Andalusia - Granada

Talking about Granada you would expect me to start with Alhambra, isn't it? Well, this time I will save my best for last, while I will keep you busy with some Flamenco dancers and beautiful views.

The city of Granada is located at the foot of Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers: Beiro, Darro and Genil. Above is a view of Alhambra from a hill in the city.

It was very cold there, the city is about 700 m above the sea level, and the temperature is much lower then it was on the coast. 

It was the last Moorish city to fall to the Christians, in 1492, in the hands of Isabel of Castille and her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon.

The name Granada is ancient and mysterious. It may mean "great castle", for the Roman fortress which once stood on the Albaicin Hill. When the Moors came here, the town was largely inhabited by Jews, for which they called it Garnat-al-Yahud, that means Granada of the Jews. The Jews are said to have been one of the first peoples to settle in Spain, even before the Romans.

The Cathedral is huge, and it tooks 181 years to be built.

I found out the Cathedral had been intended to become the royal mausoleum by Charles I of Spain of Spain, but Philip II of Spain moved the site for his father and subsequent kings to 

El Escorial, outside Madrid. 

Next week we'll go to Madrid for the first time and I hope I will have the time to visit it.

The narrow streets are very idylic, we wandered around for hours and hours, watching for details like that bicycle against the wall.

No, we didn't go at hammam, but it was so cold, I thought it would have been a good idea.

The food is great, ask for pimientos al padrone and some clara (beer with lemon). Anyway, in Spain the food is always delicious, even on a top of a mountain, in a forgotten village, we ate some great cooked mussels and some other delicatessen (snails for me, please!).

In the historic area the shops are filled with treasures, moorish style. I felt like Scheherezade in

  1001 Nights, with all the filtered light, moroccan lamps and silk decorations.

In the evening we went at El Gallo, a traditional restaurant with Flamenco dancers and, of couse, live music.

There were three generations of dancers, the eldest opened the show and the youngest (and most savage of all) closed it.

She may not be the most beautiful women in the world, but the dance transfigured her almost like love does. It looked like a different person, with all the passion she put in her movements.

This Spanish traditional dance is full of emotions, but when this girl finished her dance, my eyes were in tears. She put her soul into waving her body, so tragical and gorgeous in the same time.

They were so kind, they even took a picture with me at the end of the show!