We went
out to explore Granada and see some of the "other" sights.
Kathleen tried hard, really hard, to get tickets to the Palace
of Alhambra, but failed. It seems that there is a
multi-month wait for tickets and we were late to that
party. She even got up at 0600 and stood in line to
attempt to get some of the 600 tickets that they sell every day
"ad hoc", but they were sold out before she got her
chance. But as a consolation prize, she got night tickets
to Generalife gardens.
The
photos below are what we saw.
To get
tickets, Kathleen got up early and got the shot above from the
hotel balcony of one of the towers at Alhambra. She took a taxi to
the top of the hill and then walked back to the hotel.
There
were some flowers in bloom on the path back.
The
early morning light prevented harsh shadows on the flower.
Back
down on the floor of the canyon, she could see the northern
ramparts of the Alhambra.
It was
early in the day, so the streets were empty. Later in the
day, this street would be a river of people.
The
passages in the Albacin district are very narrow, intentionally
so to defeat possible intruders.
One
medium-sized vehicle fills the street. Minivans are used
as buses in this section of town.
The
palace of justice was next to our hotel.
Across
the street was a sea of motorcycles in front of the court
building. Yet-another church is next door.
It took
us awhile to figure it out why the tourists seem to come in
waves, but the answer was buses full of organized tours. A
tranche of them just passed us.
Granada
was occupied by the Moors and "freed" in 1492 by Isabella and
Ferdinand. As the Christians took over, they converted
existing structures to their own purposes. We visited a
building called the Madraza, which was an Islamic school.
Currently, the facility is part of the University of Granada.
The
madraza had intricate carvings left over from the Moors.
The
walls were filled with awesome carvings.
The
cupola was intricate, but hard to see.
It must
have taken years to carve these walls. Arabic writing from
the Koran circle the wall.
Very
remarkable.
The
carvings went on and on.
These
were very well preserved with very small damaged areas.
Remarkable
detail.
The
school proper had this intricate ceiling.
And then
we moved on to the cathedral next door.
Despite
the dim lighting, we could see remarkable carvings to a
different god.
This was
a very large cathedral with huge, high ceilings.
A
close-up of the vaulted arch.
Each of
the alcoves had statues.
I assume this was a
local bishop.
Each ceiling area
had different carvings.
This one
was too high to see clearly.
Of the
entire church, the portion for services was the smallest
part. The structure next to it was much, much larger.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2017, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.