Monday, September 2, 2013

Grand Granada


Saturday, August 31st


The car was so loaded, George said we looked like "the grapes of wrath".  We ran by one more street market for the last time--just for good measure.
Stella, the name for our GPS, took us right to the Alhambra Palace Hotel in Granada.  What a beautiful hotel--very Arabian.



Our rooms overlooked the glorious city of Granada.




We settled in and took off to find the hop on hop off bus.  The main draw in Granada is the Alhambra, but we wanted to see the beautiful, clean, quaint city of Granada.









Back at the hotel, we decided to have a light dinner on the terrace of our hotel overlooking the city.  We watched the sunset and the city twinkle with night lights.




Sunday morning, the Alhambra tour bus picked us up at the hotel.  The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex.  It was originally constructed as a fortress in 889 and later converted into a royal palace in 1333 by Yusuf I,  Sultan of Granada.  La Alhambra means The Red Fortress in Arabic.  This name comes from the red of its walls, built with the ferruginous clay of the land.  The Alhambra's Islamic palaces were built for the last Muslim emirs in Spain and it's court of the Nasrid dynasty until it was retaken by the Christians ("Catholic Monarchs") in 1492.








It sits on the top of the highest peak overlooking the city of Granada.



The tile work and mosaics are exquisite.  Each room is very unique as are the water features.




Our guide, Oskar was very knowledgeable and explained in detail the history and construction of the complex.



We had a late lunch on the patio of a beautiful restaurant close to the palace.  Stewed bull tail was on the menu, (possibly straight from the bull ring we saw in the middle of town)--but we passed.



In the afternoon we took a city shuttle to the center of the city to visit the  Cathedral of Granada, the most magnificent church in Andulucia (the region which includes Granada).











After a brief siesta we went to the hotel terrace for a light dinner.  We reminisced about our all too quick week with our friends from home. 

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