Granada. Four days of such interesting history and architecture

- June 06, 2022

Four days in Granada. I really enjoyed this excursion more than I expected to. Short story is that the Muslims ruled in Granada for 7 centuries. The history timeline conversion in USA would equate to about a month...one of the 31 day months! Ok - note that these notes are how I remember the stories. They are likely true..ish.

Then the Christians invaded during the Inquisition. And yes there is an Inquisition museum here. Torture methods and all. Christians told the Muslims they could stay but had to live in a different part of the region. Fast forward 100+ years and Christians decided the Muslims should leave all together. But guess what??? Once they left, the Christians realized that the Muslims were really important to the economy, culture and social fabric of the region.

Alhambra is the highlight of the city. It was built by the Muslims as a seat of government. Ferdinand and Isabella chose this as the Spanish seat of government. They added extensive palaces, gardens, and governmental buildings. Later (say 100 years or so) their grandson decided Madrid was where he wanted the seat of Spanish government. At that time it was barely a city - our guide Pedro - called it La Mancha - but the grandson wanted it because it was flatter and he could build wide boulevards and spread out his kingdom. So the capitol of Spain moved to Madrid and these wonderful buildings became a UNESCO world heritage site... probably a long time (hundreds of years!) after the grandson up and moved to Madrid.

This is the view from my hotel room. I never got tired of this view. I could even see it from the shower. Plus the windows opened so I could lean out and enjoy even more.

Some of the neighbors did not like all the noise in the square: "Noise Prevents Us from Living"

Ok. it was noisy on Saturday when Red Bull set up a Dance Off Contest. It was fun to watch from my room on high... with Jenni and Jim. Our students loved it and got right in there with voting and cheering. Plus a lot of free Red Bull. What's more challenging ... a student who drank too many Red Bulls or one who drank too many beers?

Pedro, our guide, kept us going and did so much to make the trip memorable. No detail was too small for him to perfect.

We have an infinite number of photos with the WSU flag...

At Alhambra...

At Realejo, which is a neighborhood in Granada with lots of leafy parks and good views.

More Alhambra... Did I mention we are trying to win a contest between Spain, Italy and Greece, to have the best travel photos?

A great shot at Albaicin, a Muslim neighborhood that sits across from Alhambra in the distance.

Alhambra had interesting sights at every corner...

At night from afar..

Saturday night we had dinner in a cave atop one of the hills. Then we were treated to a Flamenco dance show.

If you ever attend a Flamenco show. They use clapping as an instrument. Don't try to clap along or a young girl will wag her finger at you!

Here's a job I might come out of retirement for. This guy powers the carousel with his bike.

These rocks for the walkways were hand collected. They need to be sorted by size and color and then they create the design. These walkways are all over the old part of the city.