Day 8: June 21 (Granada)

We are in Granada- still at the Hotel Santa Isabel la Real- which is even better the second day.  After closing the shutters, the room was like a nice cave.  The air conditioner had a very white noise, half wind / half wave sound and we didn't wake up until 9:00 am when the alarm went off.  The hotel breakfast was very nice, with a great variety of tasty foods.  Our fellow breakfasters were Australians, Canadians, and other couples of undetermined nationality. I retaped my feet and we started off down the hill in search of an ATM and a pharmacy.  We used a bank machines that also printed out our Alhambra admission tickets.  We could enter the grounds at 1:00 pm and the Nasrid palace at 5:00 pm.

Inside the Moorish baths

We spent the morning finding the tourist office off of Plaza Neuva.  We did not find much of use there, but we did buy a guide book and some postcards in a nearby store.  Along the way, we got a quick introduction to navigating by Segway by a guy trying to get us to sign up for a tour.  I am tempted.  We popped in a little bit in the Saint John Convalescent Home with a museum featuring a local contemporaryartist.  His style was described as "Moda de Fruta".  Sitting in the Plaza, we checked out two justice buildings across the Plaza from each other.  We watched many abogados enter and pass through weapons screening detectors.  The main building was huge, elaborate and formal.  This was a former palace, the Royal Chancellory, built in 1530. We walked up the Carrera de Darro and saw the old Moorish baths.  These were very interesting, especially the ceilings with the star shaped openings.

The main business of the day was our visit to the Alhambra.  We took the bus up because of the heat.  It turned out that about 70% of the time we spent on the bus was unnecessary because the bus route looped back to within a couple of blocks from where we got on before starting up the hill to the Alhambra.  The bus was quite crowded but, by the time we started the last leg, the only other people were two girls from Brazil and two girls from Nebraska.  The Brazilian girls were both on study abroad programs- one in Germany and one in Bilbao- and were traveling together on their summer holiday.  The Nebraskans were with a tour associated with their church.  We saw them later with their group; all seemed in their early 20's.  One of the guys in the group was explaining the details of his haircut.  He had gotten his hair cut by a local barber in a style that I have noticed on many teenage early 20's boys here, but have not seen at all in the states.  It is short on the sides with a defined side part and longer (but not long at all) through the top.  There is a kind of very slight wave on the longer bit in the middle top area.

In the Generalife

We went into the Alhambra and started through the Generalife area, crossing back to the palaces.  There was an elaborate entry ticket process, but I think we were not there on a high traffic day.  The Brazilian girls had not bought advance tickets and went right in with no problem.  The guide books all say you might not get in if you do not get your tickets in advance.  It was also not as hot as I thought it might be, though it was very hot.  The Generalife was cooler.  I think that Neil and I liked the outdoor areas better than the indoors, although the interior design and decorative items were amazing.  I really liked the ceilings.  The tile work throughout was beautiful. The garden and courtyard designs were beautiful.

Our fellow tourists all seemed to be having a good time. Neil was amazed by the number of English speakers, considering we haven't heard a lot of English elsewhere in Granada.  We observed a huge group of pre-teen (10-12 year old) Australian school children.  It seemed like a huge expense for all those children to go half way around the world.  I thought about all of the drama involved in going with Roz's fifth grade class just to San Francisco!

The Alcazaba - The Alhambra keep

Me in front of an ornate door

Neil in front of an ornate door

The center plaza of the Alhambra with the Fountain of the Lions was being restored.  They had a lot of good displays about the restoration project and the lions were on display inside.  The courtyard itself was torn up with plumbing and irrigation being repaired.  The rooms off the courtyard were not accessible.  Even though we didn't see it all, it was more than we could take in in one day.  We were on overload for the last part of the tour.  It was an amazing trip and worth the time.  You could go back ten times to take it all in.

El Partal Gardens

We took the bus loop back to our hotel.  The bus had to follow some riders in fancy clothes on horseback (unexplained, maybe police officers??) down a very narrow road in town.  This slowed things upon the bus.  The bus drivers were amazing in their ability to get through the narrow, narrow spaces along their route.

Back at the hotel, we showered, did some laundry, and headed back to Plaza Saint Nicholas to eat.  Bar Kiki was closed but Cafe Mirador next door, which we hadn't noticed or was closed last night, was open and we ate there.  All was pretty much the same as last night, except that there was a large neighborhood party going on.  Some cars were parked on the street, distracting from the views.    The food was tasty. We had a dish with artichoke hearts, peppers and ham and a dish with pork loin and fries.  The tapa dish was a potato / salsa salad.  So far in Granada, we have found that a substantial free tapa is served with drinks at dinner.  Last night we were uncertain after being served the tapa dish whether or not it was the main course!  Neil was especially amazed at the large number of group tours walking through the Plaza over to the mirador during the evening.  There must have been at least ten groups passing through while we ate.

After dinner, we sat and looked at the view of the Alhambra.  Hours before we had been looking the other way, out the Alhambra toward San Nicholas.  In the darkness, we could see the patios of some of the higher priced restaurants tucked away.  Eventually, we expertly stumbled the couple of blocks back to our hotel and saw late arriving Americans checking in as we headed to our room.