DAY 85: The Alhambra and Granada

Fountain in Generalife

We woke up at the crack of dawn and hit the road bound for Granada. And when I say the crack of dawn, I mean we actually drove through the mountains as the sun rose. It took us about 2 and a half hours to get there, and the ride in was absolutely breathtaking.

FUN FACT #57: Granada has a population of about 475,000 people and is nestled in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Andalusia. At an elevation of only 740 meters above sea level and is only about an hours drive from the Mediterranean.

This is my kind of city. With deep rich history and beautiful buildings, it's Granada's natural scenery that set it apart from the rest of Spain for me. The snow capped mountains surrounding the valley it resides in were truly amazing to look at.


Our biggest draw to Granada (as it is for most people who visit) was the Alhambra.

View of the Fortress and City from Generalife

FUN FACT #58: The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex in Granada. It housed the sultans and leaders of the Arabs until it was taken over by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and continued to house him and his family.

I could go on and on about the history of The Alhambra, but I'll spare you and try to give you just the best bits. There are three parts
of The Alhambra- the fortress, the palace, and the Generalife. The fortress was a castle built to protect not only the sultan and his family, but the greater city of Granada as well. It's position on a hill overlooking the city made it useful for this purpose. Along with the fortress was the main palace fit for the sultan and his consorts and family. These happened the be the most beautiful of them all. Generalife was the area in which there were vast gardens and fountains which we equally as gorgeous.

Fountain of Lions in the Palace

Me in the Palace pillars. 

Lizzy had been to the Alhambra previously when she visited Spain over the summer. So while Lizzy took a much needed nap in the car, (she had been driving a lot during the past few days) Kief and I toured the Alhambra.

First we took a tour of Generalife with our stupid and dorky
headphone devices that explained every room and garden we walked through. The tour company that we booked our tickets through gave us each a touch phone that allowed us to look at the pictures of each room and select when we wanted to listen to their commentary. Although we looked pretty dumb, it was better than some people who had to hold telephone looking devices circa 1995 up to their ears all day. Kief's phone kept malfunctioning and would burst into Bach's classical music every 10 minutes. Annoying as this was, we couldn't avoid the "classic pun" of "IT'S BACH!" and giggling our way through the gardens.

View looking back on the Fortress and the city. Those maze looking walls were formerly soldier barracks.

After the gardens, we continued on to view the Fortress. The was pretty cool as we learned a bit about the soldiers and their lives as they defended the Alhambra. That, and the view wasn't bad either.

FUN FACT #59: When the Holy Roman Emperor conquered the city in 1492 (when Columbus sailed the ocean blue!) he decided build another building within the Alhambra that he could live in. Like the other 400 up there didn't fit his style... Anyways, he had this monstrous building erected that sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of them and didn't even finish it or live in it. COOL BRO. It wasn't completed until the 20th century, and now houses a museum.

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's Palace view from the inside.

When we finished with the fortress, we walked around the Palace of Charles V. Although the building is really cool, it seemed a bit strange amidst all of the Muslim influenced buildings in the area. The building itself is the giant circle that feels a bit like a bull fighting ring. When you stand in the center of the yard, you can whisper and hear the well beneath you echo back your words.

We quickly walked through the museum and then took a nap on the rock wall alongside the building for 20 minutes before our tickets allowed us into the Palace. This place was so COOL! All of the ceilings looked like they had stalactites hanging from them, and they were all painted. Back in the 1200s, everything was painted bright and vibrantly, but now most of the colors have faded unfortunately. Kief and I walked around and enjoyed the architecture while trying to avoid being seen in people's selfie stick photos.

View out the window of one of the palace windows- taken with my iphone

When we finished, we rejoined Lizzy back and the car and ate our picnic lunch in the parking lot. Then we continued on to find our hostel- which was almost as difficult as it had been in Cordoba, only this time we didn't get stuck between buildings. Fortunately, we finally made our way and found that our room was all ours! No extra guests!! What is this magic!?!?!

That night we walked around Granada in pursuit of drinks and tapas (which is what Granada is famous for). For every drink you buy, they bring you an appetizer! It was so great. We found a quiet little bar and Lizzy taught us some games from when she was a kid. We returned back to the hostel to keep playing and then hit the hay. It was a great day!

Myself and Kief on top of the Fortress walls overlooking Granada!