The second day we decided to sleep in a little bit. All we
had on our to-do-list was to go to the Alhambra. The pensión served breakfast
so we ate in. We got a huge traditional Spanish breakfast: toasted bread,
jamón, olive oil and yogurt with tea and orange juice to drink.It was delicious!
After breakfast we packed up and checked out. We still had a
couple of hours until the Alhambra. They only let a certain amount of people
into the Alhambra each day. There is a morning session and an afternoon
session. We had bought tickets for the afternoon. We slowly made our way up the
hill to the Alhambra. It was a pretty walk. Once we made it to the top of the
hill, we went and printed our tickets and then when to a nearby café to hang
out and wait. While we were waiting it started to downpour! Fortunately it
stopped by the time we left.
The Alhambra was amazing! We saw the alcazaba, (the castle)
the Palacio Nazaríes, Palacio Carlos V, General Life and the General Life
gardens. The Alhambra was built in the 10th century by the last
Muslim commander in Spain. After the reconquest by the Catholic monarchy in
1492 some parts were used by them. Charles V even built his own palace inside,
which ended up damaging part of the Palacio Nazaríces.
After we finished at the Alhambra we had about 2 hours
before our bus left for Madrid. We headed back into town and decided to go back
to the first tapas place we went to. As we were walking to the tapas bar, we
were walking by the cathedral and the door where King Ferdinand and Queen
Isable are buried. It turns out you can see where they are buried! Last time we
walked by the crypt was already closed for the day. We bought our tickets and
headed inside. We got there just in time too because the place was going to
close in about 20 minutes. Another famous king and queen, King Filip the
Handsome and Queen Joanna the first are buried there too beside them. I am not
sure who they are. There were beautiful carved statues of the monarchies above
ground and then you could walk below and see the actual caskets that they are
buried in. It was kind of weird but cool too.
After seeing this we headed to the tapas place and hung
out for about an hour and then caught a bus to the bus station. Since we
changed the day we were returning we wanted to leave the latest possible on
Friday. The latest bus left at 8:30pm and was more expensive because it was a
‘supra’ bus. The extra couple hours was worth the expense. We did not know what
‘supra’ entailed but we quickly found out! Instead of being two seats, aisle
and two seats, the bus had two seats, aisle and one seat. So the seats were
bigger and comfier. There was also a leg rest that you could pull out. Once we
got started, we got candies, carmelos, sandwiches and drinks throughout the
ride. As we pulled into Madrid, they were handing out nail kits that included
nail clippers, tweezers and a few other things that I am not sure exactly what
they are for.
We got into Madrid around 1am and were home by 2am. We had
to wake up in five hours to get Ben to the airport in time for his flight back
to the States. Granada was a fun trip and we are hoping to go back in the
spring sometime to visit the Alhambra again so we can see the gardens in full
bloom.
Slowly making our way to the Alhambra; we found an old church on the way.
We also found a park.
I was really excited about my tiger print umbrella that we bought.
Hanging out at a cafe waiting to get into the Alhambra.
Ben making his way to the alcazaba.
Puerta de vino, leading into the plaza before the alcazaba.
The stairway up into the alcazaba.
The view of Granada was amazing from the wall of the alcazaba.
This was an old barrio. Mostly soldiers and servants lived here. The quarters were small but they think they were two stories tall.
The baths.
A birds eye view of the barrio.
On top of one of the towers.
The walls were so thick!
The gardens leading out of the alcazaba.
Palacio Carlos V. It is square on the outside and round on the inside.
Palacio Nazaríes
The sultan would receive visitors in this courtyard.
The throne room:
Women of the court would sit up behind the latticed windows so they could listen in on what went on in the throne room.
This is where the sultan sat.
Fuente de los leones
The General Life gardens.
There were still a few flowers blooming! The alcazaba is in the background.
Palacio General Life. Of course Ben is picking an orange! He got up the nerves to try to eat it and it ended up being really bitter and he spit it out. I told him it served him right for picking an orange where he shouldn't be.
The sun finally came out at the end of the day.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isable are on the far left. I took a picture of the wrong one and didn't realize until later and it was too late to take another.
King Ferdinand is on the center left and Queen Isabel is on the center right. King Filip the handsome and Queen Joanna I and a little princes whose casket you can't see are also buried with them.
Our favorite tapas bar in Granada.
