Friday morning, I woke up at...wait for it...FIVE IN THE MORNING! It was absolutely awful. After sleepily showering, eating my daily tostada con marmalada (toast with strawberry jam), packing, and finding my misplaced house keys (a daily problem), my roomie and I headed out into the cold, dark street. (Can you tell I'm not a morning person?) We took a cab downtown and met the rest of our group at 7am. We quickly loaded up the buses and began the 2 1/2 hour journey to Granada. Granada was the last Moorish stronghold of the Christian Reconquest and it was finally taken by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel in 1492.
We spent two days in Granada and saw SO many neat things. The main attraction is The Alhambra, which was our first stop.
The Alhambra is a little confusing. It is a series of Nasirid (Muslim) palaces, gardens, and cathedrals. It is a huge complex that used to be a town of 20,000 people. It was built during the 13th century. Then, in the 16th century, Charles V (Ferdinand and Isabel's grandson) built a palace in it. The gardens were my favorite part. In the spring, they are completely full of blooming flowers! I wish I could see it like that, but it was pretty neat nonetheless.
Looking out over Granada at the oldest surviving Arabian city in the world! I have been wanting to watch Aladdin for weeks, and this made me want to watch it even more! I need to track a copy down.
My roomie and I!
Ok this is a little eerie: Certain buildings in the Alhambra are completely covered in tiny, intricate carvings (like the picture above). The crazy part is that the phrase "Allah Conquers All" is the only thing written in the carvings...and it is written hundreds of thousands of times all over the walls and ceilings. Here are a couple of examples of it:
"Allah Conquers All" is written all over every single pillar! It kind of creeped me out.
Scary mantelpiece!
Next, we went to a cathedral...which I should probably know the name of, but I don't...oops.
LOVED the ceiling!
We then went to the Royal Chapel where Ferdinand and Isabel are buried. We even got to see their coffins with their actual bodies in them! Gross! The best part? Ferdi and Isabel's daughter, Juana La Loca, and her husband Felipe the Fair are buried there as well. Juana was crazy, and when Felipe died, she carried his coffin with her in her carriage. Then, at night, she would take his decomposing body out of the coffin and sleep next to it! EW! The coffin that we saw was the same one she used to carry him around in. Sick. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed.
Then we went to a spice market! I got powdered vanilla (which looks exactly like cocaine, it's even in a sketchy plastic bag!...not sure how I'm going to get it back to America), Saffron, cinnamon, and two different kinds of tea. Now my room smells soo gooood :)
OH MY GOODNESS, best news EVER: I had food that had spice! And flavor! And it was not bean soup! HOORAAAAY!!!
Behold, the Kebap, in all of it's glory:
This delicious concoction is "chicken" (I think) that is shaved off of a huge rotating chunk of meat, then tons of veggies, cheese, and sauces are added. I am 100% sure that this would not be FDA approved, but honestly, it was the best thing I've eaten in a month. We ate them for dinner the first night and lunch the next day. Our entire group shamelessly devoured our kebaps, our mouths and hands covered in red sauce, and we didn't care. This sounds so melodramatic, but for reals yall, Americans are missing out on this amazingness!
This is the giant block of "chicken" that they shave off straight into a pita. There are kebap stands/restaurants at every corner in Granada, and we just found one in Sevilla...and there was much rejoicing.
After stuffing our hungry Spanish bellies full of mystery meat smothered in spicy red sauce (mmmmmmmmmmm), we visited the gypsy cave!
I won't lie, I was expecting to climb a mountain and go to a literal cave, but it was actually just a restaurant-like building on a hill. The performers were amazing! 5 people danced flamenco individually while a guitarist and a singer sat nearby. It was a very "Spanish" experience. I loved it!!
This girl was sassy!
On our way home, we could see the Alhambra!
The next morning, we met up with a group who was going to see Federico Garcia Lorca's house. My friend Zora and I had Spanish Lit together last semester, where we were forced to endure reading Lorca's "Casa de Bernarda Alba", which we hated. Here we are hanging out at Lorca's casa:
Thumbs down for you, Lorca.
AHH!! This is by far the most amazing place I have been in my life!! I know I say that about every place I go, but seriously ya'll, it was legit.
Ok, This is the outside of a Geronomite Monastery in Granada.
They fused lemon tree branches onto orange trees so now the trees make both fruits!
The monastery is now used mainly for tourists, but part of it is now a convent for Carmelite nuns. Once these women become nuns, they never leave their convent again. They are not supposed to be part of the outside world. It was strange to know there were people on the other side of the walls that had not been outside for decades. I've been thinking about those women a lot lately, I wonder what pushes them to make such an intense commitment.
This monastery belonged to the Geronomite Monks, but they didn't have enough money to decorate it. Eventually, the widow of "El Gran Capitan" (a famous war hero named Gonzalez-Fernandez de Cordoba) decided to make the cathedral-room in the monastery a tribute to her husband. A funny thing about ole Fernandez: A soldier would follow him around at all times during battles holding this baby Jesus on a stick high up in the air. This doll was in battles in the 15th century! Weird. Anyways, the widow paid an architect to do whatever he wanted in the room...
This is what I saw when I turned the corner...this picture is awful. It was literally breathtaking. My stomach dropped when I saw it!
EVERY inch is intricately painted. The details are insane!
The ceiling:
More ceiling pics! (taken while lying on the ground). We were the only people in the entire place, and only about 10 of us decided to go. I am SO glad I decided to go on this little trip...I would have hated to miss out. It was so neat to get to hang out and take pictures for almost an hour with just a handful of other people. Such a special experience.
Close-up ceiling detail:
See? I told you I was laying on the ground! It took a while to soak everything in.
Whew. Can you tell I loved that place? Best kept secret in Granada for sure.
We had a few more hours to kill until we had to leave, so we ate kebaps (of course), got some gelato, and hung out at a park! It was a beautiful sunshiney day.
On the way home, through the bus windows:
Spain giving me a little taste of West Texas :)
Granada was such an awesome surprise. Turning the corner into the Geronomite Monastery Cathedral is a moment I will never forget.
Next weekend I get to visit La Rabida monastery, and then its off to Morocco the weekend after that!! eek! Today I studied for a test, took a test, mailed a few postcards, went snack shopping, and got a (belated) birthday package ready to send my mom and Laura!
xoxo
julia
3 comments:
Okay--tears are running down my face! What an amazing trip. And what a blessing it is for you to get to see such wonderful things. I can't get over all the carvings and statues actually on the ceiling! What a great trip. Can't wait to try the vanilla in my coffee! Love you--mom
Also--I am so glad that I can now spell "pomegranate"!
Julie!!
When I went to Germany they had kebaps only there they called it doner kebab (or doner for short), pronounced like doonah.
They were AMAZING!!! My favorite were the lamb ones... I had never had lamb before, but they had more flavor than the chicken ones.
The ones in Germany were set up by Turkish refugees. It was the same way for us - once we had one, we had to have at least 3-4 a week. lol I'm glad you experienced the amazingness of a doner!
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