El Alhambra

Up early this morning to get a good place in line to see the world-famous Alhambra. But despite leaving the apartment at quarter passed seven, we still managed to show up just in time to get the last place in the lineup. The Alhambra has stood for nearly 900 years and is the pride of the people of Granada. Everyday nearly 6,000 people visit the Alhambra - the red castle - which is basically on the backup roster of the Seven Wonders of the World. So, if Ankor Wat ever crumbles or if the Sphinx uses up all of its lives, then the Alhambra may be in the contest for the position. Except that when we got to the front of the line, they told us that they would only be letting in 50 more people... ever; I guess they're buildind a Wal Mart.

So what's the Alhambra like? It's a giant walled city on top of a hill. It's red-ish, and it has a lot of archeological excavation things happening in and around it. We did it cheap-skate style so we didn't have a guide or one of those fancy hedsets that provide you with interesting information, so for all intents and purposes, it was just a bunch of old buildings surrounded by even older walls. I was sure that there had to have been something that happened there over the course of the last millenium so we tried to eavesdrop on some of the guided tours but they didn't take kindly to that tactic, until we found a nice bunch of German tourists and their guide who didn't seem to care that we were following them (content that we weren't really getting the full value of the tour). I was able to decipher some history from the Germman guide's comments though: Konigen this und soldat that, und arbeiten dis und Muslim dat, etc.

Then you go into the Palacio Nazariea, which has amazing detail in the interior decor. Inside the palace chambers you can really see the confluence of Arabic and Spanish influences. If you ever go, however, you should pay for the tour because, well, I'm sure things have happened in there too. All in all, we spent 5 whole hours at the Alhambra and in the end I had to ask a group of American tourists when the place was constructed and how many people a day visit the place (two points of info I would have been at a serious loss without).

As far as castles go: one of the best. But, eighth Wonder of the World? Ich wisse nicht!