The Bent Page

The Alhambra is one of those mythical sites that is a must-see. Here’s a photo of your author, taken from across the valley with the palace/fortress in the background.

Washington Irving is the American given credit for saving much of what we see today when visiting the Alhambra. Irving traveled to Seville by ship and then overland to Granada. He documented this trip and various other adventures in his Tales of the Alhambra. These stories are fantastic in the true sense of the word. More interesting is the vivid accounts of the Spanish character which I found very accurate during my visit. Some of the people I met might have stepped directly from Irving’s pages despite more than 170 years between the two encounters.

It should also be noted that when Irving visited the Alhambra it was a much abused site. French troops retreating from Spain nearly blew up large portions of it. Looters stole pieces from every possible place. Thanks to Irving, conservations efforts began and the site was ultimately preserved and refurbished for all of us to see.

When visiting the Alhambra it is best to have tickets in advance. The regular tours are not simple cattle calls. My group’s guide had grown up in Granada but spent his summers in Germany. He spoke Spanish, English, and German with brilliant fluency, switching between the three for different people in the group. He never missed a beat and his enthusiasm was irresistible. As he said, “I love my job. Everyday I come to work in a magnificent palace.” And magnificent the Alhambra is. I remember seeing glossy photos of it in my childhood but nothing could have prepared me for the atmosphere of the place. If you have the good fortune to go to Spain, don’t miss it.

While you’re in Granada, the tapas are worthy of their looming neighbor on the cliff. But we’ll get into that later. Buen provecho!