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| The Alhambra's Court of the Lions |
Motril is a fairly new tourist port, and the big lure here
is Granada. If we were to try to access
Granada from other ports, the bus trip would be much, much longer! From Motril it is a short hour ride, right
through the spectacular snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains.
Our shore excursion, Granada
and the Alhambra, was the longest and most rugged excursion I had
booked. I was quite leery of doing it
because of its length and the ability level assigned to it (a level 3, the most
difficult of HAL excursions). However
Debby from Shore Excursions assured us that I would be able to do just about
everything using the wheelchair.
So it was with a combination of eager anticipation and fear
and trepidation that we headed out on this excursion. We were very grateful that Alice was also
along with us. She was wonderful about
helping out in so many ways – pushing the wheelchair, keeping track of where
the guide and group were, etc. It would
have been a much more difficult day for both of us had she not been with
us!
I guess I’d never really thought about the fact that there
were mountains so far south in Spain, but we absolutely loved the majesty of
the Sierra Nevadas. There are fourteen
peaks that rise above 3000 meters and are crowned with snow up until about
July. Oh, how they reminded me of my
favorite mountains – the French Alps that surround Grenoble! We enjoyed this scenery the entire way from
Motril to Granada.
Anyone who knows me (especially former students) are aware
that I have a “thing” for languages and word derivations – probably coming from
my many courses in Latin and French. So whenever
a guide starts talking about words, I tend to perk up and try to remember the
details. Our guide explained that Granada comes from a word meaning
pomegranate. Although we didn’t see any,
apparently there is an abundance of pomegranates in the
area. She was also telling us about all
the monasteries and convents in the area around Granada. I had never really thought of those to words
in Latin context, but she explained that convents are in cities and monasteries
are located well away from cities.
Convents come from the Latin con vivo, meaning to live with. So in convents the nuns live close together
and can interact with each other.
Monastery derives from mono, meaning one. So monastery signifies that the inhabitants
must live alone and have less interaction with each other. Very interesting perspective – and explanation!
Occupied originally by the Moors in the 8th
Century and taken over by the Catholics in 1492, Granada is now a vibrant city
bustling with activity. We had a little
free time right after we arrived. I
spent it sitting in a square watching the scenery while others took a walk.
Chuck and Alice returned shortly saying that they had misunderstood the guide
and that they were supposed to bring me along.
So off we went down the very narrow streets till we caught up with the
group in another square where we had free time to shop or have a snack. Then it was off to the Cathedral and Royal
Chapel. We first entered the Gothic-style
Royal Chapel where Ferdinand and Isabella are entombed. This chapel was built between 1506 and 1521
specifically for their burial. I wasn’t
able to take the wheelchair in, so I sat for awhile in the area where the tombs
were and then rejoined the group outside after their tour of the Chapel.
We continued around the corner to the Cathedral, a lovely Renaissance-style
building erected in the 16th Century, right on top of Granada’s
largest mosque! Inside we had the opportunity
to capture photos of the beautiful structure.
The bus picked us up for the short drive to the entrance of
the Alhambra, where we walked up to a nearby hotel for a buffet lunch. The walk was a challenge – it was quite an
uphill climb, and I didn’t want them to have to push me, so I did make the
walk. The hotel was bustling with
activity of guests being served lunch.
Once again I was reminded of my semester fo study in France. There was a group of French tourists there
who all cut into the buffet line. I had
forgotten how I had learned to push my way to the front of any line while I was
studying in Grenoble. (No, that’s not
all I learned, but it was a skill necessary for survival back then!) Although our group of two buses was the first
to arrive and the first seated, somehow the entire other half of the banquet
room managed to get seated, then through the line and fed before we got near
the food! Oh, well, we got our food and
were finished in plenty of time!
Since the tour included a mile walk to the Alhambra and it
was all downhill, Chuck, Alice, and I decided it would be wise to take a taxi
instead. It would not have been fun for
them to try to control a wheelchair for a mile-long steep downhill slope! So the guide arranged for the taxi to pick us
up at the hotel and take us to the Charles V gate of the Alhambra. We were relieved that it cost a total of 5
Euros, including tip, for the three of us.
We got there quite early so we had a chance to relax and wait for the
arrival of the rest of our group.
The Alhambra has very strict visiting regulations. In order to preserve the facility, they allow
only about 7200 visitors a day, and only a certain number of groups in per
hour. Because each group had to be 30 or
less, our two buses were split into three groups. We stuck with our own guide
because she was aware of what I could and couldn’t do.
The Alhambra was built during the Nasrid Dynasty of
Moors. It was created to show their idea
of Paradise on Earth, using mostly plaster, timber, and tiles. It became particularly popular after
Washington Irving stayed there for awhile and wrote the book Tales of the Alhambra.
I am beginning to appreciate more and more what it is like
to live a “handicapped” life, and am extremely grateful that this is only
temporary! Because of being in the
wheelchair, we found ourselves at the back of the line most of the time and
unable to hear the commentary easily. We
caught bits and snatches, but not really enough to get any continuity. We don’t fault the guide – she was wonderful
and very caring about my ability to get in and out of places, making
arrangements for me to see what I could.
But of course that meant Chuck missed most of the commentary as well as
Alice. Alice had been to the Alhambra
before, so she didn’t mind and was eager for me to see all that I could, but the
information we received is pretty sporadic under the circumstances.
There was a lovely reflecting pool just outside the Throne
Room, which had exquisite carvings on the walls and ceilings. The Patio de los Leones (Court of the Lions)
had a lovely fountain of lion sculptures.
From there we had to backtrack to be able to get out using the handicap
entrance so I’m not sure what else the group saw.
We took a long walk through an arbored path, and then many
went on to the palace gardens. Chuck decided to visit the gardens while Alice
and I waited where the group would exit the gardens. Soon Chuck was back. He had needed his ticket to the Alhambra to
get into the gardens, and he had handed the tickets to me so I could put them
in my purse. He returned about fifteen
minutes after everyone had left with a sheepish grin on his face and the report
that he had been unable to enter the gardens.
The ironic thing was that he had had the tickets in his pocket all day
long but handed them to me to be scanned as we left the grounds of the Alhambra
and suggested that I keep them in my purse!
Our trip back to Motril was very relaxing, and we continued
to enjoy the view of the Sierra Nevadas.
By the time we arrived back at the Prinsendam, I was absolutely worn
out, and I’m sure Chuck and Alice were too after having had to push me around
all day! I barely had the energy to
change for dinner, and I had to force myself to go for the evening’s
entertainment. Had I not enjoyed the
first performance by Forbidden Broadway,
a Tony-award-winning cast that parodies Broadway musicals, I probably would
have skipped their encore show. I’m glad
I went because it was even better than the first one!
This was by far the longest excursion I’d taken, and it was
the most rugged, so I’m happy to have it behind me, and I feel a sense of
accomplishment, made possible by the efforts of Chuck and Alice as well as our
tour guide, to allow me to see as much as I was able of Granada and the
Alhambra.
As we set sail from Motril, many guests are busy packing;
the first segment of the Grand Africa and Mediterranean Cruise ends in
Barcelona after a day at sea. We are
sorry to see some of the friends we have met leave us there, and sorry to hear
that there will be 180 more passengers on this next segment that are currently
on board. We’ve gotten very used to a
small ship with a small population.
BT
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