Andalucia 2008
Day Six: 14th October
Weather: Violent thunderstorms on the way to Grenada, sunshine at the Alhambra
Route: Ambling around the Alhambra
Usually the best way to get tickets to visit the Alhambra is to book online, and the hotel kindly offered to do this for us. But we had left it too late so we were advised to leave early to beat the queues, and hope for an early entry time. The booking system allots you a ticket at 30min intervals to visit the palaces, and if you miss your turn it’s tough, you won’t get a second chance. We had arranged to have breakfast delivered at 6:30 and young Angus looked less than impressed with us leaving early, and I’m not surprised – I wouldn’t have been. We were on the road at 7:30 and expected to be in Grenada at 8:30. But we ran into a torrential thunderstorm which really slowed us down, and turned night into day such was the intensity of the flashes. Peter had drawn us up a map with directions to the Alhambra, and these were very accurate given my current directional malaise. So we didn’t get into the Alhambra car park until 9:00, and despite my worries about the possible queues these proved unfounded. We were lucky enough to walk straight up to the desk and were given a time slot of 10:00 for the palaces, which was perfect for a stroll around the gardens. They didn’t have too many people around at the start of the day and I was delighted as I had looked forward to visiting the gardens more than the palaces. The Moorish designs have a lovely formal layout and symmetry, with evergreen hedges so they look good all year around. They are probably at their best in springtime, and through the summer as the bedding changes. The ups and downs through the garden provide an ever changing perspective, with the ponds and water courses giving a big cooling effect. As there are a lot of courtyard gardens there is always some shade from the sun.
The Generalife gardens
The court of the water channel
And the same garden
From a gallery above
Probably the nicest shot of the day
Looking across to the palaces the other side of the valley
The castellated hedge tops in the Generalife
We spent 40 minutes wandering around the Generalife gardens and then made our way over to the palaces, as it was a 10 minute stroll to the entrance. We queued up for our allotted time and moved slowly along towards the entrance. It is carefully controlled to prevent anyone jumping in, and the bar coded tickets were checked on a regular basis in various sections. The first thing you notice inside the palaces are the intricate carvings on the plasterwork, which are repeated throughout the buildings. Further along into the palaces the ceiling woods/mouldings change in style. The buildings and gardens are designed to give glimpses of the ponds in small portions, revealing a bit at a time. My favourite was a long rill in a courtyard with arching water sprays and formal borders – it would make a great picture if it was people free, which is very unlikely unless you were first in and made rapid progress through the palace.
On the way towards the palaces
The view from the queue to get in – see the long wall in the
distance
Fancy plasterwork
The Comares Palace pool northern portico
Part of the Palace of the Lions and the courtyard
More fancy plasterwork – amazingly detailed
Detail of one of the pavilions of the courtyard of the lions
The new gardens of the Generalife
The Alcazaba – an old fortress
An interesting looking cathedral in the adjacent town
Time to go as the weather start to close in
Eventually we came out of the palaces and back into the gardens and had a lovely wander around looking at the old walls, towers and ditches. Compared to the UK the Alhambra walls are probably over-restored, but in this arid climate they would crumble away unless they are stabilised. The views over the valley looked at the Generalife from the other side and it is strange how a different perspective makes the gardens completely different. It took about 3hrs wandering around and that was enough for me, so we got back to the car and paid 5 ½ euros for the car park. As we left the palaces we went into the posh hotel on the site, but we were too early for lunch, so we called the Fountainhead and ordered up some tapas for an hour’s time. The heavens opened as we left, and I breathed a sigh of relief – ha, one back to the buffoon! I topped up the car with a dribble of diesel as I didn’t want to give the car hire company any extra fuel for free. Back at the hotel it had been raining all morning and the red mist that had been hanging around for 3 days finally cleared revealing a view of the surrounding sierra. So I wandered up the track to stretch some very taut muscles – ow – and I know it’s my fault. All in all it was a very nice end to a very pleasant short holiday – cheers.
The views from the Fountainhead Hotel
