When we decided months ago on dates for Granada we tried to book tickets online to the Alhambra and Generalife. Individual tickets were sold out so we booked a tour instead. We are glad we did for our tour guide Anton was very knowledgeable about the history of the site, but more importantly wove the history and culture of Spain into his description. He obviously has deep respect for the heritage and tradition left by Spain's Muslim, Catholic and Jewish forebears.
The area was used by Roman, Visigoth, Muslim and Christian rulers although really only developed to its current form after the taking of power by the Muslims in the early 8th century. It was the last hold out by the Muslims in Spain with Ferdinand and Isabella taking over in 1492.
Like all tours there's an element of hurry up and wait. Collecting the tickets and headphones took a long time. The Alhambra and Generalife are jointly Spain's most visited tourist attractions with an average 8,000 people a day.
Nonetheless, it wasn't as overly crowded as you might expect. The tour leaders tend to work together to a loose schedule; to get into the Justicias you have a 30 minute window in which to get the tour through or else miss out. It seems to work well.
The tour started with the gardens at the Generalife. These are spectacular although surprising for such an ancient site, date from the 1930s! There is an auditorium named after Manuel de Falla - a local lad who made good - which holds concerts in the summer. There are lots of beds and ponds with a great view to the Alhambra, Alcazaba and over Granada. The Generalife housed the local commander of the region before the Alhambra was built.
We next went to the Alhambra. The name means pink or red palace as its structure was made from local soil, which is pink. Here the intricacy and attractiveness of Mudejar design is at its best. The patios are spectacular with the Court of the Myrtles being the outstanding place here, if not in all of Spain. The name of the court comes from the myrtle bushes surrounding the pond.
We visited the Royal Cathedral which contained a replica statue of the Virgin Mary in Anguish. The original was destroyed in the Civil War. Once a year this statue is placed atop a float made of silver that weighs 2000 kg and is carried by 68 men in procession down to the main Cathedral for mass. It is then carried back up.
The Palacio Carlos V was built by Ferdinand and Isabella's grandson. He had his honeymoon at the Alhambra in 1526 and intended spending time here however circumstances prevailed that saw him elected Holy Roman Emperor and he never returned to Granada. It's tough when you have yo rile all of Europe, the New World and the Philippines. The circular patio was reminiscent of a bull ring. The roof and doors were not added until 1968!
The Alcazaba is the oldest part of the site and is the fortress. It possesses great views across Granada.
The final area visited on the tour was the Justicias which had great mosaics and stucco and contains the Court of the Lions.
We left the tour here and decided to walk down to Plaza Nueva, even though we were foot sore. We lunched at a shady spot prior to the descent, again with appropriate tourist prices. The walk down via the Ruta Darro was good and didn't take long at all.
We visited a Testererrias which was quaint and expensive for mint tea - €5.60. "The dirty mint tea drinking b******s" as Catherine Tate would say.
We soldiered on by foot until thunder and then rain led us to refuge in a restaurant at Plaza de Aguatador. It was a nice spot to watch the rarity of rain in Granada. The only slight annoyance was a drunk American woman and her husband, she complaining about him. They ordered another bottle as we were leaving so there would have been tears before bedtime.
We walked past the Cathedral and into a couple of stores and then trekked to Lavanderia Genil. Success! Clean laundry for €20.
Somehow our feet got us to the hotel. Bruce reckons we probably walked 20km and I don't doubt it.
After a suitable rest we headed out at 9pm for an "early" dinner as we have an early start tomorrow. Dinner was at Chikito in Plaza del Campilo followed by the final helados in Granada.