July 19: 1st day in Spain! Almost All of the Alhambra, and Fun at Fueringola

One place I was keen to revisit, 25 years later, was the Alhambra in Granada, a particularly memorable spot on our first honeymoon. It is part royal palace, part fortress, and full of complicated religious history that is captured within its architecture and artistic expressions. (Interesting to compare this to other palace/fortresses we have seen on this trip in London and Paris areas.)

For centuries, the Alhambra was under the rule of Muslim royalty (often referred to by westerners as ‘Moors’), and much of the structure reflects their artistic traditions and beliefs. But European monarchs in the 15th century, under the guise of Christianity (but probably were power hungry too), purged the Muslims from leadership here, and claimed the Alhambra with their own practices and traditions. The facility was never really used by the European monarchs much, and over time the Alhambra fell into disrepair, until it was re-discovered and restored as a place of historical value. It has been declared a UNESCO world heritage site.

It was an early departure after very short sleep. One reason was to get there before the worst heat of the day, another was because our tickets included entry to the Nasrid Palace (the core residence of the last Muslim dynasty here) at a specific time.

Google quoted just over 1.5 hours drive inland to Granada from our flat near the coast (town called Benalmàdena). Gorgeous new toll highway (but expensive! €5.40 each way), and nice to be driving compared to being on public transit. Rolling hills of olive groves; kind of look like apple orchards but way more expansive. Apparently this part of Spain (Andalusia) is one of the major olive growing areas on the planet. Kids slept in the back seat most of the way.

Despite our best effort, we arrived too late to the Alhambra to take in the Nasrid Palace; the gatekeeper there was quite strict to deny us entry, due to it being the highest demand part of the exhibit. This plus sleep deprivation led to some grumpiness in our group, casting a shadow on the first hour of our visit. But some time exploring archeological treasures dating back to the 10th century seemed to provide some perspective (unfortunately no photos allowed of the artifacts).

One thing that stood out was seeing the differences in most of the Islamic art, compared to the Christian inspired art (both here and back in France & UK). Christian art, particularly from before the Protestant Reformation, is largely consistent of depictions of key characters from the Bible, images often referred to as “icons”. Icons serve to remind the viewer of the holy (as in “set apart”) moments inhabited by these characters, and draw us into a posture of worship of the God who authored these moments in scripture.

Muslim artists, by contrast, seem to mostly avoid including anything involving the human form in their works, apparently to limit the risk of creating icons. This is rooted in the consistent theme in the Muslim scriptures to prohibit idolatry - the worship of anything or anyone other than the one true god. The result of this posture is that the Muslim artists were masters of exploring intricate patterns in their works, rather than depicting people.

The rest of our time at the Alhambra was spent exploring the other properties, including the Alcazaba (fortress) and the Generalife (royal rural palace retreat). The gardens in the latter space were our favourite, and most reminiscent for Beth and me of our time spent here 25 years ago.

Lunch in central Granada at an Italian restaurant (‘Il Gondoliere’) for pizza and big salads. I got our Wanderlog app to identify “best cheap eats in Granada”, and this was one of the places that came up that was open for lunch. Used Google Translate to communicate. Ordered too much food, but gave us leftovers. Kids were pretty excited about the bathroom fixtures there.

Drove back to Benalmàdena flat, arriving around 6 pm, much later than our initial plan to arrive by siesta time. Beth and I had a power nap for about 30 minutes. After that we joined Luke & Faith for a swim in the resort’s infinity pool. Followed up with an evening trip to nearby Fueringola beach; Thane elected to stay behind and chill back at the apartment. As the sun was setting, we enjoyed some brief throwing frisbee in the water, then B&R left L&F at the water to have a short beach and boardwalk stroll together. We picked up some stuff at a convenience store; goggles, playing cards, bananas, yogurt, fingernail clippers. Had a funny interaction with the store clerk, teaching us how to say 99 in Spanish (as in “these goggles cost $6.99): noventa y nueve.

Before bed, kids watched Disney/Pixar’s movie ‘Brave’, while Beth and I stressed over which options to choose from for rest of travel itinerary in Spain. Didn’t quite resolve this before going to sleep.