Granada and the Sierra Nevada’s

Our last trip in Spain was to go to Granada and see the Al Hambra. I had bought tickets online as they are trying to control the number of people that enter the historic site for preservation reasons. The first page of the website was in English (yeah) but once you choose your tickets the subsequent pages are in Spanish (no yeah) and I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. Turns out I didn’t buy the tickets that gave us full access but what we saw was beautiful and had we been able to see it all we would have been too pressed for time. This was another whirl wind trip that we seem to specialize in.


Now please forgive as I am doing this all from memory, and I am a bit behind so it has been a while. The Al Hambra is split into two main sections, General Life and the Fortress. First we toured the General Life area and it was no short of amazing. The gardens were gorgeous, a section both Yancy and my Mum would have thoroughly enjoyed. The first section you walk through is a maze of sorts of at least 10ft high, 3 ft wide hedges with arches cut in them so you can get from one square, fountain or overlook area to the next. These squares had highly ornate flooring with patterns made out of back and white pebbles. The craftsmanship was and still is amazing. There were sections that were being replaced and I imagine the techniques used today didn’t differ from those of long ago. The only change looked like better quality tools for digging into the sand base.

The gardens give way to beautifully carved open air buildings surrounding gorgeous fountains. The fountains have not been updated, no changes to keep them going. The gravity fed water supply goes from larger rock basins and is forced into smaller and smaller paths which naturally builds up pressure and creates a wonderful fountain. All this according to a tour guide we eavesdropped on.

Once in the fortress there is some beautifully preserved archaeological sites, the most impressive being the living quarters of the military men who lived there. A series of rooms, some connected by hallways and even the cooking area. Once on the wall of the fortress you can see over the city of Granada which is really quite large, and in the background the Sierra Nevada’s. Instead of mis-typing and giving bad info, all I have are pictures to show how gorgeous it is. So please enjoy…

Now you know if there is a ski area around, we are bound to visit. The artificial snow makers were working hard and I was surprised to see how many people were actually on the lifts and were skiing down. It looked like only one run was open but people seemed to be enjoying it. We had fun dining in a little après-ski house and watching the ski bums come in and out. After wandering around for a bit we found the ice skating rink and an alpine sled. Having not overly enjoyed my alpine sled experience in Breckinridge, I opted again to be photographer.

As usual all the pictures are up (or will soon be up) at www.picassa.web/jacquelineenyart
We miss everyone but are excited to start out adventures…keep in touch!