| Glenn's Granada Journals 6-12-02 Wednesday morning in Granada (our first full day here) and we only have 2 weeks left on this trip before we head home for a while. It's a little hard to tell what the weather is like this morning as our room, located away from the street, looks down a narrow alley way where the trees block most of the view out towards the sun. It has been mostly peaceful in the back room and the limited light keeps the place cool during the heat of the day while allowing you to sleep in if so desired. We usually aren't going to bed until 1:00 am or so and we have gotten into the habit of sleeping in until 9:00 am. This works as the day does not get going until 10:00 am or later around here and, if you want to see anything, you have to see things by 1:30 pm or 2:00 pm before they close for siesta. Most places re-open around 5:00 pm and restaurants don't serve food before 9:00 pm. This is why we have adjusted our schedules. I wonder what it will be like being back in the states in a few weeks and having to rearrange our body clocks back to American time. We will find out in only 2 weeks. Today's primary sightseeing location is the Alhambra, a fortress from the 9th century. The visitor information suggests making reservations because they only allow so many people into the Palacios Nazaries, or Nasrid Palace (Royal House) at any one time. (You are scheduled to visit the Royal House in half hour increments). We head out for the day with the plan to head straight to the Alhambra hoping to get in during the afternoon session. Of course we were distracted during the walk to the Alhambra while walking through the city. We ran into the local street vendors selling fruit and purchased some cherries and oranges which we found both to be juicy and very tasty. We ran across other street vendors along with enjoying the shops along the way. The walk up to the Alhambra is a somewhat steep hill, as the Alhambra overlooks the whole city of Granada, and upon finally locating the ticket booth we purchased tickets for a 2:30 pm entering time. We had a little time to kill while we waited so we sat and enjoyed our fruit and books while we sat and enjoyed the sunny day. We entered the grounds around 2:30 pm and headed off to the Palacios Nazaries first. The Palace is designed with intricately carved stucco walls, fine knotted wooden ceilings, and elaborate honeycomb vaulting which you should be able to see with the photos we have taken. The suposed narrator on the audioguide was Washington Irving who had spent some time here in the 19th century while the castle was in disarray. Another area of the Royal House that is highlighted is the Harem, which surrounds the Patio de los Leones with its fountain feeding water through the mouths of 12 stone lions. Of course this section was under refurbishment while we were there. A beautiful Royal House with plenty of history and amazing decorations. Our next stop was the Palacio de Carols V, which was mostly closed down as well due to refurbishment efforts. The Alcazaba, the oldest structure on the premises, was our next stop with the most important section here being the Torre de la Vela (Watch Tower). The Watch tower is what little remains of the original fortress built during the 9th century. The Watch tower also provides a spectacular view of the city of Granada. Our last stop in Alhambra was the Generalife, or the Alhambra's garden. The garden and the Palacio Nazaries use water as an art form. The running water and pools of water surrounded by the exquisite gardens of roses and colorful flowers make you feel a world away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The water trickling by and the smell of the roses in bloom provided for an enjoyable place to relax and "smell the roses" as they say. We completed our tour of the Alhambra around 6:30 pm and headed back towards town. Once in town we stopped to look for food as we were both hungry. We were both craving hot dogs, good old American hot dogs!!! We went in search while all the time continuing to head towards home. We did a little window shopping as well, including stopping into the same grocery store that we had found yesterday, and we did locate a nearby restaurant that had hot dogs on the menu. Yeah!! We sat down to order only to find out that the restaurant did not start serving any food until after 8:30 pm. As it was only 7:00 pm we decided to return to the room and relax until dinner was available. Once in the room we relaxed by reading our books until around 9:00 pm before heading back out. We returned to the restaurant that we had found, sat down, and ordered the long awaited hot dog. To our dismay they did not have any hot dogs and we would have to choose something else. We ended up having a mixed salad and fried eggs and french fries along with wine and water. What a combination!!! Oh well, it sufficed. After dinner we spent a few minutes at an internet cafe (reasonable prices at 1,20 Euro per hour with decent speed) before returning home for the night. It was around 11:30 pm and we read for better than an hour before retiring for the evening. |
| A beautiful pond / garden in the center of the Royal Palace in the Alhambra. |
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