DAY 6: LA ALHAMBRA.

I hope you all don’t get used to me blogging every day of my life here because I never seem to have time!! Each day is wake up and go, go, go until about midnight.

Yesterday I went to the Alhambra with the ISA group. It was spectacular. There really isn’t another way to describe it, so I’ll let the photos do the talking. I only hope I am lucky enough to visit it again when all of the flowers are in bloom and the trees have leaves. If you dont know that la alhambra is, google it!  Our tour was in Spanish and I would hate to mislead anyone.

BEWARE there are lots of photos!  Over a hundred in this post! Too pretty to make me choose... but I narrowed it down from the 400 some photos I took :)

Also, about halfway through, my good camera died and I had to switch to iPhone!  Sorry!

one of the houses typical in granada's history.  very expensive! everyone lives in apartments or condos now.

....and my obsession with hotel signs continues!

crops that fed the alhambra nation.

the maze of bushes and foliage began here... it felt like being in wonderland! 

our tour guide...and the awesome floor!

the alhambra has water running throughout it in these man made little streams.  they go to all of the fountains and steam baths.  the people even had a water recycling system where dirty water was used in the non-drinking or bathing fountains!

la alhambra is full of sound equipment--aka rooms and buildings with perfect acoustics.  in the colloceum, the speaker or singer or other would be at the very center at this grate.  our guide tapped on the grate and you could hear it loudly in the whole building!

what a perfect view...

lots of tunnels and secret doors like this all over la alhambra for the servants to always attend to the people but never be seen.  these tunnels are also the reason why the christians/catholics had such a hard time throwing the arabs out so many years ago.  our guide told us they have found tunnels large enough to have large trucks drive through!

in case you are in super awe of how they carved all the designs, its actually all from a mold!  still just as beautiful and amazing though!  i think it looks extremely beautiful with all the white and dark wood, but our guide told us it used to be completely colored in reds, yellows, blues, and other colors.  only some of the color has been preserved.

the tile work is just as amazing! the mathematics involved in planning out this stuff....wow!

all of the windows used to be filled with colored glass, reflecting color throughout la alhambra.

this is a ceiling... so intricate!

not sure what these are but they looked cool!

commemorating washington irving (i think the first us ambassador in spain) and his book about la alhambra.

see the small whole under that platform?  the platform part was where the workers slept.  they put hot coals in the hole--ancient heated blanket!

the barrios where the trajabadores or workers lived.

After, Sarah and I went home for lunch with Mati and her daughter, Gloria, Gloria’s husband and their daughter, Candela (I think—although I say Carmella in my video).  It was SUPER DELICIOUSO. 

Sarah and I went out to buy a few things.  The nice part about being in Spain at this time is that even though everything is in euros and more expensive for us with American dollars, Spain is in their “2a Rebajas,” or after Christmas sales until the end of February.  Clearance items are already cheap and only seem to get cheaper by the day.  The only problem is most people here are a similar size to me!!  I finally got a hair straightner (now I can choose when I want a bun), shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste.  Eventually I will get completely settled in!

While out shopping we stopped for a fountain drink.  While I am a coke addict, Sarah is a diet coke, or “coca-cola light,” addict.  However I don’t think I’ll be drinking much soda here because it didn’t taste anything like coke in the US.

We went home for dinner, which was pretty strange but still yummy, and then I got ready for bed.  I have my placement exam tomorrow and need to be well rested!

Heres my video summing up la alhambra and the day!