Semana Santa- 2

Granada was my first experience with the famous processions in Spain. It's a very hilly city, and I got off at the wrong bus stop. Not too far, but a bit. The next step, according to my directions, was to get on another bus. But it was after 5 o'clock, and the processions had begun. So forget the bus. I had to hoof it, and although later I learned it wasn't that far, dragging a giant suitcase (I'm too cheap to get a smaller one when I've got a perfectly good bigger one) through cobbled streets (which sucks, fyi) and up cobbled hills (which sucks more) was... exhausting. I got stopped several times by the procession, and attempted to go around, which was not super successful, as the road I needed to follow was next to a river. As usual, I managed to entertain all those around me with my antics, and people were pretty open about their amusement, assuming the blonde girl can't speak Spanish.

To top it all off, I got lost, taking a left instead of a right, and wandered up and down the wrong hills for about an hour. A nice couple stopped and helped me, and I managed to find my way to my hostel. At that point, the sun had set, and all I wanted to do was eat and collapse. I watched a procession from the window of a Kebap shop, then went back and fell asleep. It was totally worth it though, as my hostel had an amazing view of the city and the Alhambra (see next paragraph). 

The second day things really began. I only had the two days, and Monday I'd scheduled one of the things I most looked forward to, the Alhambra. A Muslim palace until 1492, it's magnificent. It's not just one building, but more like 5, and it used to be more. It's a fortress, a palace, a garden, and a few smaller buildings in between, including a bath house. I arrived through a beautiful path over the river (it's a hike, wear good shoes) and up the side of the hill, and was 2.5 hours early to my palace visit. I thought, no way am I going to have enough to do. Boy was I wrong! I spent an hour just walking through the gardens, and another climbing the fortress. This is the place Washington Irving wrote his Tales of the Alhambra, and you can still see many of the things that inspired him. You can see the door of the seven floors, where treasure was supposedly hidden under. You can see the outlines of the houses were both the men of the Moorish and Christian kings lived, to better serve their majesties. It's fascinating, and I do recommend grabbing the audio guide. 

The best part, hands down, is the Nazarene Palace. It was built by the various Moorish kings, and it is marvelous. Geometric mosaics line every wall, Arabic and other intricate patterns are carved into the stone, and speak of the greatness of kings and of God. You'll find throne rooms, gardens, reflecting ponds, and most famously, the Lion Court, a fountain built on the back of twelve stone lions. It is a marvel. Carve out half your day, if you plan on going. And if the price seems steep, remember it's  five buildings and beautiful gardens. And I do recommend booking on line. Even if it's not their busy season, it'll save you the wait, and guarantee you get in, because by the time I left at 2 o' clock, they were sold out for the day. 

My next stop was two churches, the first being the final resting place of the Catholic king and queen. It was more of a chapel, I suppose. No pictures are allowed, but I've been looking for their graves since Toledo. That's where they were originally going to be buried, but after the conquest of Granada, they decided that was the spot. They were also buried with Juana la Loca and Philip the Handsome, whose own stories are interesting as well, if tragic. Anyway, it was a nice little chapel, if a little overpriced.

The Cathedral next door was beautiful, but odd. It was relatively small, and it was shaped in a cruciform, but with a slight difference. The top portion was rounded, and so was the altar. I've gotten used to an older Cathedral, I suppose, since those in CyL were constructed earlier (the area remained in Spanish hands almost exclusively). For the most part, I've seen Gothic and Romanesque styles, and I think this Cathedral was affected by renaissance styling (as was the one in Sevilla). Since the building was quite small, it can be visited in 30 minutes, if you need to. I didn't get to go to mass here, but it had two massive organs, and I'm sure it would have been lovely.

In fact, all of the churches here were beautiful. I walked into one that was covered in gold, another with every inch painted, which reminded me of Rome. Quite different from the stone and retablo artwork I'm used to in Castilla y León and some of the other places I've traveled. And then it got me to thinking, what am I going to do without churches like these in the United States? That will be a bit depressing.

Just as an interesting aside, I heard an adhan, the Arabic prayer that's said five times a day, blasted out over the loudspeakers my first afternoon there. It took me by surprise at first, but it was actually pretty cool. I'm not sure where the mosque is, but there are once again a lot of Arabic people living in this part of Spain. Anyway, a new, interesting experience for me.

 Onto Sevilla!