Anyway. Granada.
Sunday morning we woke up and had possibly the most incredible hotel breakfast I have ever eaten in my life. I had flaky croissants (croissants= my absolute favorite) with cheese and turkey, yogurt, cheese eggs with more cheese than eggs, frosted flakes, kiwi, pineapple, hot cocoa, orange juice, basically all of my favorite foods together in one place. I ate so much food, and then took a few packs of pastries and wrapped up another turkey and cheese croissant for lunch.
After breakfast Alyssa, Steph and I tried to go to the pool. Our professors had told us to bring a swimsuit and towel, and I had been very excited when I heard that the hotel had a pool. However, we learned that it was only an outdoor pool that wasn't open and a spa, which we would have had to pay money for. Such a letdown :(
After we put our bags on the bus, a few of us walked down from our hotel into a part of the city where we hadn't been before towards the river. The river, however, was a letdown compared to the river in Sevilla. It was more like a shallow creek in concrete. There was still a beautiful view of the Sierra Nevadas, though.
On the bridge over the riverThen we went to a little restaurant where we could sit outside with a view of the mountains, so that the people who hadn't wrapped up sandwiches at the breakfast bar could eat. I was not hungry in the least, so I just had a coke. It was an incredible day, probably the prettiest we'd had yet. Warm, with blue skies and lots of sun.
After lunch we met the group back at the hotel and hopped on the bus to the Alhambra, the Moorish palace that overlooks the city. It's one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, and I can see why. It's a castle on a hillside, with amazing architecture and fantastic views of the city and the Sierra Nevadas.
We were divided into two groups, with Carmen as our tourguide again. First we went to the palace of King Charles V, a Christian king who built it after Granada was captured from the Muslims.
Charles V's palaceWe went into the circular courtyard, surrounded by marble columns. In the middle, Carmen told us, the acoustics are incredible, making it the perfect spot for the venue for the International Festival of Music and Dance every year. She told us that we should sing something. So there, in the middle of a palace courtyard in Granada, about 25 UNC students of us sang the Alma mater, "Hark the Sound"-- every bit of it.
Where we sang "Hark the Sound" in the middle of the palaceNext we went to the alcazaba, the fort that defended the Muslim city. This is the spot where the soldiers from Aragon and Castillla raised the flag in 1492 after their conquest of Granada, signifying the end of the Muslim reign in Spain. This was the spot where the Moorish king Boabdil looked back and wept. His mom chewed him out, saying "Weep like a woman for what you couldn't defend like a man."
The alcazaba mainly consisted of a wall and ruins, but we were able to climb up in the tower for a fantastic 360-degree view of Granada and the Sierra Nevadas. As I said, it was a perfect day with incredible weather, which made it all the more breathtaking!
View of the Sierra Nevadas
View of the ciudad
Our whole tour group-- about half of the total program, including SAS students
City
City with a view of the alcazaba
Mountains!
The alcazaba mainly consisted of a wall and ruins, but we were able to climb up in the tower for a fantastic 360-degree view of Granada and the Sierra Nevadas. As I said, it was a perfect day with incredible weather, which made it all the more breathtaking!
View of the Sierra Nevadas
View of the ciudad
Our whole tour group-- about half of the total program, including SAS students
City
City with a view of the alcazaba
Mountains!Next we went to the Palacios Nazaries, the Moorish royal palace that was built mostly in the 14th century. It was beautiful-- rooms decorated from top to bottom with carved wood ceilings, stucco "stalactites," ceramic tiles, molded-plaster walls, and filigree windows.
We saw the Court of Myrtles. The building surrounding it was thought to be the living quarters for the women with a screen that let the women look out without clearly being seen.
Then the boat room, which is called so because it is derived from the Arab word baraka, meaning "divine blessing and luck," similar to the Spanish word for boat (barco). Then the Grand Hall of the Ambassadors, where the sultan received foreign emissaries. It had finely carved Arabic script-- the Muslims didn't use images of living creatures but instead carved decorative religious messages. One phrase, "Only Allah is victorious" is repeated 9,000 times throughout the palace. In 1492, this is where the last Moorish king, Boabdil, signed the terms of his surrender before leaving for Africa and also where Columbus made his pitch to Isabel and Ferdinand to finance a sea voyage to the Orient.
Boat room
We then saw the famous 12 lions from the fountain of the Patio de los Leones. The fountain was a gift from a Jewish leader celebrating good relations with the sultan, and probably represents the 12 tribes of Israel. The fountain functioned as a clock, with a different lion spouting water every hour, although conquering Christians disassembled the fountain to see how it worked and it's never worked since. The lions were removed from the fountain for an extensive restoration project in 2008. We saw the lions, but it was in a dark room with them in the middle and big screens detailing the extent of the restoration process in a circle around them. They yelled at us when we tried to take pictures.
Courtyard of the Lions
Then we saw the Hall of the Abencerrajes, the room where the father of Boabdil killed nearly the entire pro-Boabdil Abencerraje family in an attempt to deny power to Boabdil and his siblings from the king's first marriage and grant power to the children of his second marriage. But his scheme failed and Boabdil became king anyway.
Then to the Hall of the Kings, the Hall of Two Sisters with a beautiful stucco ceiling, and the Washington Irving room, where he wrote the Tales of the Alhambra while living in Spain in 1829.
Ceiling of the Hall of Two Sisters
And that was it for the Alhambra! After that we meandered back to the front gate and boarded the bus, back to Sevilla.
We saw the Court of Myrtles. The building surrounding it was thought to be the living quarters for the women with a screen that let the women look out without clearly being seen.
Then the boat room, which is called so because it is derived from the Arab word baraka, meaning "divine blessing and luck," similar to the Spanish word for boat (barco). Then the Grand Hall of the Ambassadors, where the sultan received foreign emissaries. It had finely carved Arabic script-- the Muslims didn't use images of living creatures but instead carved decorative religious messages. One phrase, "Only Allah is victorious" is repeated 9,000 times throughout the palace. In 1492, this is where the last Moorish king, Boabdil, signed the terms of his surrender before leaving for Africa and also where Columbus made his pitch to Isabel and Ferdinand to finance a sea voyage to the Orient.
Boat room
We then saw the famous 12 lions from the fountain of the Patio de los Leones. The fountain was a gift from a Jewish leader celebrating good relations with the sultan, and probably represents the 12 tribes of Israel. The fountain functioned as a clock, with a different lion spouting water every hour, although conquering Christians disassembled the fountain to see how it worked and it's never worked since. The lions were removed from the fountain for an extensive restoration project in 2008. We saw the lions, but it was in a dark room with them in the middle and big screens detailing the extent of the restoration process in a circle around them. They yelled at us when we tried to take pictures.
Courtyard of the LionsThen we saw the Hall of the Abencerrajes, the room where the father of Boabdil killed nearly the entire pro-Boabdil Abencerraje family in an attempt to deny power to Boabdil and his siblings from the king's first marriage and grant power to the children of his second marriage. But his scheme failed and Boabdil became king anyway.
Then to the Hall of the Kings, the Hall of Two Sisters with a beautiful stucco ceiling, and the Washington Irving room, where he wrote the Tales of the Alhambra while living in Spain in 1829.
Ceiling of the Hall of Two SistersOur last stop was a room down in the basement. At first it seemed like a boring, plain room with a white ceiling that stretched down to the walls. But then Carmen told us about the acoustics-- if one person stands at the corner of the room and whispers into the wall, the sound carries perfectly to the diagonal corner. We had a ton of fun playing telephone like we were kids on the playground.
And that was it for the Alhambra! After that we meandered back to the front gate and boarded the bus, back to Sevilla.
It's unbelievable how many of these sights I've seen in movies and textbooks throughout my Spanish major, and yet the moment I can semantically associate them with you and your amazing experiences they just seem worlds different!
ReplyDeleteBTW, with specific regards to about 85% of what you've seen and done in Granada, you should check out the British documentary "When the Moors Ruled Spain"--Bettany goes everywhere you've gone!
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