Life: Idiotropic

Moorish palace city turned Christian palace. Ancient art upon a hill overlooking a town older still and the mountains that surround it. Unfathomable details, simple, yet so ornate the human eye can't capture them with a glance. It takes minutes of careful observation to take it in. And even then... the camera can capture more, yet still doesn't do it justice. An amazing sense of tranquility even when surrounded by so much - the columns, the arches, the hand carved walls and ceilings. Absolute awe. This is the Alhambra.

Or the palaces at least. Because that's what most people envision when they year that name. They think of the famous photos of the star arched ceilings, the contrasting arched doorways, and the minutest details set into stone that you wonder at the artists who created them. What were they thinking when they were creating this? Did they ever see it finished? And, as Holly asked, "What did they have for lunch?"

Tickets sell out weeks in advance and thankfully, I knew that, so we ordered ours online then just had to present the credit card we used to quickly print them at the self service machines. The only time available today was the 0830 time slot - the first group of the morning. Paranoid we'd miss it and unsure of traffic, we were up by 0545, in the car by 0700 and parked by 0750. Smart. The streets were eerily empty, but the lines were already forming at the entrance gate.

The gates opened at 0815 and the mad dash began. The grounds are enormous encompassing the General Life exhibits, beautiful gardens, the fortress, church, palaces, and other buildings. It was quite a walk from the gate to the Palace entrance. Our tickets were stamped 0830. Each group had a different entry time. They control the numbers - which makes it nice. Photos without heads are hard enough to get, but too many would inhibit the ability to really see the palace. The first room was beautiful, but dark. And I've seen a lot of churches and castles here. Pretty ceilings have to be fairly amazing to impress me. So, eh, the first room was just that. Eh.

And then it begins to get interesting. As you proceed deeper into the castle, it becomes more beautiful. Intensely detailed carvings that enveloped entire walls, entire rooms from floor to ceiling, columns, arches and all. And the star ceiling - the perfect dome of mocarabes in the Hall of the Two Sisters. This is one of several places there that is almost without words - one of those sights so amazing that everyone stops talking, the room falls silent, eyes get big, and jaws fall open wordless. I so wanted to stand there and snap photo after photo. The big picture was so impressive that I kick myself now having gotten that, but no details here at all. And the photo can't even approach the complexity of the reality. I'd go back today just for this room. To go, sit, sketch, and photograph.

Beyond the striking detail of the many rooms of this palace is the peace and tranquility that courses through this it. Even with the tourists and the sheer amount of intricate details that should overload the senses, there is an overwhelming feeling of quiet. Serenity. To be able to lay on the floor and look up - even for 5 minutes alone. That would be such a gift.

The palace eventually ends, but there is far too much to see. The fortress with high walls you can walk upon and tower viewpoints give you a taste of the grandeur that attracted kings to this place, so tall there with the wind blowing in our faces to look out and see so much, the old Albacin neighborhood, greater Granada, and the snow capped mountains.

Sadly, work happens and you can't plan vacations around scaffolding or you'd never go anywhere. Happy they fix things, but wish they'd fix things at midnight or on someone else's vacation, we missed the Lion Fountain - one of the most famous spots here and one of the rooms just off of it that looked amazing even without the ugly green and aluminum racks.

We also had the misfortune to arrive at the door of the tallest tower exactly as a Spanish man was going in. He looked at us, told us he had some work to do, and closed the door. He came back out, looked up, and yelled back and forth with a man who was passing a cable down. "30 minutos." he estimates. We turn away and walk down the stairs, stop and discuss. Do we miss the tower and just go enjoy the gardens? Do we wait for the tower to open? This is Spain after all... 30 minutes could mean 3 hours and a lunch break. A few minutes later, the man shuts the door again behind him and leaves. A group of Japanese tourists start up the stairs, try the door, peak inside, look back, then enter. Several other couples and small groups watch them, look around to see if someone is around, then follow. Kirk says wait. Let's see if they get kicked out. A few minutes more and they are all at the top looking over. We go to the door. The worker comes back, goes inside, shuts the door, and locks it this time.














And we wait. And a line forms. And every few minutes someone at the end comes up to try the door themselves as if we are all too dumb to have done that. And another one will ask us how much longer and we answer 30 minutes, but that was 20 minutes ago so may be not long now. And I want to turn away because surely the view can't be that much better, but after waiting, we almost have to stay, so we do and eventually we get up and I take a million pictures or so and then we go. Worth it, I don't know, but if I go back, I won't stand in line again, that's for sure.

A casual walk back. Peaking inside a large square building with a circular courtyard inside that now houses a museum that we knew the kids just couldn't endure. A visit to the overly crowded gift shop with antique pottery priced up to 600 Euros a bowl. A visit with an American woman who is tired of the rain in Spain, and has spent her last three days in Granada sitting on a wall outside feeding the many stray cats of the Alhambra and cleaning the eyes and ears of the tiny kitten with only one good eye. Her son had the kitten tucked into his jacket while she threw bits of deli ham to the others. Sitting on old cannons, photos of the gardens, a break on a bench listening to the German tourists talking around us and watching as a giant tow truck (something that could probably tow a bus) came down the narrow pedestrian path and made a 135 degree turn down another pedestrian only path, slowly, surely, not a 3-point turn, but may be a 25-point one two men behind pushing back tourists who kept getting stupidly close. Hungry, but not willing to pay tourist prices for average sandwiches at the restaurant there. Final looks back, we don't want to leave... but it's time... and just as they scan our tickets as we enter, they scan our tickets as we leave as well. 1304. We had to leave by 2 anyway. No staying all day at the Alhambra.

So we get to the car and within minutes all four of the girls are asleep and instead of going back to our place Kirk presses on towards the coast and we land on the beach in Motril. Not a pretty town, but hey, it's the beach and it's sunny and amazingly warm, so we stop at an Italian place for a nice hot meal, then walk on the rocky beach as the sun sunk lower in the sky. We found bits of beach glass and water worn tile pieces. No shells, but treasures still. And Elise and Luci found an old dead fish - a big one - that they poked, prodded, and played with with long sticks.

A drive back impeded happily (for me) by two herders, five dogs of various sizes, and a large flock of goats. There's something very charming to me about a large herd of animals crossing a road - simple and beautiful - a job centuries old. I'd love to be a sheep herder for a day. These two probably think I'm crazy to take photos, but I did. Blurry ones- the goats were quick and we were driving. I yelled out the window. "They are beautiful! How many are there?" "Cuarenta," they say. It looks like more than 40, but still. Such a treat.

And then we do eventually get home. Just 30 minutes away. Happy to be home after a long day. Brady Bunch and hot cocoa, the sound of rain and the warm crackle of a wood fire.

WIKI ARTICLE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra

MORE PHOTOS: 
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=180326&id=674507268&l=bcb523939b