Granada

 
Up above is our house in Estepona.  We stayed here for 5 days (6 nights) and quite enjoyed the accommodations.  It fit our group of 15 really well with three levels and a large kitchen/dining/living area.  Jared and I were all the way upstairs with the boys in separate rooms.  Our bathroom had a bidet.  The funniest thing Cole said all week was “Look Mom, it has two potties!”  I explained to him that it was not an extra potty, but actually used to wash your bum after going number 2.  He got a really funny look on his face as he contemplated this, and then said “YOU MEAN IT’S A BUM SINK!?”
The house was not without some quirks.  It was beautiful inside.  Decorated very Spanish with lots of Tile, dark molding/doors, and rot iron railings up and down the stairs.  It was however freezing!  We could not figure out how to make it warmer.  We were putting towels on top of us in the beds once we used all the blankets, and wearing sweatshirts to bed.  Finally we contacted the property manager and she taught us how to turn on the heater/cooler things above the doors.  Also the house kept blowing circuits.  If we were running the washing machine and a hair dryer at the same time, forget it….no power!  It was a bit comical at times.  The best part of the house was the fridge.  They told us that they would leave a basket of food for us as a welcoming present which is pretty standard.  When we arrived though, there was food everywhere.  3-4 loaves of bread, muffins, oranges, tangerines, yogurts, jamon, cheeses, salami, soda pop, cereal, snack mixes, water, juices, milk and more.  We were shocked!  We weren’t sure if we should eat it all or not…..not wanting to get charged extra, but the property manager confirmed that it was all for us.  Wow, that was really a gracious welcome!  
Thursday morning it was time to say good bye to the house and hit the road for some towns further away and more north.  The blue van above was our rental for the week.  It was quite roomy and perfect.  Not nearly as roomy as the “living room on wheels” that the Johnsons were driving all week, but we quite enjoyed our rental van.  Our City for Thursday was Granada.  The most famous sight of Granada is its Alhambra.  We had made a reservation months in advance to see it as recommended now that it has become more well known and visited each year.  The Alhambra is the last and greatest Moorish palace of Europe.  It attracts up to 8,000 visitors a day.  It was a symbol of retreat in its time.  After the Christian Reconquista moved south taking Sevilla and Cordoba, the Muslims held together the last Moorish Kingdom which they ruled from Granada until 1492.  During the Dark Ages, Moorish magnificence blossomed-ornate stucco, plaster “stalactites”, colors galore, scalloped windows framing Granada views, plush gardens, and water everywhere.  Water was  rare and precious in most of the Islamic world and was the purest symbol of life to the Moors.  (Rick Steves, Spain pg. 485)  
The Alhambra can seem like a confusing maze of Moorish and mixed Christian ruins until you break it down into the four different areas that are all together on the same property. 
Palacios Nazaries, Charles V’s Palace, Generalife Gardens, and the Alcazaba. 
We started out in the Palacios Nazaries which is an exquisite Moorish palace, and the building that you have to have a reservation for.  Built mostly in the 14th Century, this palace offers the best possible look at the refined, elegant Moorish civilization of Al-Andalus (Arabic for the Iberian Peninsula)…..later which became know in Spain as ”Andalucia”.  Common to Moorish architecture is carved wood ceilings, stucco “stalactites”, ceramic tiles, molded-plaster walls, filigree windows, and lots and lots of arches.   
The whole palace was once painted in bright colors, many suggested by the Quran-red (blood), blue (heaven), green (oasis), and gold (wealth). 
Most of what is known about the Alhambra comes from reading the many Arabic Scripts in its decorations.  Muslims avoided making images of living creatures-that was God’s work.  Hence they would carve decorative religious messages.  One phrase that is repeated over 9,000 times is “only Allah is victorious”.  If you find the “W” below with a nose off to its left that is where the phrase starts and then repeats over and over throughout the palace. 
This is the Grand Hall of Ambassadors:  it functioned as the throne room.  This is where the Sultan met his foreign emissaries. The room itself is a perfect cube from bottom to top.  The star studded domed ceiling suggests the complexity of Allah’s infinite universe.  Filigree windows once held stained glass and had heavy drapes to block out the heat.  Two historic events likely took place in this room: 
1. The Reconquista was completed here as the last Moorish king, Boabdil, signed the terms of his surrender and left for Africa.  2.  Columbus made his pitch to Isabel and Ferdinand to finance a sea voyage to the Orient. 
It is said that King Boabdil looked back and wept at his defeat.  His mom chewed him out, saying, “You weep like a woman for what you couldn’t defend like a man”.  With this defeat, more than seven centuries of Muslim rule in Spain came to an end. 
The most photographed area of the palace or the “Courtyard of the Lions” was completely torn apart for restoration.  I was super disappointed! 
The Hall of Abencerrajes:
The sad history of this room is that the father of Boabdil took a new wife and wanted to disinherit the children of his first marriage.  In order to deny power to Boabdil and his siblings, the sultan killed nearly the entire pre-Boabdil Abencerraje family.  He thought this would pave the way for his new wife’s son to become the next sultan.  He stacked 36 heads from members of the Abencerraje family in the pool under this very ceiling below.  (a whole new level of “Family drama”!)  His scheme failed and Boabdil ultimately assumed the throne.  Bloody power struggles like this were the norm in the Alhambra.  Women were rarely allowed to go out so they stayed in touch with nature in Courtyards throughout the Palace.  Husbands were very jealous and wouldn’t let their wives be seen much. 
Cute Johnsons…on an overcast but pleasant day in Granada
I loved this view into the city from the Alhambra.  Jake and Josh were often found behind the rest of the group bringing up the tail end and talking nonstop about their imaginary worlds and games.  These two are quite the friends these days and inseparable.  All the manicured gardens of the Alhambra were so amazing! 
Charles V’s Palace and the Museo de la Alhambra:
This is Spain’s most impressive Renaissance building.  It was built by Christian King Charles the V.  The Palacios Nazaries wasn’t good enough for him so he built a new home which he financed by a tax on Granada’s defeated Muslim population.  It was designed by Pedro Machuca a pupil of Michelangelo and has a unique circle-within-a-square design.  It may have been designed to have had a dome placed on top, which never has happened, but the acoustic’s right in the middle of the circle are supposedly amazing.  They hold a popular International Festival of Music and Dance here. 
Lastly we toured the Alcazaba: 
This fort-the original “red castle” or “Alhambra”- is the oldest and most ruined part of the complex.  It is from the mid 13th century, but before that there was most likely a Roman Fort here.  This fort and tower once defended a town of 2,000 Muslims living within the Alhambra walls.  (Rick Steves, Spain pg. 493)
We climbed the tower for some amazing views of Granada.  The wind started to kick up at this point and it started raining on us. 
After the fort we came back down to enjoy some of the gardens.  Dieter wanted his picture taken at the Alhambra so we brought him out.  It was getting late in the day and we wanted to be at the San Nicolas viewpoint at sunset so we started making our way through the Albayzin.  This is Spain’s best old Moorish quarter, with countless colorful corners, flowery patios, and shady lanes.  Lots of vendors of imported North African goods have shops along here, pastry shops, Moorish tea rooms, and souvenir shops line the crooked narrow streets.  It’s a confusing walk, but we knew we were getting close when we saw the Alhambra poking above these houses….And we made it!  Boy was it worth the walk and view.  Wow! 
As it got darker and darker the Alhambra became more lit up.  It was spectacular.  According to Rick, it is one of the most romantic viewpoints in Europe.  We barely got this spot for a picture, I had to crop part of someone out right next to Carter.  Wall space is precious and gets snatched up in a hurry.  This is a very hot spot for tourists at sunset!  The end of another great day in SPAIN!After seeing this view…. we headed down and got some sandwiches to go from a shop in the Albayzin.  Some were Spanish tortilla and some were grilled chicken with spices.  Josh loved the chicken!  We sat on some steps in the Albayzin and ate the sandwiches and talked about what a great week it had been.  The Johnsons were taking off for Toledo in the Morning and then on to Madrid to fly home to Germany.  It was a great week with them with a lot of variety in activities.  We were a bit sad that they would not be headed to Cordoba with us in the morning, but so grateful that they shared Spring Break with us in SPAIN!