Up early, great breakfast, and away we go. The Alhambra is the main attraction this morning and because of the heat we're happy to be one of the first tours allowed to visit. It's a World UNESCO heritage site and they're constantly working on the whole area to preserve it. The Moors arrived in the 3rd century and have been here ever since. The men arrived and ended up with the Andalusian women so their heritage is firmly entrenched in the families here. So much for cultural division.
The Alhambra is made up of a castle from King Charles V time plus the Moorish palace. Saw the living quarters along with the Harem for all the wives and girlfriends. Favourite wife was the one who had the first son and from then on all of the others had to do what she said. Girlfriends were there for entertainment and the occasional liason. Dance of the Seven Veils comes to mind.
We were shown where the Gypsys live and have been warned about them. They live off stealing by pickpocketing mostly and trying any way possible to part you from some of your money. They have ramshackle places in the hills and some have been there for a long time. We were also shown caves where some people live and the Spaniards call them "troglodytes". Just one room caves and the cabinets are outside. Cozy!
Left Grenada for Seville...drove through more olive orchards and then fields of sunflowers. They're hurting because of the heat but get harvested anyway. The sunflowers are used for oil as well as their seeds
Also saw huge solar farms which makes sense because of the intense heat from the sun's rays. Electricity is expensive so hopefully these solar farms help.
Our guide is terrific with the information that he gives us about the area. Seville has much the same architecture but much more colorful using reds, oranges and bright yellows not just the sand coloured walls for these guys. Lots of small narrow streets with Plazas tucked away. Bars, gelato shops and restaurants blend in with living spaces. All the streets are cobbled which makes for tricky walking. Thought we'd all pass out from the heat this afternoon while seeing the old Cathedral and then the Old Jewish Quarter. Lots of water!