Today is all about exploring the Alhambra region, we have tickets to go into the Nasrite Palaces at 4pm and the rest of the area we can explore at our leisure so we decided we would head up there after breakfast and if we finish looking round the various areas too early we can always come back down to the town and go round something else to kill time, as it turned out the timings actually worked out quite well. After a slightly lazy breakfast we set off abut 10:00, google maps had suggested we walk down the back streets to get to the road that takes us to the Justice Gate so we did that it is really funny to see the streets almost deserted at 10:00 in the morning whereas late at night they are quite busy. The Justice gate was once the main entrance to the Alhambra, this is a traditional defensive gate it before we reached that we passed the Puerto de las Grandas or Pomegranate Gate so called because of the carvings of Pomegranates on the top we then walked up Alhambra wood which was planted in the 16th century as up until then no vegetation was allowed to grow as it might have weakened the defences. The Alhambra was built around 1333 – 1354 and the justice gate was the most monumental on the site, it had a zig-zag structure to thwart military invasion and consists of a horseshoe arch, an inner gate and what feels like an anti room but is actually just another part of the entrance. Once through the gate, you reach a long entranceway and to the right is a gate called the Wine Gate, this is where the civilians used to enter Alhambra, about 2000 people lived here at its height, and the gate got its name as there was a wine market held in the mid 16th century and tax wasn’t charged on the wine sold here! We decided that we would visit the Generalife first as this is the furthest point from the main entrance, although on route we stopped that the Palace of Carlos V which was built in 1526 and although it is square on the outside it is circular on the inside. It was left unfinished as it didn’t have a roof until in the 1960s one was added as concerts were held here, they still are but the centre of the courtyard is still roofless. The ground floor is actually the Alhambra museum which we didn’t go in but we went upstairs which gave a great view of the building. After this we stopped for water before walking up hill to the Generalife, this was once the summer palace of the Nasrite rulers, the buildings surround wonderful gardens and have magnificent views over the surrounding countryside. It is also a classic example of how irrigation can make an area vibrant, the vegetable gardens were converted into ornamental gardens in the 1930s which give the whole place a very peaceful feel. We walked through the various rooms and up to the ‘Romantic Lookout’ which is a great lookout but difficult to be romantic with so many tourists going through it. This was the final stop on our visit to the Generalife so we started walking back down the hill and had planned to stop for lunch but apart from the cafeteria we didn’t see any restaurants so we ended up going to the snack bar and topping up on water and crisps, we found a nice spot inside the gate in the shade to sit and rejuvenate which was nice as the nice part of the walk was around the Alcazaba which is the oldest part of the complex. There are ruins of old houses, dungeons, a cistern and baths but the main attraction in this area are the towers which provide magnificent views over the whole area. You can see all across town and to the mountains, I would imagine without the pollution and smog you can see for miles. We climbed each of the towers, the tallest of which is the Torre de la Campanella, which the Catholic Monarchs installed a bell in, this was rung to identify irrigation times on the surrounding plains. By this time it was gone 2 pm and all the tourist information suggests that you join the queue to the Nasrite Palace half an hour before your entrance time so we sat in the shade having still more water and at about 3.30 we joined the queue which worked really well as we were one of the first into the palace at the 4pm slot. It is slightly strange that you have a managed entrance time as they just let you wonder for as long as you want inside, all the same it is well worth a visit. The palace consists of two main buildings both of which lead out onto courtyards that are very different, the first has a massive pond that runs the full length of the courtyard but very little shade and is made out of white plaster so in the afternoon sun was dazzling, the second is the courtyard of the lions which has a smallish fountain surrounded by lions, and loads of columns, this was my favourite as it had a number of rooms that collected the breeze and you could imagine yourself sitting reading a book escaping the hot afternoon sun. Each of the rooms had very intricate carvings which at one time would have been painted blue, green or red, it must have been spectacular, as part of the restoration, they have decided not to try to reproduce the colours which helps you identify which parts have been restored and which are still semi-original as a lot of restoration took place in the mid 1800s. We spent about an hour and a half in here and ended up in the gardens which although hot were lovely as they had a water course running through them to feed the fountains and also keep the plants alive. It was almost 6pm by the time we finished walking round so after stopping for a quick drink on the way back to the hotel we went an had a shower, a quick relax and then set off in search of something to eat.
