Taking a Slow Boat to Rome (Part 2): An Excursion to La Alhambra

We had arrived in Málaga, Spain on the MS Koningsdam on April 17, 2019 (See Part 1).  It was La Semana Santa, Holy Week, in Spain. This was the busy Passion Week associated with Easter with floats and religious processions, dancing and joy. Unfortunately, the processions would not start until evening after we had set sail. 

This city on the beautiful Costa Del Sol is very popular with European and American tourists and has many English-speaking ex-pats living full time there.  The town was a modern looking, sunny European town but with narrow streets and diverse architecture and ruins that illustrated it's establishment in 770 BC by the Phoenicians, the rule of Ancient Carthage in the 6th century BC, the occupation by the Romans and Visogoths, then under Islamic rule for 800 years until the 15th century Reconquista of the Christians.  

I had booked an excursion to Granada to see La Alhambra and the Generalife gardens but I was on a waiting list for the popular tour.  I was notified soon after we started the cruise that I was confirmed for the trip. My husband uses a walker to assist him, but I was told it would not be permitted on the excursion as we would be in a touring group of 30 and it would be too strenuous for him.  So, Ron stayed on the ship while I went on a 12 hour excursion alone. 

I bought a donut and coffee
 at our rest stop to Granada

 It was two hours by bus to Granada and the UNESCO World Heritage site. This was the most popular tourist site in Spain.  Our bus climbed the winding road up through the mountains that were covered with olive trees.  We stopped half-way at a gas station and convenience store for restrooms and a snack.  

We arrived about 11AM to Granada and made our way above the city to La Alhambra.

The city of Granada

We received our coveted tickets, and queued up with all the many tourists for our entry appointment time of 12 noon.

The Judas Trees were thick with purple blooms on this spring day.

 We began our tour of this Moorish palace and it's gardens built in the 13th and 14th century:

 "The property of the Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada, stands on two adjacent hills, separated by the river Darro. Rising above the modern lower town, the Alhambra and the Albayzín form the medieval part of the City of Granada, which preserves remains of the ancient Arabic quarter." - https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/314

Flowers everywhere

Gorgeous garden

Iris

Iris

This place was absolutely breath-taking in its beauty and architecture, an amalgam of cultures with a long history of occupation by different peoples. After a lunch, we boarded our bus and headed back to our ship, boarding about 30 minutes before we embarked for Cartagena, another Mediterranean city of ancient occupation and the site of the battle for New Carthage (Cathargo Novo) during the 2nd Punic War. 

 By Goran tek-en, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37311518

I will cover our visit to Cartagena, Spain in my next post, Part 3.