Granada

The rail system was still disrupted and we were substituted to a coach from Ronda to Granada. Not nearly as fast as their trains but we did get to see some of the countryside at a slow enough pace to photograph some of it. The country was rolling fertile valleys flanked by ragged mountain ranges. Every where we looked there seemed to be olive groves for miles and miles. Whether they were grown for the fruit or the oil I couldn't say.

The second stand-out of the countryside was wind farms. And not just a few either. The turbine towers stood slowly whirling their 3 bladed vanes in groups of 20 or more dotted about the ridge lines. It does make me wonder why we are so touchy about them back home in Australia.

We hit Granada not much later than anticipated actually, checked in, had a cuppa and went for a walk to see some sights. First off was the Cathedral (don't yawn) but to get there we had to pass by the Plaza de Isabella la Catolica with its statue and fountain dedicated to Queen Isabella formerly of Aragon. As you know she married well to Ferdinand of Castille and the combination made a  militarily unstoppable block right in the centre of the Iberian peninsular. They later went on to crush the Moors, eject the Jews and found the Inquisition, but that is a story for another time. The statue depicts Isabella's conference with Christopher Columbus before she sponsored his voyage to discover America (while actually looking for India, 2 oceans away.)

The Cathedral is massive as you would expect but is about doubled in size by Capella Real (or Royal Chapel) an addition made by Isabella and Ferdinand to their immortal grandeur and as a place for them to be buried, which they are.

We took in the Jardins de Botanica, a surprisingly small garden adjacent to the Biology faculty building at the University, and moved on to the Basilica of San Juan de Dios. On the way as so often happens with us we stumbled onto the Monasterio de San Jeronimo along the way.

Granada is a very old city originally founded by the Moslem Moors about 700 BC. So the Moorish influence can't be denied as we walked through the area known then and now as the Bazaar. Over time the city grew as more diverse philosophies evolved and a large Jewish component was added to the mix. Ultimately a division was made along the Douro river, the Moors on the left bank, the Jews on the right bank. And thus it remained until the Gypsies arrived around the same time as Christianity. They didn't fit anywhere and where consigned to living in the hills outside the walls. They burrowed into the hills like moles and thus were born the famous Sacromonte gypsy cave dwellings which are still in use today.

We thought we'd finish off the day with a view of the Alhambra, the famous Moorish fortress overlooking Granada. But you don't do that from the fortress itself. It is far to big to take it all in from inside. You instead travel to the neighbouring hilltop and to the Mirador San Nicholas and view the Alhambra from there.

Olive groves climbing out of the valleys and up the mountain slopes as far as they can.

Wind farms. Lots and lots of wind farms producing lots of lovely clean power.

So what's stopping us?

  

Statue of Isabella and Chris C. in the Plaza de Isabella la Catoloica.

A view down the tree lined Gran Via in Granada.

The Cathedral dominating its plaza and, frankly, anyone who walks into the Plaza.

  

Spices, still vital to good Moorish cuisine, and still available in the Moorish quarter.

The Jardins de Botanica.

A sample planting of name species for the University faculty. Quite a small garden really.

  

The Basilica de San Juan de Dios, John of God to most of us.

It was closed, so this is all you get.

A typical streetscape in the old town of Grenada.

Street name signs are sometimes on the pavement, so you have to be aware.

Some happy shoppers in the narrow twisting streets of the Bazaar.

This is the Grenada equivalent of a tourist hop-on hop-off bus.
Buses in the old town are all mini-bus sized, and just squeeze through the narrow streets.

The Alhambra (or some of it) viewed from the Mirador San Nicholas on the next hilltop.

Me getting a good close look at the Alhambra.

The Gypsy homes in Sacramonte.
There is a very informative Interpretation centre there to tell you all about its history and the evolution of Flamenco from this very spot
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Here are the facades, but immediately behind them is all hill. So where are the houses?
They are in caves tunnelled by hand directly into the rock of the hill over many generations.

This is just such a man made cave. In this case it is a bar and Flamenco performance theatre.
Other caves were for living, some for making textiles, still others for iron working.