Granada to Seville

About an hour after my last post, Spain conquered Italy in soccer and the city of Granada erupted in yelling, honking, singing and even fireworks. This went on long after I fell asleep. It´s certainly exciting to be in a country whose team is in the semifinals. Tonight, Spain is playing Russia, and I´m excited to hear Seville´s reaction when they win (which is a given, of course). They´ll go to the final with Germany, who beat Turkey last night.

The time I spent in Granada was too short. I stayed from Sunday to Wednesday, and even now I am regretting leaving. I fell in love head over heels with that romantic city, and especially the castle, La Alhambra. I spent time doing the touristy stuff, like visiting the Royal Chapel, where Ferdinand and Isabel are entombed, and the enormous cathedral they built. Catholic art is invariably boring (saint after saint that I´ve never heard of) or depressing (so many images of a decidedly grey and long dead crucifixion scene) and gruesome (many sculptures - not just paintings - of John the Baptist´s beheading). The opulent splendor with which they decorated their altars and priests makes a very clear statement about their wealth and priorities. (Disclaimer: these statements are about the evidences of Catholic history, and not comments on the validity of the faith itself.) I was struck by the beauty of the cathedral´s tall, arching ceiling and how the white walls filled the space with light.

La Alhambra is spectacular! I would put it on everyone´s list of things to see in their lifetime. Its construction was begun in the 13th century by a Muslim dynasty, the Nasrids. Throughout the palaces, the decorations are a beautiful, yet faded example of Moorish art... all calligraphy and geometric and intricate designs painted on tiles and pressed into soft plaster with molds. The message that God is omnipotent and mysterious, more to be respected and wondered at than understood is all pervading, especially in the throne room. The room where the sultan met with his subjects is a perfect cube, dark and cool, with a ceiling covered in tiny gold stars carved into Lebanon cedar wood. I wish so much that I could see the rooms furnished the way they were originally. Then it would feel less like a museum exhibit and more like the home that it was.

The main theme of construction is water, symbolizing life, and so there are fountains everywhere, inside and out, with channels in the floor guiding water down slopes and around the edges of pools and porches. In the main courtyard of the royal living quarters there is a fountain of 12 lions, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, which was a time keeping device when it worked. At the top of each hour, a particular lion would spout water from its mouth. When Christians took over, they disassembled it to figure out how it worked, and could never put it back together.

The sheer size of La Alhambra is significant. It was a town of 2,000 people within its walls at its peak. I spent about 7 hours wandering and lounging in the gardens. The Generalife (hey-ney-raw-lee-fay) gardens are huge and luxuriant, where the original designers just went nuts with the water. There are long straight pools with jets of water arcing over, small round fountains at the intersection of every path, and my personal favorite: a long staircase with water rushing down the walls on both sides where a banister would be. They use shrubbery to define the edges of growing spaces and paths and create elaborate designs that are best seen from above. They have over a thousand roses, I´m sure, and they´re all trained to grow strong trunks and branch out only from the top once they´re at least 4 feet tall. They have a few ancient magnolia trees that were in bloom, and I think I even found a redwood. Enough... if you want to know more, you´ll just have to go look for yourself.

I spent the rest of my time wandering the streets, shopping with incredible restraint (thanks to the size and weight of my backpack encouraging me), and slowly gaining confidence in ordering food. It´s a fun kind of guessing game... I never know quite what I´ve ordered until it´s in front of me. I also lounged about the hostel, considering myself on summer vacation above all and reading enough to be teased by the other guests. (I´m already on book 4 since I left.)

Wednesday morning, I finally tore myself away from the view and hopped on a bus to Seville. It was a quick three hours and then a long, hot, sweaty walk to the hostel. Not such a great view at this one, but the interior is beautiful enough. Seville is much hotter than Granada. The temperature was 44 C and 77% humidity when I arrived. I dropped my bag and set out to explore Barrio Santa Cruz (barrio means neighborhood). Flamenco is especially popular here and the dresses are sold everywhere, along with fans. All the buildings are painted so bright and colorful. The color makes everything appear more inviting and charming. I´m not in love enough to be over Granada, but I´m enjoying Seville more than I expected.

Today, I visited the cathedral and the Royal Alcazar, a palace built by Christian rulers, but designed by the same Moors that created La Alhambra. Seville´s cathedral is the largest in Spain and the 3rd largest in Europe. It was built intentionally to declare Catholic victory over the Muslim faith and to dwarf all remaining mosques. Its style is decidedly gothic, with flying butresses and gargoyles all over the place. The interior was much darker and less beautiful than Granadas, but only more complicated and ornate. There is a Moorish tower connected to the church that rises above Seville with fantastic views. It was built with some old Roman stones at the base that you can see writing on.

The Royal Alcazar is a beautiful palace, like La Alhambra in decoration, but not in design. I appreciated that the wall carvings still had their original color, which gave me an idea of how the Alhambra would have looked in the past. The gardens are expansive and gorgeous, but more park-like and without fascinating fountains, just full of drab ones. Lots of hedges again, with cool designs from above. The Alcazar is the oldest palace still inhabited.. but I can´t figure out who actually lives there. They must all be hidden upstairs somewhere.


Alright, I´m about to go find some tapas for dinner and check on the soccer game. Tomorrow I take an early bus to Lagos, Portugal where I hope to do nothing more than lie on a beach for at least a day and a half. Then I´ll start making my way north through Lisbon and Porto to Santiago de Compostela. Too bad I forgot a Portuguese phrase book!