A week in Granada

Well clearly time flew by while we were in Granada and I didn’t manage to post at all. That had not been the plan. Here’s a little recap of a few of the amazing sights we got to see.

We rented the city audio tour guide and followed pieces of the four tours described during our week in town. We got to see quite a lot of the old city and learn something of the history of Granada.

While we were in town there were petrol protests one of which was at the town hall around the corner from our hotel. We never saw the shortages in the shops that were covered on the news from Madrid and Barcelona though foreign newspapers did disappear for at least four days.

Some of the places we visited included:-

Catedral de Granada – one of the best natural light illuminated cathedrals I’ve ever been in. (Due to the use of numerous windows and building alignment.) The main body of the church was huge and had a series of impressive pillars that are white washed which added to the brightness of the light.

Capilla Real – Ferdinand and Isabella’s resting place. Beautiful.

Casa de Los Tiros. A museum about life in the region. A mixture of furniture, pottery, painting etc. There was a temporary exhibit about Corpus Christi processions that included floats with the strangest of creatures. The “Golden Room” ceiling was spectacular.

Alhambra. This is the reason most visitors come to Granada. We spent 6 hours in the fortress the first day we went up the hill and it was nowhere near enough time to see even half of the place. We split up for the first four hours or so and visited different parts. I spent time in the fine arts museum, a/c being a huge tick in the plus column. It featured some of the best wood religious sculpture I’ve seen in Spain. We toured the Palacios Nazaries together, entry being by timed ticket. Oh boy, was it spectacular. The mixture of Islamic and Christian architecture was stunning and we got to see all the famous views/sights. It never felt crowded as people were admitted in small groups and it certainly made the whole experience so much pleasanter. We returned a few days later to see the Alhambra Museum as it was closed when we first visited. They had many interesting pieces including two Korans from the 13th and 11th centuries that were quite beautiful.

Museo Arqueologico. A simple museum in a lovely building. Sitting in the courtyard we were able to look up and see parts of the Alhambra across the river and up the hill.

Mirador San Nicolas. This spot was on the other side of the valley to the Alhambra and gave us some spectacular views of the full length of the Palace and the city below.

Albaycin. The older and mainly Arab part of the city that covered one side of the valley. Lots of narrow winding streets, a little like Toledo.

Phi went off for part of a day to give a talk at the University so Sub Evil Boy and I wandered a little and did some shopping.

Ntra sra de las Angustias. I would have loved to have visited this church more than we were able but they had a number of weddings lined up one after another and we merely had the opportunity to peek in and see just how spectacular the high alter was as wedding parties posed for photos.

After a wonderful week in Granada we took a leisurely train journey to Cordoba where we are staying in a hotel directly across the street from the Mezquita. (The Mosque in which they built a cathedral.)

Current temperature: Cordoba 34C/93F, Mum’s place 13C/55F, our place 68F/20C