Early morning bustle in Granada…

I caught a city bus to the Alhambra, which was actually a walkable distance, but I didn’t know that first time out. I have to say the bus was a great way to see the city!

When I arrived at the Alhambra the crowds were already lined up and I couldn’t get into the Palacios Nazarínes until the 4:30pm opening. That gave me nearly all day to see the rest of the grounds. I needed every minute!

The Alhambra is considered the best-preserved medieval Arab palace in the world. It is composed of four sections, Charles V’s palace, the Alcazaba, the Nasrid Palaces and the Generalife. Construction took place on the largely inaccessible Sakika Hill in the 13th century to almost the end of the 15th century, the final additions completed by the Christians. There are few words to describe this gorgeous structure, featuring one mouth-gaping sight after another. I savored my day.

Moorish poets described the Alhambra as a “pearl set in emeralds”, an allusion to the color of the buildings and the grounds surrounding them. There are nightingales on the grounds filling the air with song, joining the sound of flowing water throughout. “While Europe slumbered through the Dark Ages, Moorish magnificence blossomed: busy stucco, plaster ‘stalactites,’ colors galore, scalloped windows framing Granada views, exuberant gardens, and water, water everywhere. Water — so rare and precious in most of the Islamic world — was the purest symbol of life to the Moors. The Alhambra is decorated with water: standing still, cascading, masking secret conversations, and drip-dropping playfully.” Rick Steves