Granada and the Alhambra

Last week, we went to Granada to try and get new passports for Mateo and Ruy. We failed in our original objective but had a wonderful day.

Outside the police station

The beauty of the place was everywhere and I took a lot of photos. After our fruitless visit to the police station, we went up to the Alhambra and managed to walk all the way round the outside, down to the city, back up the other side, a quick venture inside the walls (we don't think we should have done that without paying the entry fee, but it was getting late, no one stopped us and it seemed like a good idea!) before making the 40 minute journey home again.

Glimpsed on the walk back to the car park

In the arab streets - lots of souvenir shops

Detail

Corner of the cathedral

Exploring around the Alhambra

 Ruy in mid-game involving medieval warriors - much battling and sword clashing

Castle walls

There was lots of water around - we felt chilly and the air was very damp

Keeps things cool in summer though

I love this tree

The new city emerges from between two old high walls high up in the Alhambra area

Looking back up to the Alhambra from the city

In between newer building you glimpse older doorways and facades

City level entrance back into the walk up to the Alhambra

The three strange round objects are pomegranates, which in Spanish are called granadas..possibly hence the name Granada. (The name could also be derived from the Moorish 'Karnattah' but I like the fruity option best.)

Feeling the stretch - it was a long climb up!

An entrance to inside the walls beckons..

And suddenly we found ourselves inside with other tourists - so that's where they all were!

Inside looking outwards

Strange, isn't it. I much preferred the outside walls, with no other people around, where we really felt the history than inside, where there were more people and officials on all the entrances with ticket checking machines and miserable faces and the gift shops and signs everywhere. We didn't stay inside long but continued the climb up the hill back towards the car.
And apart from not getting the passports (- the boys needed Spanish birth certificates, despite having brought their English ones and their English passports and the Libro de Familia that Cesar spent ages getting from the Spanish consulate in Manchester, where all the birth details are recorded....we were told we'd have to go to Madrid to get the birth certificates and it would take six months (!). However, a couple of phone calls when we got home and the consulate in Manchester says they will send us formal certificates in couple of weeks. We will learn from this that we will have to use both systems (English and Spanish) to make progress through some of the awful bureaucracy here.) Where was I? Ah yes, what a wonderful day we had anyway!