Granada was another of the last Moorish bastions - it withstood Christian re-conquest for two centuries longer than any other location. When we drove into town we were not impressed with the basic urban sprawl that presented itself to us. The traffic was thick, the buildings were dismally erected 70's-style edifices, and the shops seemed terribly commercial. We were lost in snarled city grid for about 45 minutes until we finally stumbled upon the Alhambra and the Generalife Gardens. A light rain was falling, but that didn't seem to deter the large crowd lined up for entry.

We slogged through the line and finally entered the fortress-palace that means "The Red One" in Arabic. The Alhambra and the Generalife Gardens were supposed to be the most extravagant and artistically profound Moorish fortress-palace ever, a true paradise on Earth. When it was conquered, Ferdinand and Isabella held court at the Alhambra and eventually chose to be buried in Granada.

We had about an hour to kill before we could enter the Casas Reales so we wandered through the Generalife Gardens, which were considered a luxurious hideaway for members of the Nasrid Dynasty. We passed through the Jardines Bajos (lower gardens) and then the Patio del Generalife (interesting configuration of topiaries, fruit trees and a geometric pool).

Once inside we meandered through the Patio de Acequia (enclosed Asian garden surrounding a long rectangular pool), the Sala Regia (offers views of the Albaicín across the Río Darro), the Patio de los Cipreses (lover's lane), the Escalera del Agua (water runs down the stairwell, which is probably refreshing in the summertime), and the Jardines Altos. The entire site is very tranquil and apparently the dynasty members were fond of it because they could be a little closer to heaven. It still seems to have a religious draw because a gaggle of nuns were touring the gardens and chatting up a storm with a plain-clothed companion.

Eventually we wandered down to the Palace of Charles V, which was large and fairly unimpressive next to all the other good stuff. Then we tromped up the stairs of the Alcazaba, which is the oldest building on the property. Visitors used to enter the Alhambra from the gates below the Alcazaba, but not any longer. The view from up top is terrific, gave us a good sense of the layout of town, and offered up some good people-watching - a poodle in full tartan regalia, an obese woman in a Mickey Mouse poncho, and the nuns who had been tittering in the gardens earlier. They even approached Suzie (not sure what they said).

In the Alhambra proper, we toured the Patio del Mexuar (council chamber), the Patio de Machuca (more gardens and by this time we were starving so who really cares), the Salón de Embajadores (throne room with an awe-inspiring ceiling that represents the seven heavens of the Muslim cosmos), the Patio de Arrayanes (cool courtyard that probably reflects better when the sun is out), the Patio de los Leones (fountain with a circle of lions facing outward that reminded me of the gold cows that are in Mormon temples), the Sala de los Albencerrajes (intricate room with a geometrical ceiling pattern inspired by the Pythagorean theorem - and weird to think that a family was massacred here while eating dinner; one of my favorites), the Sala de los Dos Hermanas, the Sala de los Reyes (banquet hall with coffered ceilings; Ferdinand and Isabelle purportedly sealed the deal with Christopher Columbus here), Washington Irving's Apartments (access to his apartment was unavailable), the Jardín de Lindaraja (we'd seen so many gardens by now, who knew what was good anymore), and the Palacio del Partal (one of the older buildings in the Alhambra that was closed off for renovation, but the shallow pool looked cool with the arched portico).

Alhambra Interior Colonnade

An Alhambra Courtyard

There's a parador right on the grounds of the Alhambra (Parador de Granada, Calle Real de la Alhambra; book months in advance), which seemed pretty interesting because it used to be a convent, although it was so far removed from anything else that we would have been bored if we were staying there. Who wants to eat hotel food and talk to out-of-towners on a vacation? Plus, it was so touristy that we didn't want to hang around once we'd seen the important stuff.

Time for food. None of us had eaten all day and it was about 3:00 P.M. We scampered down the hill in the puke-filled rental car - the car was so obnoxious we even entertained ideas of returning it for a new one - and found our way to the historical Moorish neighborhood, the Albaicín. We parked and walked down the Carrera del Darro (road along the river with two cool bridges and lots of old buildings). The street was so narrow, we hunkered in alcoves when buses passed by to avoid losing limbs. We also saw the outside of El Bañuelo (closed bath house with star-shaped openings in the ceiling to let light in) and the Iglesia de Santa Ana.

We noticed a couple decent restaurants, but the old traveling adage, "If you don't walk a little further, you'll miss the best restaurant," got the better of us and we wandered around for an hour arguing about which place would be best. Finally we ended up in an ersatz London brewpub with crappy hamburgers, bratwurst, and hotdogs. The only good thing was that they brought multiple beers in a bucket and I actually had several Mexican Coronas while in Spain.

The pub was across the street from the Cathedral and we attempted to enter, but it was closed. A bunch of stalls were set up around the Cathedral and the whole place was a huge tourist trap. We ambled around some more and waited for the sun to go down so we could see the Alhambra at night.

After it was dark enough, we headed up the hill to the Mirador de San Nicolás where spectacular views of the Alhambra were taken in. The Spaniards really know how to light up their landmarks. I was surprised that this tiny little neighborhood park suddenly filled up with taxis dropping a bevy of people off and after a half and hour, taking them back down again.

We too clambered back in the car and attempted to find our way back to the Cathedral. Straight off we got lost and attempted to take the car down a flight of stairs - that didn't work. Two hours later and grumpy as hell, we threw the emergency lights on while Christopher jumped out to videotape the church - according to him it was nothing special and it was smaller than the guidebooks had indicated.

Again we got lost trying to get the hell out of Dodge and we were thankful to finally be in the countryside again where people weren't honking, lights weren't perpetually red, streets weren't always one-way (never in our favor), and cops weren't directing us away from the street we were trying to turn down.