Year of Dreams: My Adventures Abroad: "I Am the Prettiest Building in the World"...Granada, Part 2

So Saturday, day 2 in Granada, Katie and I had one main goal: See Alhambra, the gorgeous moorish palace! After that, we figured we'd play it by ear.

So...we got up super early (and still left later than planned because someone else was using the 1 bathroom and taking forever) to be at Alhambra at least 1/2 hour before our 8:30 visit time. After both showering and dressing, eating breakfast, and taking a taxi to Alhambra, we made it at about 8:15...not too shabby. And it did not take long to collect our tickets (you have to insert the credit card you paid with into a machine and it prints them out. While we were waiting, we were talking to a very nice family visiting their daughter who is studying abroad here but at a different university. Soon enough, we entered the grounds.

Ok...so...when I said Alhambra was a moorish palace...yeah, I lied. It is more like multiple moorish palaces built up together, but also includes huge gardens, baths, towers, and the Palace of Charles I of Spain/V of Germany. So...it is more like a small city which has been turned into a tourist attraction and also includes areas where one can use the restrooms, purchase and consume food and drinks, and purchase souvenirs. When I say that it is a tourist attraction, I do not mean that in a negative way...I just mean that it is always packed with people and that you have to get tickets to enter the palace at a certain time (and then you can take as long as you want viewing it) to control the number of people. Yikes! They are almost always sold out. Even for the early tickets.

So...as it was after 8:20 when we entered the grounds, we had to sprint through the garden-y areas (deciding we'd come back to see them later) to the Nasrid Palaces (aka the moorish palace parts) because we had a half hour window (between 8:30 and 9:00 am to arrive there and be allowed to enter. After that, we knew we could take our time, but if we missed that window, we would not be allowed to see those palaces later in the day. We made it there about 8:40 and after showing our tickets (you have to show your tickets to enter each part even though not all are monitored time-wise), the fun began.

So I know I always say that I cannot possibly describe to you what I saw and the impact it had on me and that my pictures will have to do the talking (even though they can never do it justice)...well I'm gonna say that again because this time it is more true than ever.

The palaces were full of gorgeous arches and other elaborate adornments, including ceramic tiles. The walls of every room were made of stone which had been carved in intricate designs and patterns with Arabic writing mixed in. (I was later told that this was Arabic poetry saying that this is the prettiest building in the world...hence the title of this post). I wish we would have paid the extra money for a guided visit, but I swear I could have looked at those walls and arches and just the whole palace forever.

After seeing the Nasrid palaces, we went on to see the Alcazaba, some baths, the garden area and the Palace of Charles I/V (with some breaks in there for food/drink and souvenir shopping and just to rest our legs). Lots of walking! But it was all beautiful. The alcazaba included other structures, though non nearly as beautiful as the palaces. Then Palacio de Carlos V was next on the agenda. I had learned about it in my Art History course and so knew that the king decided to construct his palace in the middle of the Alhambra. It is a circular palace held up by two layers of columns. You are allowed to go up to both levels and there are museums inside, mostly free. Katie and I went to a few, but skipped others because by this time we were getting tired and all Alhambra'd out (which is hard to do). But after spending at least 5 hours there (the norm is at least 3) and taking at least 500 photos, we were both ready to go (Katie more than I, but even I, the one who wants to see everything was getting pooped)...despite the fact that we still had not seen everything.

I'm gonna let my photos fill in any gaps.

It took us over an hour to get back to our hostel because we could not find a taxi and ended up walking around for a while and then waiting for a bus that never came and then after asking many people we finally had someone take us to another bus and that got us home at last. During that waiting time, we had a bit of an encounter with a gypsy who read our palms and gave us a sprig of rosemary...and then insisted that we pay her 1.50 euros....grrrrr!!!! Anyhow, after getting back, we promptly made our way to the plaza for lunch...lasagna for me with a brownie sundae for dessert...yum!

This post is already long and about to be made longer with a bunch of photos, so I will put the rest of the day in another post.

Here are the much-anticipated photos: