Granada & Alhambra

On Friday (Feb 9) Brighton, Jessi, Ju, and I departed Sevilla and headed for the city of Granada. After a three-hour train ride we arrived. We set off to find our hostile while strolling through markets, a church, and a hospital along the way. When we got to our hostel we checked in and started the search for our room. The hostile was only $15 a person but it looked like a prime place to find cockroaches and convicts. Once we got in our room we were relieved to find it a lot nicer than it first appeared. Friday night was spent exploring the city a little and standing on our balcony, eating chocolate nut spread, enjoying the view of our algae filled pool (which they advertised proudly on the sign as if it was nice), and shared some precious moments of bonding together.
The next morning we ate breakfast at a quaint little restaurant (the usual toast and coffee) and headed to the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a palace/fortress/city that was built in only seven years by the Muslims in the 14th century. When the Muslims began to build the Alhambra they knew that they were inevitably going to be driven out of Spain by the Catholics and assumed that the Alhambra would be destroyed, so they used cheap materials and worked very quickly; it is absolutely amazing to see how much was built in that short of time and the detail that the still put into the buildings. When the Catholics did take over they didn’t destroy the Alhambra, but instead they added on, making it even more impressive.
The Alhambra is massive and breath taking. The palace is eloquent and full of detailed architecture, the fortress walls are bold and intimidating, the gardens are filled with bushes, fountains, ponds, and flowers, and the small houses and shops contain the usual beauty of Spanish architecture. As if the Alhambra itself was not impressive enough, the Muslims built it on the side of a hill resulting in a view of the entire city of Granada below and the majestic snow-capped Sierra Mountains above. We spent about 4 hours at the Alhambra and felt as though were in some dream for most of it.
That evening we explored Granada a little more, enjoyed sitting in a plaza and observing the people, and then rode the train back to Sevilla.
The next day (Sunday) I didn’t do anything much: went to mass in the Cathedral (beautiful), took a stroll through the Parque de Maria Luisa, stumbled upon two museums that held cultural, archeological, and historical exhibits, and went for a run. Just a nice little Sunday☺