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| THE ALHAMBRA |
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| SUNNY MAYBE, BUT COLD |
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| THE PALACIO DE LOS LEONES |
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| WASHINGTON IRVING WROTE 'TALES OF THE ALHAMBRA' |
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| CALLE MARQUES DE LARIOS AT NIGHT |
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| PLAZA DE LA MERCED |
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| FROM THE CASTILLO DE GIBRALFARO |
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| THE CASTILLO DE GIBRALFARO |
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| MALAGA HARBOUR & THE OLD BULLRING |
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| THE CENTRE POMPIDOU |
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| IN MALAGA NATURE PARK |
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| PICASSO LOOKED WELL BRONZED IN THE SUN |
It was still dark as we walked briskly through the Malaga streets to catch the 7.00am bus to Granada.
From the moment I had booked the holiday, it had been my intention that we visit the famous Moorish palace/fortress complex of the Alhambra in Granada. However, I hadn't realised that they limit the daily number of visitors who can enter the Nasrid dynasty palaces, and tickets are generally sold out weeks in advance. After much internet searching I was lucky enough to find a company offering guided tours that still had some tickets and, though it cost us three times the price, did at least get us in. It turned out that I has bought the company's last two tickets for the day!!
Of course, we still needed to get to Granada and had purchased tickets for the ALSA Bus on the previous day. The journey was really smooth and comfortable, and by 8.45am we had arrived at Granada bus station, located in the suburbs of the city. Another bus took us to the city centre, and from there we walked uphill for a good 20 minutes to reach the main entrance of the Alhambra complex where we would meet our guide. We arrived in good time for the 11.00am start of the tour.
Our guide was Anna, who spoke excellent English. She took us first to Palacio del Generalife, the Summer Palace of the Nasrid sultans, which is outside the fortified walls. The Muslims occupied Spain for around 700 years, until driven out by Christian armies in the 'reconquesta'. Sadly, much of the Muslim architecture and decoration of the Palacio del Generalife has been modified or destroyed since the 'reconquesta'.
Next, we passed through the gate into the walled Medina or city area. We saw the foundations of houses destroyed by Napoleon Bonaparte, simply because he couldn't take the Alhambra back to France with him. The complex is vast, so it took is a short while to reach the Palacio de Carlos V. This building, constructed by a Catholic King of Spain, is rather out of place in an otherwise Moslem enclosure.
We proceeded to the Alcazaba or Fortress, a military area with a clear defensive function that was the first part of the Alhambra constructed. Finally, we entered the Nasrid palaces, in turn the Palacio del Mexuar (ordered to be built by Sultan Ismael I), the Palacio de Comares (due to Yusef I) and the Palacio de Los Leones (due to Muhammad V). In spite of the ravages of time, the quality of the Moslem artistry and workmanship that made these palaces such impressive places in their time is still clearly evident. We exited the palace area into El Partal, once the site of further palaces, but now terraced gardens.
Our tour had taken a full three hours. After a late picnic lunch, we walked back down to Granada city centre. There were lots of shops and interesting buildings to look at, so we slowly ambled our way all the way back the to Bus Station. We had bought an open ticket and assumed that we could return to Malaga on any bus we chose. However, we hadn't reckoned on our selected bus being full. After a minor panic, we got yourselves onto an alternative bus which took us swiftly back to Malaga. By the time we got back to the apartment it was nearly 9.00pm and dark, but we still managed to summon enough energy to prepare a supper of sausages and vegetables.
The following Saturday morning involved a rather slower start, but at least it was nice and warm outside by the time we exited our digs. It was supposed to be carnival season in Malaga, so we headed down to the Plaza de la Constitution to see what was going on. Not a lot as it happens! Since we were in the main shopping district we consoled ourselves with a little retail therapy. Once we were satiated, we decided to climb up to Castillo de Gibralfaro, the fortress that overlooks Malaga. It was a steep climb with the sun beating down on us, but well worth it. We walked the full distance around the fortress walls, stopping for our picnic lunch along the way. The views over the city, the sea to the south and the hills to the North, were spectacular.
Our walk back down took us past the old bullfighting ring and on towards the lighthouse. There were lots of shops in the harbour area and the noisy presence of a rock and roll band signalled that there was a carnival after all. The was also a huge multi-coloured plastic cube dominating the harbour wall which we later established was the 'Centre Pompidou Malaga', the first international branch of the famous Parisian art gallery.
On Sunday we decided to 'head for the hills'. Gleaning what information I could from free local maps, and with a bit of help from Google, I reckoned that we could find a walking route to the Mountains of Malaga Nature Park. We headed North East along streets and through residential areas until we came to a footpath that took us to the summit of Monte Victoria. From there, we located a path that took us down the other side, crossing over the A7 Autovia (motorway) and into the Nature Park. We passed a nice little bar-cafe along the way and each enjoyed a San Miguel light beer with a free tapas, whilst bathing in the warm sun.
We spent about an hour and a half aimlessly following rough footpaths around the park until we found a quiet spot for lunch. We headed back to Malaga on a rough compass bearing, using a stream bed to guide us, and eventually exited the Park by passing under the the viaduct that supported the A7.
We stopped for a second time at the same bar-cafe as before to enjoy another beer and tapas. Rubi asked if we could have some olives too, which the waitress duly brought to us, but refused to accept any additional payment for when we left.
We skirted around Monte Victoria on our return trek and were soon back at the Plaza de la Merced. We thought it was about time we took a photo of the seated bronze figure of Picasso in the Plaza. He birthplace, close by, is now a museum run by the 'Fundacion Picasso'. As luck would have it, entry was free between 4.00pm and 8.00pm on a Sunday.