Alhambra

The Alhambra is huge!


We'd bought our tickets a few weeks in advance, but even that wasn't early enough to get a morning entry. So for a few hours we just kicked around Granada and then made our way to the Alhambra by noon for our 2pm ticket time.




The Alhambra was a fortress first constructed in 889 and then later transformed into the palace in the 14th century for the Islamic Sultan Yusuf I. Following the Reconquista in 1492, some of the muslim influences were turned into christian themes, but then the whole thing fell into disrepair until the late 19th-century. 













After four or five hours at the Alhambra, we were more than ready for some food. We walked back down the mountain and into the first tapas place we could find. Turned out, it was the greatest choice we could have made. This presentation is still my favorite I've received, ever.


Especially because I got to eat next to this cute elf.


Location: Alhambra, C/ Real de la Alhambra, s/n, 18009 Granada, Spain

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Acatenango Saga (Part 3)

Image
(photos by Eddie Thornton ) Morning dawned on our little crew and I was awake and hopeful. Lex and I’s early jaunt allowed a brief glimpse of the valley below and the sunrise over the hills. The clouds lifted just enough for a gorgeous view and I was stunned to see how high we were. I looked down onto the tops of fluffy clouds. The rain the night before, and I think many of our crew’s elevation issues, had decided the fate of our summit. Sadly, we were not going to make the second day’s 3-4 hour trek up to the crater, but David mentioned that if anyone wanted to do a cone summit, we would leave in five minutes. I brushed my teeth, grabbed my raincoat and was off. This smaller crew was David and Jeremy, Eddie, Lee, Alicia, Ashley and myself. The going was slow, although not as bad as the day before. This time the elevation was a problem, but so was the incline. No longer 45 degrees, I think we were probably at a 60 degree angle. Many times I thought I would slip, or maybe just fall over...
Read more

Chicken buses and a faraway town

Image
(photos by Eddie Thornton ) After yesterday’s Pastores visit, I think I was excited to be on the road again. That’s the only way I can explain what happened today. Eddie, Alicia and I had been talking about going to Chichicastenango for a visit on market day. Supposedly it was the best market around, with anything you wanted and lots of beautiful stalls. Since the big market days were on Thursdays and Sundays, we decided to use one of our weekends. We went today. Alicia had a big test on Monday, so she decided not to come. It was probably a smart move since our morning trip, what I thought would just be a 9 - 2 jaunt, turned out to last all day. E and I met up around 8:30 and found a chicken bus to Chimaltenango. I wasn’t entirely sure why were going to Chimal since we really wanted to go to Chichi, but that’s where all the bus drivers directed us. Neither of us had a map, and neither had looked at a map to see where Chichi was. When we got on the first bus and forked over 10Q I knew w...
Read more

Break

Image
After yesterday’s suck fest, I decided to take a day off. Robin left this morning at nine to go back to the U.S. and then on to Honduras for her missionary work. I woke up later than usual (8am) but still in time to eat breakfast with her and say goodbye. It was sad having her leave. I’m not sure how things will be now that she’s gone, but she was a funny little bird and I’m glad to have known her. Today was mostly a day of wandering. I spent most of it with Eddie, my new amable from Yorkshire by way of London. His homestay had become unacceptably boring recently and he was in search of a new family. Alicia’s home had room and so we went to visit. I had been contemplating leaving the Panederia, mostly because of some missing money, but decided to stick it out. I’m comfortable here, minus the two hundred, and while it would be supremely cool to live with some friends, the new homestay is a twin bed. Maybe that sounds obnoxious, but I dare anyone to move down to a twin after twenty years...
Read more