Snow falling on orange trees

Snow on the orange trees in the square

Imagine our surprise to wake up, look out the window and see snow falling this morning! We heard it was the first snow in five years. It was also Andalucia Day, which meant a holiday for school children.


We caught a train to Ronda, a small hill town to the west, perched on the side of a gorge. Walking around, we saw a high school band, and men carrying a heavy looking platform. This we thought was a protest of some sort, but when we asked, it turned out to be a practice session for Semana Santa (Easter), when they'll carry a heavy statue.

Bridge between the old and new parts of Ronda

Men in training for the Easter procession

The Royal Chapel in Granada

This morning we walked through the Royal Chapel, beside the Cathedral. This 16th Century Gothic chapel has the marble tombs of Queen Isobel (Isobel la Catolica) and King Ferdinand. The enormous and intrically carved tombs were made in Italy and shipped here. Narrow steep stairs take you down to the crypt where the actual caskets and remains are. This is also where their son and daughter-in-law rest: Philip the Fair and Juana the Mad! Who said history is dull?
Further along in the Sacristy/Museum is a glass case with Isobel's silver crown, decorated with silver pomegranates, the symbol of Granada. We saw various textiles, and a small collection of religious paintings on wooden panels, one done by Botticelli.

Brad buys fruit

Town Hall in Granada

Don Quixote dining al fresco

After that we did a lot of walking: we found the Town Hall, and admired the courtyard and tiles inside, we walked to the Jewish Quarter and happened upon a small guitar shop; through the window you could watch the luthier at work. We couldn't resist going inside; the owner himself came out to explain that he had a one year wait list for hand made guitars.

Tapas bar near the cathedral

Isobel & Columbus statue by day

 

Columbus and Queen Isobel statue by night; the fountain only appears after dark.

Alhambra in Granada

Ideal photo by Aidarile CC

Today we took the local bus up the winding narrow streets to the Alhambra, originally a walled city and Moorish palace. We started in the gardens, where workers were busy pruning; it must take a small army of gardeners to maintain all of the flower beds, hedges, and roses and other bushes.
As the gardens are at the top of the site, the views are incredible: the palace below, the snowy mountains in the distance, the city below, and the Albayzin (the Moorish quarter with all white dwellings) across the gorge on the next hill.

Courtyard of the Myrtles

We just had time to get through the very interesting museum, with interesting pottery, textiles and metalwork, when it was our time to go into the Palace. Again we had an audio guide, which was invaluable in explaining the rooms functions, the Arabic script, the tilework and so on. Theses are two photos of the Courtyard of the Myrtles; the first is what you hope for, a fabulous shot, but we were rather disappointed when we got there, to see scaffolding in place!

The viewpoint is beside the tower 

After the palace we found the Parador de Granada San Francisco and had lunch; a parador is a government run hotel in an historic building. Imagine staying right in the Alhambra!

The Alhambra from the viewpoint
 

Following a twisting path, we walked down the hill to the river, and back up winding cobbled streets in the Moorish quarter to the Mirador San Nicolas - the viewpoint where you can watch the sun setting on the Alhambra. It was quite a scene with craft vendors, four guitarists, a wandering photographer with a polaroid camera, and of course tourists like us.


Down by the river
 



Gato in the garden

Train from Madrid to Granada

Atoche train station, Madrid, by alanak CC
 

Today we got a taxi to the train station, went through security, found out which platform we needed to be near, and just had time to get some coffee and food to go before it was time to board. We'd been able to buy and print our tickets before we left home, so it was only a matter of having the attendant scan our printout and minutes later we were in our seats.
It was a comforable 4 1/2 hour ride to Granada. We passed fields of sheep, and row upon row of olive trees. After Cordoba the landscape became hilly, and as we approached Granada we could see the snow covered Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance.