The Alhambra & Grenada City Center, Grenada Spain

We drove 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to Granada from where we stayed in Fuengirola.  It is all highway so an easy drive.  I have wanted to go to the Alhambra for 13 years.  We missed a week in Spain in 2010 when my Father passed away suddenly and we had to fly home.  This time it was difficult to get tickets.  If you plan on going get your tickets early online. We were forced to go with a tour group because we could not get tickets otherwise for our dates.  I hate tour groups because I like to do my own thing and move around with my own interests. Regardless it was the only way to see the Alhambra, I was not going to miss this 12th century beauty again.

We could see Granada as you drive up to it due to the Sierra Nevada mountains that were snow-covered at the top of one of the peaks.  Another very noticeable thing in Granada is that graffiti is everywhere which is unfortunate because it makes the place look seedy, which it is not.

Our tour was beginning at 3:00 pm which we were not thrilled about but we did realize that we missed all of the school groups, Yeh!  We met our tour guide and proceeded to the ticket area where you need your passport to get in.

We arrived in Granada at around 11:30 am and we had some time to explore.  Dax and I walked down the ancient route beside the Alhambra to the Alcaiceria which is the Moorish Market.

  I would have loved to take some time in there but there was no time to waste.  

Entrance to the Alcaiceria or Moorish Market with its narrow streets, dateing back to the 15th century.

This was a very colourful store with Moroccan lanterns to purchase.

We made our way through the market to the Iglesia Parroquial del Sagrario Church which is baroque in style and stunning with numerous cupolas in the ceiling.  It was free to walk around and well worth the time we spent in there.

The Cathedral de Granada is literally attached to the tinier church that I already mentioned and it is massive. We walked in and the entrance fee was 5 euros and it wasn't half as pretty plus we did not have time.

We walked back to the City Square street that has Alhambra views and ordered our meal at Torres Bermejas.  In Granada, if you order a drink then you will get a free Tapas or appetizer and they gave us a small plate of Paella which was absolutely delicious.  My glass of white wine was perfect as well.  Spanish wines are lovely.

A typical European town square where we ate our lunch.

We walked back up the ancient road and the climb is steep back up to the Alhambra approximately 850 meters up the walk.  There are great buildings to see along the river on our way back to the road up.

This was a very elaborate side street with the stairs leading down to the main square, where we ate lunch.

Granada is heavily influenced by Arab culture and architecture as Spain was a Sultanate power for over 700 years.

The Mashrabiya which is the covering over the window is a traditional covering in the Islamic world.   It regulates light, temperature, humidity, and airflow and ensures privacy.  This Mashrabiya would have originally had a wooden screen on it.

Mashrabiya screens are on many buildings in Spain.

We made our way back to the ticket area and found our tour guide.  She was a Spanish speaker and spoke in Spanish and repeated herself in English because we were a mixed group.  It was challenging to see how much I was understanding of Spanish.  If they are slower in their speech then I can pick more of the language up.

The first place we went was the Gardens which were beautiful.  The Arab Sultan loved his water fountains and water pools.

This picture was taken from the Sultan's Gardens and you can see the main buildings of Alhambra in the distance which gives some perspective of the sheer size of the Sultan's walled Alhambra.

We proceeded down to Carlos V Palace which was a very strange building on the outside and inside.  The lower bricks looked like they were from a Star Wars set. The inside was round and without a roof.

The walk towards the Palaces.

The round hallways inside the Carlos V Palace.

Looking down from the second floor of the Palace of Carlos V.

Outside the Palace doors is beautifully carved marble.

The backside of Carlos V Palace.  There is a pomegranate tree at the bottom of the photo and I had never seen one before.

The main Palace entrance to Carlos V Palace.

A man working on a traditional Spanish mosaic tile.

The front of the oddly square-shaped Carlos V Palace has strange brick at the bottom and a round interior.  He built his palace here to symbolize the triumph of Christianity over the Muslim faith.  Ironically he ran out of money and did not finish his ugly masterpiece.

We proceeded to the Sultan's Palace or Palace of Lions which is the star of the show.   The 12 Lions surrounding the pool of water represent the 12 Tribes of Israel.

 This place is extremely ornate with wall murals, pillars and gorgeous ceilings.  

The views of Granada from the balconies of the Palace of Lions are stunning.

If you can enlarge the photos you will see how intricate the carved plasterwalls are that were done by hand.  Our tour guide is explaining how the wall murals were made.

The ceilings were also unreal and hand-carved wood.

One of the many doors in this Palace.

The Nasrid Family Crest in Arabic of course, which was carved over and over again into the plaster.

The plaster in most areas is in very good condition and they want to keep it that way and preserve it as best as they can.  The entrance to this Palace is highly regulated and only group tours are allowed in.  You must show your passport at this entrance and enter with your group leader.  The passport is used just in case there is intentional damage to the Palace.  The Palace was still very crowded.

Another ceiling in the Palace of Lions.

One of the many archways at this Palace.

This was my favorite ceiling to the right.

An outdoor courtyard with the Lions.

This ceiling freaked me out a bit.  It did look like tiny stalactites dripping down from the ceiling.

The picture to the left shows how elegant this Palace is.  The marble pillars were very pretty.

We saw where the Sultan slept and his balconies overlooking Granada City.  His Harem had their own section of the palace to sleep, bathe and dress.  Below is the ceiling of one of the rooms where his Harem slept.

The palace was the most crowded building and although beautiful it was good to get outside.

The inner courtyard of the Palace of the Lions.

We left the palace and walked back towards the front ticket area.  There was still a lot to see on our way out of the Palace of Lions.

As mentioned before the Sultan liked his water features and fountains and pools are a feature of most Arab buildings.

There were more gardens to see.

The engineering of the water at the Alhambra is impressive.  Alhambra had the first of its kind in sewer and water systems in the 1300s which is quite impressive.

Our tour guide ended the tour at two hours but we had not even seen the Alcazaba yet so we headed back to get inside this fortress.  The tallest building is the Tower of the Alcazaba so we had the best views of Granada there.

The inside of the Alcazaba and the ruins of the community foundations that were within.

Within the Alcazaba, our friends and Daxtin are walking within it.

Alcazaba means fortification within a walled town in Arabic.

View of the rest of Alhambra from the Alcazaba.

More gardens leaving the Alcazaba.

More beautiful fountains leaving the Alcazaba.

The entrance outside the main walls of the Alcazaba but there was another lower wall.

The first gate to leave the Alcazaba.

The second gate to leave the Alcazaba.

The main gate leaving the Alcazaba is quite elaborate.

I never understood the name of Alhambra in Arabic which means red castle or vermillion until the sun was beginning to set and we looked up at the towers of Alhambra and realized that the Arabic name does make sense.  It is a beautiful shade of orangey red.

The Alhambra is massive and takes hours to explore properly.  It is well worth a visit when in Spain.