Granada and the Alhambra

October 14, 2010
We arrived in Granada about noon on the 10th and checked into the very charming Hotel Guadalupe, which was Karen’s treat. Located right across the street from the Alhambra, it is a delightful small European type hotel with full restaurant as well as bar and some food on the street level. Karen had made the Granada reservations for both the hotel and the Alhambra. Hotel was a GREAT choice! We parked in the Alhambra parking lot, so we could walk right over to the Alhambra yesterday morning.
After we checked right in on Sunday, we took the bus into Granada, which was a “hopping place”! Our first stop was the (free) Jose de Guerrero museum, which was open until 2. I knew nothing about him, but Karen said that the display did not include much of his better works. He did shows with De Kooning, so his later works are modern-free form….I didn’t get most of them, but Karen helped me appreciate some of them a bit more. She said that color on the ones on paper as opposed to those on linen was better .
By now were really hungry, so we found a restaurant nearby for a nice lunch. We shared shrimp beignets, and then I had pork tenderloin with mushrooms and fries with LOTS of ketchup packs! The beignets, which are popular in New Orleans, are a deep fired pancake with very small pieces of shrimp.
Our next stop was the Royal Chapel, the Capilla Real, which is the small chapel attached to the Cathedral. Built by Ferdinand and Isabella, there was some interesting religious art to see. The crypt contains their bodies as well as those of their daughter Joana (the Mad) and her husband Felipe (the Handsome). History has it that Joana carried Felipe’s coffin around with her for years, so she could open the casket every night to kiss him good night. A small museum is attached to it with Isabella’s crown, documents relating to Columbus’ journey, etc. The Cathedral had a huge long line, so we passed. Luckily when we looked at the guidebooks, they all seemed to give it lackluster comment; Fodor said “grand and gloomy monument”.
Our tickets to get into the Royal Palace (“brilliant use of light and space”) at the Alhambra were for 8:30; after a great breakfast at the hotel, we were there in plenty of time! They are very strict about BEING THERE ON TIME. If you are too late, you are out of luck. There is so much history here at the Alhambra, which means red citadel in Arabic. There are three parts: the Royal Palace (Palacios Nazaries), the Alcazaba, and the Generalife, the ancient summer palace. Fodor says, “The last bastion of the 800 year Moorish presence on the Iberian Peninsula… the Alhambra is an architectural gem where Moorish kings worked and played –and even murdered their enemies.”! The Christian conquest of southern Spain in 1492 and major earthquake damage in 1821 caused major restorations. The Royal Palace was actually built (“lightly and crudely”) with the idea that it would need to be renovated, so there is always a work in progress. The major project now is the Court of Lions, which are twelve lion statues which were long ago part of a fountain. They showed how they had taken each lion out of the display, wrapped each one carefully, and then carted probably fairly close for the restoration. Incredible! One phrase is in 9000 different places at the Alhambra; it means “only Allah is victorious.”. It looks like a cursive W with a nose on its left side! The final Moor ruler was Boabdil, who surrendered the Alhambra to Ferdinand and Isabella in Salon de Embajadores (Ambassadors); this was the same place where Columbus went to ask for and receive support for his BIG trip of 1492. (Boabdil’s mother, Aisha, said to him, after he lost the Alhambra, “Do not weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a man.”)
The Alcabaza is the earliest and the most ruined part of the Alhambra. The Torre de la Vela, a huge bell at the top, which up until recently was used to mark the irrigation hours for workers in the plains. The cross was first displayed from here on January 2, 1492.
The Rough Guide to Spain says, “Paradise is described in the Koran as a shaded, leafy garden refreshed by running water where the ‘fortunate ones’ may take their rest.” Generalife means literally “Garden of the Architect”. It is a SPECTACULAR display of water and gardens.
Before we visited the Generalife, we took a leisurely (of course!) lunch break and went to the San Francisco Parador, which is on the grounds. We ate outside on the patio overlooking the Generalife. We shared ham and cheese roll and fried eggplant with honey sauce. Delicious!!
We went back to the hotel and were planning to go back into the city and then up to the Albaicin for the sights and dinner. Luckily we did not go up there, because it rained so hard we would still be drying out! So we went back to the hotel dining room where we had paella. It was a first for me, and good, but not great. They used pork in it with shrimp and lots of rice.
October 12th was a national holiday in Spain, for Columbus’s Birthday, so most everything was closed. We left Granada mid-day and toured back through a part of Spain which our neighbors had just visited and raved about. More lovely country, but we really didn’t explore much!
Wednesday was laundry and regrouping day. I went to the library to print out my boarding passes for Mallorca and Venice. In less than two weeks, I will be home!
Last night teh Brits invited us to join them at their favorite tapas restaurant, where Karen and I had gone and were underwhelmed. We had made bad choices. There were ten of us, and everyone shared. We had fava beans (translated beens) with pork and pork kebabs with lots of bread. I also had bite of rabbit, which tasted okay, but a bite was good. Tonight they are all coming for wine and cheese.
Next Tuesday I am off to Mallorca for three nights and then Venice for three nights. I'm not sure how much I'll get to post before I get home-in case you are looking.