Al-Hambra & Granada

We spent part of Sunday and all of Monday in Granada which is farther south from Cordoba and, yes, it is getting hotter. However, thankfully it´s dry heat so if you shade hop and stick to shady streets (the old school labyrinthine street design helps as does beer and gelatto) you can stay pretty cool. Where Sevilla is elegant and Cordoba is rustic, Granada is pretty edgy. It backs up to the Sierra Nevada (you can still see snow on some peaks which is kind of bizarre with this weather!) and was the last Muslim stronghold to fall to Christian Castile (aka. Isabel and Ferdinand). Here, more than any of the other places we visited in Andalucia, there is a very strong Muslim influence. It definitely reminds us we are getting closer to Morocco!

The main attraction is the Alhambra, which derives from the Arabic for "red castle." It is a palace-fortress that I studied the Alhambra in an Islamic art and architecture class and it is the reason for wanting to come to Andalucia in the first place. We reserved tickets online for the first entry this morning (and almost slept through the alarm--whoops) so we got to see it in the cool of the morning and (fairly) uncrowded. The palace itself is amazing with beautiful tiles and especially beautiful ceilings.

Flocks of sparrows

BUT my favorite part actually ended up being the view from the hillside neighborhood, the Albayzin, across the way...


Next stop is the port town of Algeciras and then it is onto Morocco. Andalucia has been amazing and definitely exeeded any expectations I had. I have to say that my favorite city was Sevilla with the Alcazar and la Giralda. Although, it was the first Andalucian city I visited so it had an unfair advantage! As we gear up for Morocco, here are some things we will miss: readily available beer, kids in matching outfits, seeing billions of funny looking dogs, and, most likely, warm showers!