We arrived in Granada around 7:30 in the morning. Our accommodation for our one night in Granada was Funky Backpackers. We arrived just as the hostel was starting to wake up and we grabbed some of the free breakfast that was being laid out. Then we set our sights on what to accomplish for the day.
The main reason I designated Granada as a stop on our Eurotrip is because it has the single most remarkable example of Muslim architecture in Western Europe; La Alhambra. The Moors were a Muslim sect that immigrated to Spain from the Middle East via North Africa. They were at their peak of power during the 1200s before being expelled from Spain by the Christians in the late 1400s. The Alhambra was a manificient castle built on top of a hill that overlooked the rest of the city. This is one of the best sites to visit in all of Europe, but we found out that morning in our hostel that it may not be as easy as just showing up.
A middle-aged woman that had also arrived at the hostel that morning told us she had booked her ticket to La Alhambra 2 weeks ago online. The kid at the reception desk told us that we likely would have to take a tour because all public tickets were likely sold out. So we wasted a good two hours that morning going to tourist information offices to find out how to get a ticket. Finally, we decided just to head to La Alhambra and see if they had tickets available.
It turns out that all we had to do was show up and buy tickets. Maybe we got lucky, but all we did was get in line and buy a ticket. It was that simple. Our morning ticket was only good until 2:00am, though, so we had to rush through Alhambra to see it all because at this point it was 11:30am. We also purchased the audio guide, which was worth the 3.50 euro.
The palace was designed to look like a boat perched on the hill. It takes a creative eye to see this but it can be made out. Our first destination was the (mast?) of the ship where the military fortifications were concentrated. It consisted of thick stone walls and 3 tall towers. Nothing too architecturally impressive; it was all practical design for defending La Alhambra.
Each ticket you buy for La Alhambra designates a time when you are allowed to enter the Royal Palace portion of the castle. Our time was 1:00pm. People are given times because the palace is the main attraction of Alhambra so this spaces out the crowds.
Moorish architecture is much different than that of the Christians, which dominates the rest of Europe. The palace has intricately carved stone on the walls and archways. It doesn’t seem to have lavish paintings or tapestries. It is more subdued and has a stronger emphasis on gardens, fountains, and open spaces than the over-the-top design of churches.
The third and final section of the Alhambra is the Generallife (one word). This is where the farming occurred and large gardens were located. Our ticket expired at 2pm and it was now 2:15pm. Somehow I got by the ticket checker, but Brandon didn’t. He was able to meet up with me by going up through the exit, however.
We left Alhambra a little after 3:00pm. It was incredible and unique to anything else we had seen so we were glad we came.
Now to enjoy some free tapas (small plates) with a beer, a tradition famous in Granda. We first ate a little snack at a North African food joint recommened in our guidebook. It was good, but we were still hungry. So we went to a tapas bar that was recommended. We ordered some delicious Alhambra Beer for 2.50 euro and received a free tapa of our choosing with each beer. It was hard to leave this place, but we figured we would head back to our hostel to charge our cameras before we left it again to see the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella (the two royal family members who funded Columbus' trip to the Americas) at the large cathedral in the center of town and to get some pictures of La Alhambra from the city.
The church seemed to be squeezed into a plot of land. It was very big and nicely designed, but there were buildings all around it which made it impossible to get a good view/picture of the cathedral. the inside was extravagantly decorated like your typical western European churches (you see so many you begin to become bored with them). The tomb of Isabella and Ferdinand can be seen in the picture below at the center of the room. The picture below that is of their crypt just below their tomb.
We set out towards the Muslim community of Granada. It was the one part of the town spared from Christian torches, and I think I know why. It is full of hills! We walked uphill for a continuous 30 minutes it seemed. We were told of a few good locations to take a picture of La Alhambra. We ended up walkin to the edge of this town where tourists disappeared and locals sitting in small alleys appeared. From the edge of town we took some great picture of La Alhambra overlooking the town; you could only imagine the power this image had over the villagers long ago. From there we headed to another vantage point more frequented by tourists. When we got there the place was packed with tourists! This made us lad we got off the beaten trail and explored the town a little. From there we hurried back to the hostel for free sangria at 8pm at our hostel.
We snagged a glass of free sangria back at the hostel and planned to head back to the tapas bar. We met a guy named Steve from New York who was watching one of the World Cup football matches. He told us that he is currently living in Cairo to learn Arabic. We told him about a great tapas bar. He was one of the 6 people staying in our room. When we went down to the room to get ready to head out the rest of our dorm buddies seemed to want in on the adventure. So as a room we headed out to the bar to catch the game.
We pulled 3 tables together and began to fill the table-space with beers and tapas. We were having a good time and good conversation. Another one of the kids in our group had done the Peace Corps in Africa for 2 years and had some great stories. They were interesting to hear. However, eventually we tired of the bar and were hoping for something more upbeat.
We relocated to a line of restaurants with a shared giant patio that was near the base of La Alhambra. You could look up from where we sat and see this beautiful castle. We only lasted a round there as it turned out to be more subdued than the first bar. It was now 1:30am.
We stumbled upon an Irish pub, which are always rowdy. Brandon did not follow us here, however, because his mysterious hunger for night-pics was hitting him at this point and you could see his index finger involuntarily twitching as if to push down the picture button on a camera. I wonder what REALLY goes on when he heads out at night. Is my brother living a double-life as a sexual servant to finance his vacation? All we can do is guess at this point, though I don’t remember him going to the ATM much... It seems he also didn’t realize we were going to another bar and though we were calling it a night. So Brandonless, we ordered Guinness and observed as the Irish bartender poured it the way Arthur Guinness intended for it to be poured. Our group consisted of Steve from NYC (studying in Cairo), Sterling from Gary, Indiana (the Peace Corps guy), Kerry from AZ (had an internship in Madrid), Jodie from southwest England, Emily from somewhere in the States (and teaching somewhere in Europe… to be honest this chick sucked so Brandon and I don’t remember much about her), Justin from New Zealand (in his 30s I think and travelling for 18 months), and Maria from Norway (who Justin met on couchsurfing and had spent the entire day bar-hopping with). We enjoyed a couple rounds of beer here, which included 3 rounds of shots for me, Jodie, and Emily (not even sure if Emily was her name).
After a little while Kerry, Steve, and Sterling headed out in search of a hookah bar which didn’t really appeal to me. The remainder of us stayed back until the bartender flipped the light switch and attacked our dilated eyes with incandescent light. It was time to leave.
We weren’t quite done yet so we asked the bartender if there was any place we could go. He told us of a night club still open and not bad this time of night for a Sunday. I think it was 3:00am at this point (the shots made it hard to read the digital output of my watch). Justin, Emily, Jodie, Maria, and I went to the night club. It wasn’t until 4:00am that we threw in the towel and decided we couldn’t even match some of the partiers in a smaller town in Spain (Granada), on a Sunday night. I understand why they have siestas now.
We had an 11:34am train to make so we woke up at 9:30am the next day. We snagged some shitty Hostel Breakfast (synonymous with “toast, butter, jam, and corn flakes”), showered, and headed out. Justin decided to try and take the same train as us so we walked to the station together.
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