FUN FACT #1: Did you know that in Spanish, "granada" means both "pomegranate" and "grenade"?
This past weekend my study abroad program took us to Granada, a mountainous city in southern Spain. On Saturday morning, less than 12 hours after getting back from Gibraltar, we left Seville by bus. We arrived at the hotel around noon and descended like locusts upon the buffet. After two months living with our host families and eating unusual foods at unusual times, everyone in the program was giddy with excitement. As for me, I took the "all you can eat" label seriously. I not only had to unbutton my pants, but also I think my stomach may have reached a size where it displaced some other organs. I regret nothing!
My friend Emme, thoroughly enjoying the ice cream. This is actually the only picture I have of the buffet area because it was the only time I pried myself away from the food. They had pork ribs, how can you blame me?
After lunch, we split up into small groups and were assigned tour guides. The first Granada attraction that we visited was the Alhambra, a tremendous palace and fortress complex constructed in the mid-14th century by the Muslim rulers of Andalusia.
One of the many, many elaborate gardens in the Alhambra. The hedges are so thick that they are actually sound-proof.
Fun fact #2: Muslims believe that paradise is a giant garden. Probably because they never visited our hotel's buffet AM I RIGHT?
A patio that was used in the 14th century as a waiting area for those wanting an audience with the king. Beautiful! If there's one thing that Muslim architects could do, it's patios.
Another palace in the Alhambra, built during the Renaissance. (As we all know, one palace is never enough. They're like potato chips.) There's a wide variety of architectural styles in the Alhambra, which is very cool to see up close.
This is the ceiling of one of the rooms. It isn't even the coolest ceiling there. Everything in the Alhambra is this detailed-- ceilings, floors, walls, etc. You name it, it's covered in intricate geometric shapes.
Next we walked over to El Generalife (pronounced hen-er-al-LEE-fay), a nearby palace also built during the 14th century. It's right next to the Alhambra, is filled with fountains and gardens, and was mainly used by the monarchy while hunting and during the hot summer months.
Yeah, you see that tremendous palace/fortress complex right over there? Hate to break it to you, but it's just too darn TOASTY. Build me another palace like 50 yards away, slaves!
A view of the city from the Generalife. Classic Spanish architecture-- tile roofs, white houses with random spots of color, and a lack of basic city planning. Come on, they have streets that are like 15 feet long and two feet wide!
After finishing our visit to the Generalife, we had a few hours of free time. Most people went to get Arabic tea, but seeing as I don't like tea I went to the Granada Cathedral instead. I've seen quite a few cathedrals in my time here and was expecting to be bored, but it turned out to be one of the most interesting cathedrals I've seen. It's smaller than the cathedral in Seville, but also less overwhelming.
The space above the altar. As always, pictures cannot capture the grand scale of the cathedral-- it's GIGANTIC. I sat in the front row of the pews just trying to take everything in for about 15 minutes.
I really like this organ as well-- it looks like it has wings.
After leaving the cathedral, we still had about an hour to kill before dinner at the hotel (ALSO A BUFFET GOD YES). Ramya and I decided to hit up the Museum of Contemporary Art because it was close and our program guides recommended it. Huge mistake. It was essentially three floors of weird, nonsensical videos. In one, a man painted a room different colors. In another, a man painted himself different colors. In one, there were just random geometric shapes. The worst was epileptic seizure fuel, and the best was still hilariously terrible.
See the one second to the right? I decided to watch it because it had headphones and I thought sound would make it more interesting. Nope, it's a man going through a bunch of paint swatches and occasionally reading a name in a monotone voice.
"Seafoam Blue.............. Deep Blue.............. Oceanside.......................... Marine Blue......................."
The next day, we did three main activities:
1. Walking through the historical neighborhood of Albaicin
2. Visiting the Capilla Real, where the Catholic Monarchs are buried
3. Shopping in the traditional Muslim market
Hanging out outside the Church of Saint Nicolas (yes, that's right, Santa!) with the Alhambra in the background. Also, this picture serves as proof that I have friends here.
The Capilla Real is absolutely stunning and looks much like the cathedral, but pictures are forbidden and there are guards milling around keeping watch. I managed to get this one picture of the actual tombs, which are underground.
Fun Fact #3: Did you know that both of the Reyes Catolicos (Isabel and Fernando) were apparently EXTREMELY unattractive?
Decorative pillowcases in one of the shops. Many of the shops in Granada were practically identical to the shops we visited in Morocco, probably because Granada was the last Muslim capital city in Spain. I don't think haggling is typical there, however, which makes shopping at least 40% less fun.
There were also lots of people selling Arabic goods on the street.
After finishing our shopping, we returned to the hotel for one last buffet lunch (oh, how I miss thee) and boarded the bus to head back to Seville. All in all, a very enjoyable trip despite the occasional steep hill we had to climb. Although the weather wasn't great, I still give Granada an A -- if you get the opportunity to go, you absolutely should.
This blog post is dedicated to Aunt Anne, because she sent me an e-mail as I was finishing this post. Glad you like it!
COMING SOON: "Things I Hate About Spain" and "Malaga Trip"