Granada and the Alhambra

Sara and I went to Granada this weekend. We visited the Alhambra yesterday and went out and explored with our friend Anna. Anna is a student from Bloomington also and she is studying abroad in Granada for a whole year! Granada was the very last city in Spain to be conquered by catholicism. In other words, it has a lot more Muslim influence than Sevilla. King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella, Doña Juana, and her husband Felipe are all buried in Granada. We saw their tombs in the Capilla Real today. We weren't allowed to photograph this chapel, however.

The Alhambra is basically this giant Muslim palace/fortress and is also the second most visited attraction/historical venue in all of Europe. So there is a lot of arabic-looking arches, fountains, carvings in plaster etc. I really enjoyed our visit here. It is huge and up on top of the mountains overlooking what is now Granada. We spent the night in a hotel right across from the Alhambra. CIEE organized and payed for this whole trip, except for cervezas and tapas, of course. This morning we visited El Albaicin, a barrio (neighborhood) that is literally the very last Muslim neighborhood in Spain. It was left as their personal residences after the reconquest. Another awesome thing about Granada is that is is literally in the mountains, so it was significantly colder there in comparison to Sevilla. Enjoy the pictures!

We saw this mountain, part of the Sierra Nevadas, on our way to Granada on Saturday. It's called the Indian Nose. You can't see it very well from this angle. But a pretty cool rock nonetheless

Garden of the Palacios Nazaries

View of Granada from Alhambra

Another view of Granada from another part of the Alhambra, the Alcanzaba

Granada

One of the first "salas" that we saw inside the Alhambra. Since the Alhambra is a Muslim structure none of the little palace rooms ever lead directly into the main patios. Muslim structures always have their main entrances accessible only through indirect doorways or entrances. 

Another garden of the Alhambra; and some kid, Noah, in my program that got in the way

My artsy camera in the bush/palace in the background photo

Muslim Palaces are all about the reflection pools. All the wooden windows in this specific patio are the windows into the bedrooms of all the Sultan's wives. Apparently the word "celoso", which means "jealous" in English, comes from this little courtyard. The wood that blocks off the bedroom windows is called celiosas. And since the wives could see out into the courtyard, but not be seen or go out into the courtyard themselves, they were jealous of the Sultan and his subjects. Therefore, celoso

Ceiling of the Sultan's throne room. It's supposed to look like the heavens. There are a bunch of stars and the Sun is in the middle

Main patio of the Alhambra

Mini heavens ceiling in the pain garden/patio; This patio is where the sultan would hang out with all his "favorite" wives, or the wives that ranked above his others.

Some cool columns surrounding the main patio

Me in front of the doce leons fountain

The twelve lions represent the twelve tribes of Israel

Another cool ceiling. Ceiling = Techo

Another artsy photo

Arabic inscriptions are all over the walls in the Sultan's throne room

Beginning of the Christian add-on to the Alhambra 

Street leading to the centro of Granada

Real Capilla en Granada

My house :)

A cool entrance to a cafe in El Albaicín 

David, Me, and Sara at the best viewing point of the Alhambra in El Albaicín

Some Flameco dudes. The guitarists here are amazing. 

We also visited a cloistered nun convent. You aren;t allowed to see them at all. You have to ring a bell outside this little Hobbit-esque door and they talk to you through this wooden door. We bought some little pastries from them which they spun around on this big turn table to show us what they were before we bought them. 

And finally, it started to pour rain when we came down from El Albaicín to the El Centro of Granada. So we stopped in for some tea.