A whistle-stop tour of Andalusia – Granada and the Alhambra Palace
Phew! I have been caught up in Christmas and all its arrangements and the aftermath of general lethargy in January. I have decided to ease myself back by concentrating on a whistle-stop tour of Andalusia which I enjoyed in 2013. It was both excellent and exhausting and I don’t think I could repeat it now! But it gives me the opportunity to break a fortnight into easy chunks and an excuse to show a lot of photos.
Sometimes, I see a place on TV or amongst someone else’s holiday photos and I know I have just got to go there. It was looking at a relative’s photos of their visit to the Alhambra Palace in Granada that made me want to see it for myself. However, in addition to Granada, I was going to visit Ubeda, Cordoba, Seville, Jerez, Cadiz, Chiciana de la Frontera and Ronda.
Granada and the Alhambra Palace
We arrived via the airport in Malaga, which is not so far from Granada. The tour started as it meant to go on. We hardly had time to settle in at the hotel, when we were whisked off for a walk around the city centre, visiting the cathedral, which was formerly a mosque (a recurring theme). I also made a brief visit to the hotel’s rooftop bar and caught a view of the snow, still on the peaks of the Sierra Nevada in early May.
The following day was our visit to the Alhambra. To call it “a palace” is rather selling it short. I’m looking at the huge visitor guide that I was given and remember that it actually comprises several palaces. Between them, they were everything I had hoped for. Set on top of a hill and looking down on Granada, the building was started by Muhammed Al Ahmar in the 13th Century as both a fortification and a palace. The Comares Palace and the Palace of the Lions, filled with more elaborate and beautiful decoration were built during the reigns of his successors. In the late 15th Century, Granada was captured by Catholic monarchs. Isabella and Ferdinand undertook extensive repairs and renovations, although I must say that I saw more beauty in the earlier parts of the building. Charles V commissioned a palace which was to be named after him In 1870, the Alhambra was declared a National Monument and, after more restoration in the 1920s and 30s, it was designated a World Heritage Site in 1984. Here are some photos, I cannot say exactly which part of the palace they are but just soak up the magnificence!
Coach visits were allocated to either morning or afternoon and, unfortunately, our slot was in the afternoon. As we walked round it became hotter and hotter and I missed the visit to see the palace’s gardens, choosing an ice-cream and a sit down instead.
This day wasn’t finished, though, as we spent an exciting evening in a bar (built in a cave), on top of another of Granada’s hills, watching and listening to traditional flamenco dancing and singing. I have written the word “passionate” in my diary!
So I had already achieved what I came to see but there was so much more to experience over the next couple of weeks. We left Granada early the following morning, heading towards Ubeda……
One Anne and Her Dog 