People of the World, Spice Up Your Life // Granada, Tierra Soñada Por Mi

This weekend I can finally catch up on blogging, as it is the first in three weekends that I am not traveling. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm ready for a break! (Wait, did I just say I'm ready for a break from fun? Oh no, I'm sounding like my mother- someone smack me!) In the span of a week, I was in four cities, three countries, and two continents. My previous blogpost described my Moroccan adventure; in this one, I will recount my travels to Gilbraltar and Granada which took place last weekend. Both of these trips were included as part of my study abroad program, so they included information sessions/guided tours and less stress.

Gibraltar

It was a three-hour bus ride from Sevilla to Gibraltar. Well, to the border between Spain and Gibraltar, to be precise. The car traffic into and out of Gibraltar is horrendous (as was mentioned in the information session we attended, a 2-hour backup on the main street that connects Gibraltar with the neighboring Spanish town of La Linea is common) so the bus dropped us off on the Spanish side of the border and we walked across. I didn't think it was possible, but customs in Gibraltar was even more lax than in Morocco: we simply flashed out passports at officials and nobody even pretended to scan our bags. (I was slightly disappointed that they didn't stamp our passports, as I'm going for the most-decked-out-passport award.) Then, to get to the main town, we had to cross the runway of the most pathetic little airport I've ever seen (I think they only have flights to London and Madrid), which sounds cool since not many people can say they've walked across a functioning runway, but is actually incredibly inconvenient since all car and pedestrian traffic has to stop and wait for 15 minutes every time a plane is taking off or landing. Whose brilliant idea was that?


After finally entering Gibraltar, we headed to the Chamber of Commerce where a man gave us a presentation about the history and economy of Gibraltar- in English, and that too with a British accent! (Thank goodness for that, because the entry process was so casual I barely felt like I was in another country!) We learned that Gibraltar is only about 6.5 square kilometers big, has 28,000 inhabitants, and has no natural resources. It has been British property since 1713, although Spain still claims Gibraltar belongs to it. I think Spain should just give up, since 99% of Gibraltarians want Gibraltar to remain a part of the UK.

After the info session, we had about two hours of free time to explore the 6.5 square kilometer chunk of the UK. No, I didn't see the famous apes (we didn't have enough time to go to the top of the Rock) and no, I couldn't see Africa (it was an overcast day), but it was my first time in the UK and I wasn't about to leave without doing several classic touristy things.

I actually had to wait a while to find an empty one of these cute red phone booths. Who knew people actually use them to make phone calls and not just to snap photos in?

Fish and chips! (Not for me, being a vegetarian of course, but that didn't stop me from getting a picture while my friends ate it. They informed me that it was everything they had dreamed it would be.)

It's a little hard to see in this picture, but the red writing on that stand says "Chicken Tikka Rolls." I think curry, and chicken tikka in particular, is runner-up for the UK's National Dish.

Cute little street signs! They look crazy, but after two months in Spain where no such signs exist, I was very grateful for them.

There was a little free glass-blowing museum where we got to watch people make vases and marvel at pretty little glass things we couldn't afford.

As we learned in the info session, there is a decent Indian population in Gibraltar, and from the looks of it, they own 95% of the shops there.

I lied: Technically I did see one Gibraltarian ape. He must have escaped from the top of the Rock and was just monkeying around the town part.

In case it wasn't obvious from the geography, this sign indicates that you can't go anywhere but Spain from Gibraltar by land.

Granada

Early the next morning, we set off for Granada, which is also a 3-hour bus ride from Sevilla. Granada is a city located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Andalucia. It is famous for the Alhambra, which is a giant palace/fortress built by the Muslim kings in the 14th century. The Muslims invaded and ruled this part of Spain (Andalucia, then "Al-Andalus") from 711 to 1492 A.D. During that time, the capital of Al-Andalus was moved from Cordoba to Sevilla and finally to Granada before the Catholic kings reconquered the land in 1492. As legacies of Muslim rule, Cordoba has its Mesquita (mosque) and Sevilla has its Alcazar, but both of these were partially destroyed and reconstructed by the Catholic kings when they regained control of Andalucia. The Alhambra is unique in that it is the only major testament to the Muslim rule in Spain that is still in its original form today.

And yet, having lived for the past six weeks in homestays where we are forced to shower in under 10 minutes, eat whatever food our senoras make, and live solitary lives in which we cannot invite friends over to hang out (I know, it's a rough life), many of us might have been looking forward to the hotel we'd be staying at in Granada more than the Alhambra.

Our hotel room! So ecstatic that our program fee paid for this.

Lunch at the hotel buffet! My first paella ever + my first french fries in 2 months + my first melted cheese in 2 months = heavenly.

Immediately after lunch we got a tour of the famous Alhambra.

Posing in one of many rooms in the Alhambra with my travel buddies and roommates for the night. Note the colored tiles and Arabic script (verses from the Koran, most likely), both of which are typical of Arabic architecture.

These intricate designs look like carved marble but are in fact molded plaster. It was a shortcut the Muslims used to achieve the same amazing effect.

View of the town that lies in the valley below from the Alhambra

Central patio in the Alhambra, where visiting ambassadors and other important figures would wait before the king received them in the room straight ahead


This sign says, "Washington Irvin wrote in these rooms his Tales of the Alhambra in the year 1829." A couple rooms in the Alhambra are set up as an exhibit dedicated to the American author.

The gardens of the Alhambra are equally elaborate and fascinating.

After the Alhambra, we walked the short distance to the Generalife, a somewhat smaller (but still huge) palace also constructed in the 14th century by the Muslim kings. I believe it was used as the summer palace/estate of the kings. Pennsylvanians have beach houses in Jersey; the Muslim kings had the Generalife.

Water is a prominent motif in the Generalife, since it was not only visually appealing but also refreshing in the hot Andalucian climate.

I just can't get enough of these intricately designed arches!

Just as we were about to leave the Generalife, a bunch of people arrived with flags and banners and started a protest! It turns out there was an important summit going on in Granada that very weekend and the people of a region called Sahara were protesting for freedom from Morocco. Zapatero, the president of Spain, was even there, but unfortunately I didn't get to see him.


After the tours of the Alhambra and Generalife, we were treated to hot tea and sweets in an Arabic-style teashop. Well, the teashop was going for an Arabic theme, but I caught the song "Nimbooda" from "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" playing! Tsk-tsk. The tea was okay (not sweet or flavorful enough for my liking) but the sweets were delicious, probably because they reminded me a lot of Indian sweets. I swear one was a మడత కాజ. Mmm... my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

After tea, we wandered into several nearly-identical little touristy shops that sold tapestries, lamps, table runners, pillow covers, teapots, and a million other decorative items. Like the tea shop, everything seemed to be going for the Arabic theme (since its Arabic history is Granada's big claim-to-fame), but in fact looked very Indian.

Tell me these aren't salwar tops.

I began to suspect that all these lovely trinkets with a South Asian flavor were actually imported from India. And...

I was right!

After realizing that I could get all of these gorgeous goodies for a tenth of the cost in India, I left the shops and decided to check out Granada's Museum of Contemporary Art with Laura. Now, I admit I'm not the most profound person around when it comes to interpreting art, but I think I'm fairly open-minded and easy to please. I've never been to an art museum that I didn't at least mildly enjoy... and this museum was no exception. However, my enjoyment there came in the form of witty retorts and hearty laughter rather than awe and admiration. All of the exhibits in the museum were videos. Many were of moving colored shapes and blobs. Few had sound. One was of a solemn-looking man painting his face and torso white, then pink, then green.

This is a silent video of a man painting the walls and floor of a small room, first red, then orange, then yellow, and so on until he gets to purple. This is my friend Laura with her "This is art?" face.

Following our free time in Granada, we returned to the hotel for dinner (where I ate my first banana in 2 months! oh the little pleasures I miss...) and retired to our room for the night.

The next morning, we had a brief tour of the Albaicin area, which is the best-preserved neighborhood in Granada from the days when it was ruled by Muslims. There you can get arguably the best view of the Alhambra and the Generalife.

View of the Alhambra from the Mirador de San Miguel

View of the Generalife from the Mirador de San Miguel

Our last stop in Granada was the Capilla Real, a cathedral where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel are buried, which makes sense because their big accomplishment was reconquering Andalucia from the Muslims, and Granada was the last capital of the Muslims in Spain.

The royal crown on display in the Capilla Real. I still have a hard time comprehending the fact that kings used to wear this same hunk of metal that I was a mere few inches from.

After the Capilla Real, we headed back to the hotel for one last glorious buffet lunch, hopped on the bus, and returned to Sevilla. Between British accents, Muslim palaces, Catholic kings, and signs of India everywhere, it was a wonderful, action-packed weekend.

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