Granada
Granada Pictures
Granada was a very impressive city.  It was really not what I expected at all.  My plan was to travel there in the morning from Sevilla, see the Alambra, and then leave in the evening to Valencia.  I found that plan flawed from the start, as I found that the Alhambra is impossible to just show up to.   You can buy tickets in advance from BBVA banks (National Spanish chain), so I went to a branch in Sevilla before I left to try to get one.  Unfortunately the advance tickets were sold out for weeks.  One of the major drawbacks of european travel in August.  Iīm really looking forward to September! 

I boarded the train to Granada.  Always a great change from the bus.  Iīm really glad I didnīt get a eurail pass, since Iīd almost never be able to use it in Spain.  It was worth going just to see the Alambra alone, but there was more to it than that..

I arrived in Granada and I wanted to KILL the people at lonely planet.  They said in the book that from the train station to the hostel it was a 200 meter trip.  HOWEVER, what they donīt mention is that the train tracks go a couple of miles in either direction without an over or an underpass.  A 5 minute walk as described by Lonely Planet is actually a 30-40 minute walk!  By the time I arrived at the hostel I was sufficiently drenched and ready to chuck my guidebook..

The Alhambra is the old Muslim/Moorish capital of Spain and is a huge european tourist attraction.  There are 8000 tickets sold to the Alhambra every day.  6000 of the tickets are sold in advance to forward-thinking tourists, which leaves 2000 tickets for each day for the vagabonding travellers like myself.  Trouble with that is 10,000 people come to get those 2000 tickets each day.

The process for disbursement for the remainding 2000 tickets is that the ticket office opens at 8 am in the morning to sell the remaining tickets, first come, first served.  Knowing the high demand, most people come earlier than this, I arrived at 6 am.  I wanted to be absolutely certain that I got a ticket, and was relieved to see that there was only approx 100 people ahead of me in line.  However, I was working on only 2 hours of sleep as I went out for drinks the previous night to come home to my roommate, a huge german who hadnīt showered in God knows how long and snored louder than a vaccuum cleaner. 

I took my place in line and sat on the ground like the rest of the people.  Behind me in line were two girls from Japan who spoke only very little english to my little japanese, so we killed some of the time with me practicing my Japanese and them their English. 

The time surprisingly went fairly fast what with watching the sun rise and practicing japanese curse words, and all of a sudden everyone hustled to their feet as the ticket doors opened. 

As a good example that the Spanish I think are among the absolute worst in efficiency, I noticed that there were 2 ticket windows for the Alhambra.  Yes, TWO.  Two people working ticket windows, and 7-10,000 people in line.  This made the line go extremely slow.  This also means that the people that arenīt fortunate enough to be tipped off to come really early are not only s.o.l. in getting tickets, they also waste an entire day wating in line where there is NO hope. 

Also this French guy in front of me paid for him and his wife with a handful of change, where only some of the change were euros or pesetas.  There were francs and I think laundry tokens in there. That was fun to watch with hundreds(thousands) of people waiting behind him.  Leave it to the French. 

Finally I get into the Alhambra.  Itīs as I think I said before, the last holdout of Muslim power in Spain and the best preserved.  Most palaces/estates were leveled.

There is a saying that "If you have died without seeing the Alhambra, you have not lived".  I donīt know if I would go that far, but it is pretty spectacular.  After seeing pretty dull chapels and monestaries in the Gothic style for so long, the ornate architecture and finishing of the Alhambra looks incredible.   The crown jewel of the Alhambra is the Nazaries palace, and that is really amazing.  With the ticket they give you a designated 1/2 hour where you can view the palace, and it is really beautiful.  Check out the pictures!

There also is a great castle that was used to defend the Alhambra, but never had to be used so was completely intact.  I was always fascinated by castles as a kid, so this was great to see. 

Saw the Alhambra in about 4 hours then returned to the hostel.  Went out in Granada that night and found that there is pretty good nightlife.  Met some fun German students studying Spanish, and hung out with them for a while.  I think I'd like to come back since it looks like Granada has more to offer than the Alhambra. 

Went to train station to get a ticket from Granada to Valencia.  The guy just laughed at me and told me that the trains were booked until September.  Looks like I'm bussing it again...

















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