Traveling from Marbella to Granada was by itself a topographical delight. It was indeed a steady even-rolling climb from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea towards the high elevation that ended up in snow capped mountains and elegant scenery that included tunneled passes under mountains and highlands. There were occasional dizzying moments when the car gingerly drove on very narrow strip of road on the side of the mountain with vertical drop of several hundred feet below to the foothills on the opposite side of the car.
The journey was not uneventful as the Jaguar a friend and I were traveling in died about 45 minutes before Granada. Apparently the night before, the car had a tire-leak, which was not noticed until the car belly grazed the sturdy iron frame of the massive, compound gate and busted the oil tank. It was not until the oil completely dried out and the car stalled that we realized what had happened, despite the earlier tire change.
Magically after about twenty minutes wait on the highway, wearing neon bright jackets every stalled motorist was required to wear on an interstate highway, two motorcycle highway cops appeared to assist. By then the equivalent of Triple A had sent a tow truck to tow the car to a garage and another van to take us to Granada.
Settling into the Granada Palace hotel atop the highest point in the city, right behind the famous Alhambra, I opened the window to gaze at the ancient and modern city that sprawled out from below the foothills of the cliff the hotel perched on to the far-flung foothills of the snow capped mountain that enveloped the city like a bowl protecting its precious content.
The Alhambra is a magnificent edifice built by the Muslim rulers of Spain centuries ago. The buildings are standing strong today as if they were just completed. It took about four hours to tour all the rooms and compounds and its towers and intricate gardens. It is unbelievable, but for the evidence before you, how they could craft such huge spectacular and fortified edifice without the use of modern construction equipment.
Wanting to enjoy the view of the city as the ancient rulers of Granada saw it at night time, I walked the ten minute walk from my hotel into the courtyard of the famous Alhambra to enjoy the view and get bathed in the fragrant air scented by perennial trees and flowers that I learned had been part of life in the red fort for centuries. A giddy excitement washed over me knowing that I was standing in the very compound and in its natural form as did those who lived there for centuries. Gazing at he same walls, breathing the same scented air, towered over by the huge brick outlook posts that gave what appeared to be a 360 degree view of this sprawling ancient city and all the hillsides to the distance…and mesmerized in the snow capped mountains surrounding me as though it was some giant bedspread under a moonlit night. I bet any enemies approaching the city from any of the mountain passes would have been spotted so easily.
The next day, I went for a full tour of the Alhambra. The tour lasted for hours, as there were what in American terminology could be considered about 15 long blocks of intricate property serially linked to each other by a labyrinth of manicured flowerbeds and unique landscapes. Every block constitutes its own set of compounds with characteristic features that range from ancient subterranean baths, women quarters, sculpted gardens, waterfalls, servants quarters, religious courts and palatial dwelling quarters to simple yet efficient irrigation system that watered the gardens and created the waterfalls that cascade, hum and murmur all around you.
Inside most of the buildings, the bright intricate ceiling and wall paintings still survive till date and in some cases, in their original multicolored arrangement.
Later in the evening, I descended from the hilly cliff of the Alhambra to what is today the downtown area of the city to enjoy the bustling events on the plaza, with lots of street festivals of Santa Cruces, and the elegantly period dressed horsemen that gave horseback rides around the web of narrow streets of the city for a fee. The downtown was abuzz with open-air cafes, street entertainers and wandering tourists. The city was indeed alive that evening and I suspect every evening, as Spaniards know how to unwind and enjoy their leisure time, if not spending time at the beach. Thanks to the surprising diversity of the bustling downtown, I dined at a Turkish restaurant amidst the conviviality that the Santa Cruces festivities foisted on the city that week.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Granada: Wonders of the Alhambra
Traveling from Marbella to Granada was by itself a topographical delight. It was indeed a steady even-rolling climb from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea towards the high elevation that ended up in snow capped mountains and elegant scenery that included tunneled passes under mountains and highlands. There were occasional dizzying moments when the car gingerly drove on very narrow strip of road on the side of the mountain with vertical drop of several hundred feet below to the foothills on the opposite side of the car.
The journey was not uneventful as the Jaguar a friend and I were traveling in died about 45 minutes before Granada. Apparently the night before, the car had a tire-leak, which was not noticed until the car belly grazed the sturdy iron frame of the massive, compound gate and busted the oil tank. It was not until the oil completely dried out and the car stalled that we realized what had happened, despite the earlier tire change.
Magically after about twenty minutes wait on the highway, wearing neon bright jackets every stalled motorist was required to wear on an interstate highway, two motorcycle highway cops appeared to assist. By then the equivalent of Triple A had sent a tow truck to tow the car to a garage and another van to take us to Granada.
Settling into the Granada Palace hotel atop the highest point in the city, right behind the famous Alhambra, I opened the window to gaze at the ancient and modern city that sprawled out from below the foothills of the cliff the hotel perched on to the far-flung foothills of the snow capped mountain that enveloped the city like a bowl protecting its precious content.
The Alhambra is a magnificent edifice built by the Muslim rulers of Spain centuries ago. The buildings are standing strong today as if they were just completed. It took about four hours to tour all the rooms and compounds and its towers and intricate gardens. It is unbelievable, but for the evidence before you, how they could craft such huge spectacular and fortified edifice without the use of modern construction equipment.
Wanting to enjoy the view of the city as the ancient rulers of Granada saw it at night time, I walked the ten minute walk from my hotel into the courtyard of the famous Alhambra to enjoy the view and get bathed in the fragrant air scented by perennial trees and flowers that I learned had been part of life in the red fort for centuries. A giddy excitement washed over me knowing that I was standing in the very compound and in its natural form as did those who lived there for centuries. Gazing at he same walls, breathing the same scented air, towered over by the huge brick outlook posts that gave what appeared to be a 360 degree view of this sprawling ancient city and all the hillsides to the distance…and mesmerized in the snow capped mountains surrounding me as though it was some giant bedspread under a moonlit night. I bet any enemies approaching the city from any of the mountain passes would have been spotted so easily.
The next day, I went for a full tour of the Alhambra. The tour lasted for hours, as there were what in American terminology could be considered about 15 long blocks of intricate property serially linked to each other by a labyrinth of manicured flowerbeds and unique landscapes. Every block constitutes its own set of compounds with characteristic features that range from ancient subterranean baths, women quarters, sculpted gardens, waterfalls, servants quarters, religious courts and palatial dwelling quarters to simple yet efficient irrigation system that watered the gardens and created the waterfalls that cascade, hum and murmur all around you.
Inside most of the buildings, the bright intricate ceiling and wall paintings still survive till date and in some cases, in their original multicolored arrangement.
Later in the evening, I descended from the hilly cliff of the Alhambra to what is today the downtown area of the city to enjoy the bustling events on the plaza, with lots of street festivals of Santa Cruces, and the elegantly period dressed horsemen that gave horseback rides around the web of narrow streets of the city for a fee. The downtown was abuzz with open-air cafes, street entertainers and wandering tourists. The city was indeed alive that evening and I suspect every evening, as Spaniards know how to unwind and enjoy their leisure time, if not spending time at the beach. Thanks to the surprising diversity of the bustling downtown, I dined at a Turkish restaurant amidst the conviviality that the Santa Cruces festivities foisted on the city that week.
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Hello Ike, I see you liked Alhambra very much. I was there two times and three times in Granada. The landscapes around it are very beautiful.It's interesting when you questioned how Alhambra was built without using modern technology, but we have lots of construtions even more extraordinary (Machu Pichu, Angkor Wat, Egyptian pyramids and many others) and many times I asked myself how it was possible to built such magnificent construtions those times.
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