Aug 5 – 7, 2014 –
It is time to see more of inland Spain before we head north. We decided to leave the boat in Gibraltar as it is much less expensive there and safe. The history of the Iberian Peninsula is fascinating with the Moors seizing it from the Romans then the new Spanish King and Queen taking it back 500 years later from the Moors. As in Seville, also part of the Iberian Peninsula, when the Catholics took power they kept the Muslim mosques and, in many cases, added a steeple and cross onto the top of the minaret. It is from the minaret that Muslims are called to prayer. The Catholics added bells to call the Christians to service. Many mosques were saved and changes made as they became cathedrals. Others were torn down and cathedrals built on the same foundation.
We chose to go to Granada, home to the Alhambra, one of the most spectacular architectural achievements in the Muslim world. The Alhambra is now a World Heritage Site. Granada is in the Andalusian region of southern Spain at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It served as the capital of the Moorish kingdom and still has many Muslim features in the architecture, food and dress.
The train is the best option for getting to Granada easily and not having to park a car in the city. Spain’s trains are very clean and run on time and have a very smooth, quiet ride. We packed up our backpacks and headed for the Spain border, about a mile and a half walk. Across the runway again (look left, right, and up) through the border patrol and into Spain. A taxi ride to the train station and we were on our way. The four hour ride introduced us to the Spain countryside. The song should be “The rain in Spain gets nowhere near the plain”. There is a tremendous amount of agriculture throughout the Iberian Peninsula with olives the reigning product. We passed hundreds of square miles of olive trees in neat rows covering rolling hills and valleys. The soil is almost desert dry yet they grow amazing produce. Orange trees are almost as abundant in Granada as they are in Seville.
Once we arrived in Granada we walked almost 2 miles, the last mile up the steep hill the Alhambra sits on to our hotel (with our backpacks on). The temperature was 102 in the shade with the sun shining brightly. We checked into the hotel and headed for showers! Our hotel, the Hotel Guadeloupe, was only a tenth of a mile from the entrance to the Alhambra. Great location and price. In addition, they were able to get us tickets to the Alhambra when the on-line tickets were sold out. We have been discovering our hotels from the blog of another boat that has been cruising for the past five years. It has been very helpful.
The streets and sidewalks of Granada are very clean. Street sweepers wash both the streets and sidewalks on a regular basis. Graffiti is everywhere. Some excellent, some not. In the Realejo neighborhood of Granada the graffiti artist El Nino de las Pinturas has done phenominal, sophisticated paintings on cement walls, buildings, and store fronts. They are contrasted with ugly spray painted names, dates, squiggles, etc that are unsightly. There are the usual outdoor cafes, though not as prevalent as in Seville. Pig legs are hanging by the dozens from ceilings of restaurants all cured into prosciutto that is key on every menu. Baguettes with “jamon e queso” (ham and cheese) is a café breakfast staple.
The following day we spent five hours at the Alhambra, soaking up the history, architecture and gardens. 6600 people a day tour the Alhambra so the day is split into morning or afternoon tickets. In addition, to manage the crowd, there is a specific time on each ticket for entry into the Nasrid Palace, built for Granada’s Muslim rulers in their 13th and 14th century reign. The intricacy of plaster reliefs adorning columns, doors, and walls is truly remarkable. They were not structural, merely for décor.
After the Catholic royals took over, Carlos V, son of Ferdinand and Isabel added a gothic castle to the site, a contrast in style. Also within the Alhambra are the Generalife gardens, featuring cypress trees, fountains and formal gardens. With such a dry area, where it really does not rain during July or August, the irrigation system is important. They are constantly watering. Even the forest that spreads from the Alhambra, down a hill to Grenada’s center city can be seen with hoses raining water across it during the day.
Our last day we traveled across the river to the Albayazin, the old Moorish quarter of Granada. Streets and sidewalks throughout the city are made of river stones, in carefully laid out patterns. In this area, however, the streets are also made up of the stones and are so narrow cars can hardly get through. Cars that dare to park along the edge all have their side mirrors folded in to keep them attached to the car.
We took the late afternoon train back to the border town watching the sun go down over the fields of olive trees, then walked back across the border into Gibraltar crossing the runway again and back to our home on the water.