Viaje: Granada

A long, long time ago, we took a trip to Granada (I promise to have my blog fully updated by the middle of the week). It was the weekend of October 16th, to be exact.

I traveled to Granada on an organized trip with my study abroad program (which means everything is all planned out and we get to stay in a nice hotel--sweet!).

As always, here's some background:

The city of Granada (which means 'pomegranate' in English) is placed at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains at an elevation of 738 meters above sea level. It is famous for the Alhambra, which is a Moorish palace and one of the most famous items of the Islamic historical legacy. The fall of the city of Granada also holds a significant place among Spanish history as it completed the recapturing of the 800 year-long Moorish civilization in the Iberian Peninsula. 

On Saturday we of course visited the Alhambra. The Alhambra palace was constructed in century XIV-XV by Moorish rulers after they conquered Spain. Thus, the Alhambra serves as a strong example of the architecture and art of Islamic Spain. It is also dang beautiful.

View of the city from the Alhambra

Inside the palace

ceiling

dang.

Another wooden ceiling--very typical of Islamic architecture

Islamic art always uses the same five colors, which all have religious representations: white (eternity), black (death), green (Allah), yellow (sun), blue (water).

Check out the detail. How long do you think that took?

Another mind blowing ceiling. My photos do not do it justice.

We also visited La Generalife (which means 'garden of the architect'), the gardens of the Alhambra. The gardens are 20th century Christian, however the structure and use of water is Islamic. 

The incorporation of water in Islamic architecture has two uses: temperature control and religious purification. However, it also has an artistic representation in fountains. The water leaving the fountain represents the birth of a person, the arch of the water represents the life of a person, the entry of the water into a reservoir represents death, and the movement of water within the reservoir represents the journey through eternity. Also, all of the fountains function on gravity alone. (sweet, huh?)

Both the Alhambra and Generalife are HUGE. We spent almost the whole day there, and we could have spent more. Just another example of my tough life studying abroad--strolling through royal gardens and whatnot. 

After the Alhambra and the Generalife, we went to a restaurant in the city for tea and some traditional Arabic sweets that were made almost entirely of honey.

Saturday night, we danced the night away at a discoteca in a cave...TIGHT! Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show. 

Sunday we went to the outskirts of the city to see the old Islamic area, which had been converted to a Christian area during the Reconquest. We saw some old mosques, which had been converted into churches, the new mosque of the city, and just took a general stroll through the neighborhood.

View of the Alhambra
It sits on a high part in the city in order to defend itself against invaders

Granadas!

During our stroll, we also went to a Convent. Throughout Spain, nuns are known to make some of the tastiest sweets in the world. (Even Gloria says that they make some bomb dessert.) At this particular convent, one must first ring the bell (right hand side of the photo). Then, you open the little wooden door and say what you would like to purchase. The nuns then put your sweets on a sort of table-turner tray and spin the tray to your side of the wall (it's like a revolving door of sweets). During this whole process, you never see the nuns. Only their desserts.

My sweet: a Magdalena (like a muffin, but better)
I couldn't even wait to take a bite before I took the picture
It was delicious.

On another note, because this was a trip organized by my program, we were "required" to speak Spanish the entire weekend. This was ok-by-me because I like speaking Spanish. Plus, they told us that there would be prizes for those who spoke the most Spanish throughout the trip. And you know me--I can't stand to lose at anything. So Amber and I made a very good effort. 

And you know what? It payed off. Amber and I TOTALLY won the prizes! (Which turned out to be these ugly but AWESOME hats!)

The proud winners on the bus.

Yup. I wore mine the whole way home.

As is the trend here in Spain, I had a great weekend in Granada. Although it wasn't my favorite city I have traveled to thus far, it certainly was beautiful and well worth the trip. I had a great time with my friends (dancing in a cave, no less) and got to enjoy the sunshine in the gardens of a royal palace. Yeah, I would say it was a pretty great weekend.