the cats make a killing. We concluded the Alhambra after about 4 hours and spent the remainder of the day in the city.

We ended our time in Granada by eating at an Moroccan restaurant in the Muslim part of the city. The large Moroccan influence makes for excellent food and great shopping, which supposedly gives insight into the true Morocco (Trisha and I would like to see if that is true in about a month). So although we were sad that we could not photo-document this portion of the trip, we will surely keep the memories of this place in our minds. Be sure to read all about Sevilla tomorrow!