Bendiciones de Sevilla! Thankfully, we're taking Saturday afternoon easy. It's a welcome relief after several days of non-stop action. And so I'm using my afternoon productively and writing you all a blog post!
Granada is amazing. I love it. So much. My favorite part was the old Arab neighborhood, called El Albaicín. It was beautiful! White-washed houses, narrow alley ways, delicious smells of Arab food wafting from the houses... Unfortunately, we only went at night and it was too far to walk back in the daytime.
But the whole city was beautiful as well. I loved the central area around the cathedral as well. The cathedral itself is a sudden visible contrast to the buildings around it. But when we entered...! My goodness. I repeatedly despaired of being able to capture an adequate taste of it all; but then I would find something else just asking for a foto.
Afterwards, we wandered around the old part of the city. So, so beautiful and atmospheric. We passed street performers, gorgeous fans and shawls in tourist shops, took pictures of old Moorish doorways, and saw a statue of Queen Isabella giving Christopher Columbus permission to search for the Indies.
After a few group pictures next to the statue, we were given free time. My group of girls went straight for the bakery we had passed. As usual, I had a horrible time making up my mind. After going back and forth between the glass display inside and the window outside, I finally walked up to the counter and asked for a chocolate tarta. The guy had been watching me with an amused expression, and now grinned at me and asked if I wanted to go outside one more time to be sure. When we came back the next day, the guy recognized me and laughed hello as soon as I walked in. Both my chocolate and the strawberry tart were delicious, by the way.
That evening, we went to the Arab part of town for a flamenco show in one of the inhabited caves! It was really cool; unfortunately, we were all exhausted from traveling and walking all over the neighborhood for more than an hour. I couldn't focus as much as I wanted to, but was left with a very clear impression of guitar music, loud singing, heel tapping, clapping, and "Óle's!"
The next day was dominated by the Alhambra Palace! It was so beautiful. I loved it. The Moorish detailing, the gardens, the fountains... Gorgeous. We walked forever, but I still feel like I didn't see all of it. But I think that's typical of palaces though.
That evening, we wandered through the old town again. Unfortunately, we forgot a couple souvenirs in the café and had to go running and sliding back along the marble sidewalks. It was frightful but fun! We made it back before the café closed and were relieved when the waiters just laughed and handed us our stuff.
Wouldn't it be amazing to have a white-washed apartment in the Arab neighborhood above Granada facing the Alhambra Palace? Yet another addition to my list of places to possibly live!
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| La Catedral |
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"I pray that my light will be a prayer"
Offerings: .10€, .20€, .50€, 1€ or 2€ |
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| Street Performer; I couldn't believe he wasn't a statue |
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| Arabic Name! |
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| At the Flamenco show |
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| Granada and Tangier both had amazing settings for portraits |
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| Alhambra fountain |
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| Alhambra Palace; just look at all the Moorish detailing! |
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| Just a few of the options available, and what I choose |
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| Café |
wow, so know i'm really curious as to what the Alahambra palace really looks like. I can't wait to see all your photos when you come back! I'm trying to imagine it... is it a lot like how the girl described it in Constant Princess? Or has it been drastically changed over the years?
ReplyDeleteThe second picture of a fountain looks gorgeous! but the picture of the street performer just looks creepy... lol :)
It is beautiful! But you know how you always see a picture of the courtyard of lions with a fountain in the middle surrounded by 12 lions? Well, those lions are over 1000 years old. And in january, they took the lions away from being out in the open and put them inside, in a (semi) climate controlled atmosphere with a small glass wall separating people from the lions. It makes sense, because they're super old, and people were touching them when they were out in the open. But now the courtyard is empty of the fountain and full of construction stuff. They were there for over 1000 years and I missed it by a few months :(
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful! And huge. Yeah, it kind of is similar. Now there are a lot of tourists and there is a Renaissance palace built on one side (that was built after Katherine of Aragon's time). But it's beautiful and makes me want an Arab home =)