Granada

Last weekend, we embarked on one of our last "program planned excursions" (at least for a while; our next is March 26) to Granada and spent Saturday through Sunday afternoon in one of Andalucia's most beautiful cities (other than Sevilla of course). The bus ride was kind of long, but I passed the time by reading up on the city and listening to my I-pod. I have put some new Spanish songs on my I-pod because our grammar professor gave us a CD with all of Spain's different genres of music. When we arrived in Granada, we dropped our bags in our hotel rooms and immediately went out to explore the city. Our first objective was food, so we found a small Tapas place right by "Plaza Nueva" and ate about 5 or 6 different plates. Granada is one of the only cities left to practice the old tradition of serving a free tapa with every drink you order, so we took full advantage of that promotion while we could. We ate a ton of food, for a very cheap price, because all we had to pay for were our drinks! That afternoon, we walked up and down the streets of Granada, which to me was not very hard to navigate at all. It seemed like the entire city was based off of one street, "Los Reyes Catolicos" because everything eventually seemed to lead to it. I decided to take the advice of Rick Steves (the guy who wrote my Spain travel book) and visit the Cathedral and the Royal Chapel. I went to the Royal Chapel with a group of 6 friends, and I decided to go to the Cathedral alone. I followed the self-guided tour in both sites, and really learned a lot about Granada and it's history. The Royal Chapel is known for being the burial site for King Ferdinand and his Queen Isabel. Most people know these two Royals because they were the ones who granted Christopher Colombus the opportunity to sail west in order to find the Eastern world. The altar in the chapel was also breathtaking, and depicted several scenes from the life of Jesus and John the Evangelist. I also got to see some crowns, swords, and artwork of the late 15th century as well. At the Granada Cathedral, I had the opportunity to see a more Renaissance-looking church rather than the Gothic / Mudejar style architecture church that is located in Sevilla. The altar in the Cathedral was also an amazing view, which made me very glad I decided to go in and take a tour... even if it was from an English guidebook. The priests preparation room was also very interesting to see, with two grandfather clocks made in England, and a wooden painting of the Immaculate Conception hung in the very center of the far wall. I took a long shower and a short nap before it was time to go out for night life and explore the city. Justin and I took yet another recommendation from my travel book and went to a tapas place located close to the Cathedral for dinner. We ordered 4 plates, and we're certainly the only Americans in the whole place. It was very cool to see the restaurant where all the locals go, and taste some interesting croquetas and fish. We found our way to a disco located on the upward track to the mountains of Granada, but unfortunately we ended up in one of the most American places I have been to since I have been in Spain. It was actually not that bad though, because I enjoy dancing to American music. The mountains of Granada are another feature of the city that make it so prized by the Spaniards and tourists alike. It is very cool to see snow on the mountains (and skiers) all while standing in 65 degree weather in the downtown of the city. The following morning (Sunday), we ate a very big breakfast and set out for our tour of the most famous spot in Granada, the Alhambra. Like I have said in many blog posts before, Spain was dominated by the North African Moorish people between the 12th and 15th centuries, and one of their main palaces was stationed in Granada as a regional capital. During the Reconquista of the Reyes Catolicos (when Ferdinand and Isabella regained power of Spain), Granada was one of the last cities the Reyes were able to reacquire back from the Moors. Therefore, the Alhambra is the best representation of Muslim influence in Spain because it is the most recently built and is relatively conserved. A common theme throughout the Alhambra was water. Running water, still water, puddles, ponds, fountains, etc. Our tour guide told us the Moors believed water was the most pure thing the earth had to offer, so they emphasized water all throughout the palace. One of the cooler parts of the tours was seeing the 12 Lions fountain. Although they are currently undergoing construction, we still got to see them. The story is that when the Muslims controlled the Alhambra, a particular lion would spit water out of it's mouth based on the time of day, and with each changing hour, the spitting lion would change. The Christians were fascinated by how this water fountain worked, so they took it apart, but unfortunately it has never worked since. After our 3 hour tour, a group of us went for lunch and up to St. Nicholas viewpoint, were we could see the Alhambra in it's perfect setting from afar. There were a lot of street vendors and performers at the St. Nicholas viewpoint, which made the experience feel all the more special. The bus ride home was very quiet given everyone wanted to catch up on sleep from the tiring weekend. Needless to say, Granada was an excellent excursion planned by Pepe, and I am disappointed we only have 2 left for the rest of the semester. It's ok though, because I have been planning my own personal excursions. A group of us are going to Toledo next Saturday, and maybe to Jerez or Gibraltar on Monday because we don't have class for a regional holiday. I'm still counting down the days to Barcelona though. I sure hope it lives up to expectations, because I have heard it's one of Europe's most beautiful cities.