Friday morning I had to wake up at 5:20am to be at the train station by 6:40am. It was a very early morning, but well worth it because after a nice nap on a three hour train ride, our group was in the beautiful Spanish city of Granada. It was a bit chilly when we arrived because the city is surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountain range and in the distance, behind the beautiful Alhambra palace, you could see the snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada’s where people flock to ski. We started our day in Granada at a lovely little café for a wonderful breakfast of café con leche and some bread with the famous Iberian ham and delicious queso on it! Then we checked in the fabulous Hotel Carmon that had a balcony view of Corte Ingles a popular Spanish chain store (but we luckily could see the mountains as well). The rest of the afternoon we spent touring the quaint city, which, besides of my beloved Sevilla has been my favorite Spanish city. We wound through the old Muslim Barrios and enjoyed the sunny plazas and monuments of the city. The rest of the day we had free time, so we all ate our sandwiches in a sunny plaza and then toured the burial place of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand and walked in one of the most beautiful cathedrals I have ever witnessed in my life! It was enormous and had beautiful stained glass like the Cathedral in Sevilla, but the interior was filled with much more light, and the colors were more pastel and white, so everything looked so pure and bright. The center of the Cathedral had a beautifully painted blue dome with pinkish colored stars, emulating the Muslim style. That evening, we went up one of the hills for an amazing view of the Alhambra. I took a taxi up with my friend Stephanie because she hurt her foot, and we got there right before the sun set so we saw the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada’s with the beautiful contrast of a pink and purple sky! Then, when it got dark, the Alhambra is well lit up and so beautiful to view! For dinner that evening we went to a nice restaurant and I had wonderful chicken with garlic and lemon sauce. Then we all went out for pastries at this “Willy-Wonka” type bakery and enjoyed some amazing desserts! Tired from the early start to the day, we called it an early night so we would be well rested for the Alhambra.
The Alhambra was breathtakingly beautiful situated on a hilltop surrounded by the picturesque white houses from the time of Muslim rule as well as the lovely mountains! We had a tour through the four palaces (there were seven but the French came a blew some up…ugg) and saw some beautiful courtyards and gardens as well as the lovely pools and fountains that are so Moorish in style. Also, the intricate details of the walls and ceilings as well as the very ornate and colorful tile work made me feel like I had stepped into another time! We saw the famous Court of Lions, but the landmark fountain with the twelve lions “guarding” the courtyard was under reconstruction, so I saw no lions. One of the best parts of our visit was going to the summer palace of the Alhambra called General Life. It is garden after garden of lovely shrubs and flowers and fountains. There was even a wedding taking place there during our tour and we saw the bride getting her picture taken in the gardens! The entire trip was amazing and I enjoyed visiting the wonderful Alhambra that I just read about in Washington Irving’s book: Tales of the Alhambra! He was the one who made the Alhambra so famous among tourists because of his book and now it is the most visited monument in Spain! Unfortunately we only had one night and two full days there, and caught the train back at 9pm, arriving back in Sevilla very late! Still, an amazing trip with wonderful pictures and memories to take back with me!
Great description !
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