Granada

I spent this past weekend exploring the streets and monuments of Granada with a group from my school. My roomate Christy has a friend, Tiffany, from her home university who is studying abroad in Grandada right now, so we were able to meet up with her. She came to visit Sevilla a few weeks ago, and we were able to show her around our city, and this weekend she was able to return the favor. Tiffany has actually been in Granada for a semester already, so she was able to show us the city in a different kind of way, taking us on a fantastic walking tour through the Albaicín (the old Arab neighborhood) and afterwards to her favorite tapas place. It was wonderful to see the city from the perspective of another student who had been living there and had discovered so many things about the city already-- like favorite places to walk to or favorite places to eat. Granada has a tradition that with the purchase of a drink (una copa) comes a free tapa; there may be copas without tapas, but never tapas without copas. One of the reasons I loved Granada is that it is one of those quirky cities with character, not just urban concrete and twisted freeways; maybe what I want to express is the difference I feel when walking the streets of a city like San Francisco compared to how I feel when driving through the skyscrapers of a city like Los Angeles. I think that is why I love San Diego (and now Sevilla) so much.

Well, now back to Granada: Granada is a city in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Andalucia where one can still see the influence that the Arabs had while they were in power during that period of Spanish history. (Sierra Nevada sound familiar? Well, sierra means mountain range and nevada means snowy, so now you know). The old Arab neighborhood, called the Albaicín (all-by-seen), is still a huge part of the city of Granada. (Most of my photos are of the Albaicín and the view from the top of a hill somewhere in the depths of the neighborhood).

Granada was the last city that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (whom we call los Reyes Católicos or the Catholic Monarchs) recovered from the control of the Arabs during the Reconquest of Spain. They kept the Alhambra (the moorish citadel and palace) as a symbol of the power of their reign; the Arabs had, after all, been there for centuries and now Granada, their last bastion of power, had been conquered by the Catholic Monarchs. I do not know how I feel about the religious-political propoganda of the Catholic Monarchs, but I am glad that they did not destroy the Alhambra because it is magnificent. I think I might like the Alcázar of Sevilla better, but the Alhambra and its gardens were beautiful.

Anyway, because Granada was such an important city to the Catholic Monarchs, they asked to be buried there, and for that purpose they commisioned la Capilla Real (the Royal Chapel). It was amazing to see with my own eyes what I have been learning about in my classes. I am taking History/Civilization of Spain (1500 to present) as well as Art History of Spain (1500 to present) and it has been so fun for me as everyhting comes together. Basically, I get to study the history of Spain as well as the art that came out of Spain during that history all at the same time. This means that when we visited la Capilla Real, I understood it's history and why it was in Granada, what period and artistic styles it is a product of, why the building itself is in mainly a gothic style but the monuments are in the style of the Renaissance, and so much more. I was able to enjoy the visit on a deeper level than I would have if I had simply visited it with a tour guide who mentioned a few of the facts as we passed through. Next to the Alhambra is the palace of Carlos V, which we also studied in my Art History class. I cannot communicate how the pictures on the slide show do not do it justice and how lucky I feel to be able to see these great works in person while I am studying them.

One last thing: The pomegranate (in Spanish granada) is the symbol of Granada (claro). It appears on the flag, public transportation, sidewalks, and all kinds of city property-- very much like the motto and symbol of Sevilla, NO8DO, which I will explain another time.

(This is me leaving you in suspense, waiting to read my next blog... I don't know if it is working...)