Alhambra!

If you haven't gotten a postcard from me yet (and are expecting one), one major obstacle in my sending it to you has disappeared. The Alhambra Palace is Granada's most notable landmark, and therefore is featured in about 80% of postcards sold in the city. I felt severely guilty sending postcards which featured something I hadn't visited yet, but all of that changed today because I WENT TO THE ALHAMBRA AND IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Palacio Carlos V, not part of the original structure

So, there's a pretty nifty backstory here that I'd like to share. I am not taking the Islamic Art class here at IES because it didn't really fit into my schedule. It's one of the more popular classes here because it's taught in both English and Spanish, and it features trips to many of the gorgeous Islamic remnants around the city. Among these "visitas" are 3 trips to the Alhambra. Now, to get into the Alhambra is actually kind of expensive, and getting tickets is a very complicated process (which I'm still not sure about), so IES buys some spare tickets for kids who aren't in the art class so that we can go along on the visits. On Monday, later in the day, I happened to notice that the list for the spare tickets had already been posted, and filled up (with no prior announcement). I was then informed by my housemate that this visit was going to be extra special because we were going to be allowed in the restricted sections of the complex. I was very upset/distressed by this news, but I didn't think there was anything I could do. The next morning, I went back to IES for class and was sadly glancing at the board when I noticed A FREE SPOT for today's tour! Immediately, I signed up, and I am SO glad that I did. Today's trip focused mostly on the Alcazaba, which is the super-strong fortress that protects the rest of the complex. It's comprised of many towers, which are linked together by a wall and a Camino de Ronda (an unobstructed path which runs all the way around the second wall that surreounds the complex). A side note: though the Moors did give up Granada to Los Reyes Católicos (that's Ferdinand and Isabella), the Christians NEVER conquered the Alhambra. No one ever has. Because it's very impressively built. Anyways, there are lots of architectural details which I probably would mess up because the tour was in Spanish (and a lot is lost in translation) and also because I didn't take notes. I took some photos until my camera died, and from then on, Keely has kindly lent me her pictures to complete the visit. But here are some basics:

• The highest tower is called the Torre de Homenaje (Tower of Homage). It features a small palace where the Sultan lived while he was constructing the rest of the palace
• There are three walls which surround the complex, which is built on top of a mountain. It's basically impossible to attack successfully, and if you want to starve out the inhabitants, good luck. There are fields and huge water reservoirs within the Alhambra that will sustain the city for (according to the guide) hundreds of years.
  
• The previously mentioned Camino de Ronda runs between the first and second walls. If an army successfully scaled the first wall, they would be stuck because the second wall curves and they would be fired upon from all directions
• It's very well laid out: there's even a stable for people to check in their horses (this was one of the restricted areas: literally no one ever goes there...except us). There are also passageways within towers so that if you're guarding the first wall, and it falls, you can easily move to the second wall (this never happened).
  
• There are palaces in several of the towers. This was weird because on the outside, the towers look like completely defensive structures. But they were gorgeous! A lot of these were restricted as well, because some of them feature THE ORIGINAL ART FROM THE 1300s. Some parts have been restored, and some defaced by previous generations of tourists but it was unreal to see them.
  

So I've already hinted a little as to what the restricted tour meant. Basically, we got followed around by a docent who unlocked areas that regular tourists cannot get into. This included a couple of the towers (where we always got to go to the very top), one of those passageways which connected the outer wall to the tower, the "exit road" from the Alhambra, and the Camino de Ronda. I cannot stress enough how amazing this was, so I'll just put up pictures now.

Those look like bricks, yes? Actually, they're paintings of bricks. See, the sultan who built the Alhambra was poor and couldn't afford bricks of uniform size. To save face, he painted the irregular bricks white, then painted a brick design on top. This is original paint!!!

ORIGINAL PAINT FTW

One of the prettiest roses I've ever seen

Not the best picture, but taken from the second floor of the Torre de las Infantas (Tower of the Princesses). There's a cute story here. So, there was a Sultan who married a Christian princess (she was a captive who was kept in a different tower before finally deciding to marry the Sultan). They had 3 daughters, and the Sultan was afraid that his girls would fall in love with random, unworthy men. So, when they reached their preteen years, he locked them in this tower. It's gorgeous, so they didn't suffer too much, I don't think. Anyways, they ended up falling in love with 3 Christian princes who happened to be prisoners (and slaves) at the Alhambra. They decided to run off with said princes, but at the last minute, the youngest decided to stay behind and not leave their father (she was his favorite daughter, I think).
Anyways, this was one of the restricted areas, so the docent unlocked the door to let us in, then locked us in so that other tourists didn't follow us. When it was time to get out, however, she could not unlock the door again. So we were all standing in this dark hallway for about 15 minutes. I really wanted to send a text that was like "Hi I'm trapped in an Alhambra tower, no joke" but the only US phone numbers in my phone are my parent's, and I don't think they would have been amused.