The first part of the ride is filled with low mountains and a river gorge with small river meandering among the hills. The hills open to a rolling valley with farm houses and well maintained orchards. Then we begin to see miles and miles of olive trees as far as the eye can see from one side of the bus to the other. On top of the mountains beyond, there are rows and rows of the wind generators everywhere! Later on we see rows and rows of solar panels. It is clear that Spain is thinking green.
Beyond, we see the Sierra Nevada mountains still capped with a small amount of snow.
We stop at the Los Abades rest stop for a potty break and more stuff to buy. I bought a sample of olive oil, and a a beautiful fan. On the way out, there is a statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Bill joins them for the picture!
We arrive at the Granada gardens and we are warned about the Gypsies. Before we leave the bus, Ed tells us not to let the Gypsies near us. He said, "They will want to give you a rosemary sprig," and he said to say,"NO!" No matter what they try to do. Brian was put to the test at the end of our visit when out of nowhere a little gypsy woman dressed in black flashed a rosemary sprig at Brian and he instinctively took it. She grabbed his hand in an iron grip. Stunned, Brian tried to take his hand back, but she clenched it in a solid grip. Brian yanked as hard as he could and broke the grip still holding the rosemary sprig. He threw it down to the floor and stomped on it yelling, "NO!" The gypsy ran as fast as her little feet could carry her.
We met our guide, America (yes! that was her name), who took us through the beautiful gardens that were filled with roses and all sorts of flowers. She showed us how the water flowed from the mountains into aqueducts that went down through the gardens and into the Alhambra Palace. The Arabs came from arid lands in north Africa, and when they found the rivers flowing down into Granada from the mountains they knew that this was a paradise. Water was very abundant here and they included water in their architecture in fountains and reflecting pools. In fact their use of space light and water was very important in every building.
The Alhambra palace and fortress was built Nasrine Dynasty by three rulers. First by Ishmael 1, Yasuf, and Muhammad V. It is located in the southern province of Granada called Elvira. It covers 1,500,00 sq.feet and includes the living quarters and reception rooms for the sultan, a section for his wives, and another section for his concubines. On the other side were living quarters for the servants, and gardeners. The palace guards, who were Eunuchs, lived near the private sultan quarters.
The palace walls were full on beautiful arabesque and calligraphy designs impressed into the plaster. Lots of tile and wood was also used throughout the designs in the ceilings as well. One curious design of the buildings were the many little steps at every doorway. Although the architecture made use of lots of natural light, it was hard to see the raised slags of tile that probably prevented water from entering into the rooms. Our group warned each other of these obstacles by routinely calling out,"up stair, down stair, over stair ..."
Even with this help it was easy to trip while looking up to see the lively designs on the walls.
In the late thirteen century the Christians defeated the Moors and took over the Alhambra. It was in the imperial reception room that Queen Isabela and King Ferdinand gave permission to Christopher Columbus to sail to find India and China. In the early nineteenth century Napoleon made the Alhambra his head quarters and unfortunately his troupes caused the demolition of a great portion if the living quarters.
Currently, Spain is renovating many parts of the Alhambra because it bring great tourist revenue. Parts are made into performing auditoriums for annual dance festivals and music concerts. This area used to be the garden where they grew all their food. I found some very interesting things about the gift of agriculture the Arabs left behind. According to Joice Goldstein from her book, Mediterranean Cooking, the Arabs arrived in Spain shortly after 711 A.D. They continued arriving in waves of conquests that carried them from the far border of Arabia to the shores of the Atlantic. They were joined by the Berbers and Spanish converts to Islam, constructed a delicate, refined and tolerant civilization that was for a long time the most advanced in Europe. The whole of Iberian peninsula with the exception of Galicia was brought under Arab-Muslim rule, and such was the appeal of the Islamic culture that grew up there that even Christians enjoyed living there among the Jews and the Muslims.
The Arabs were gifted in agriculture as well as building their fantastic architectural monuments. They introduced to Spain superior techniques of irrigation that transformed much of the landscape:
Subterranean irrigation canals, aqueducts, waterwheels using buckets to scoop up the water. The Windmills were Arab inventions too with an origin in Khorasan in eastern Persia. Equally important was the great range of new foods stuffs that they brought with them. The list are foods we wouldn't like to do without: eggplants, artichokes, asparagus, spinach, quinces, pomegranates, figs, apricots, dates, almonds, pistachio nuts, sugar and rice. They also brought spices and seasonings such as nutmeg, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, cloves, saffron, and vanilla. They took great care to cultivate various citrus fruits with particular emphasis on the orange. The fame of Valencia oranges goes back to the vast market gardens established there. The Arabs were excellent horticulturists, planting for knowledge as well as profit. Botanical gardens in Seville in 1085 were the first of their kind in Europe!
Besides farming, the Arabs also introduced poultry farming and introduced effective methods of tuna fishing especially in Sicily that is known today by the Arabic name almadraba. The dishes that resulted from the growing of vegetables and new meats was the combination of dishes with both vegetables and meat in the same dish. Although this was common in the Byzantine culture, this was unprecedented in Spanish or European cuisine. The variety of Spices were also used in more thoughtful manner, The use of rice was used in the coastal areas and it was used to combine with fish. This may have brought the paella into being, known now as the national food of Spain! The dish was apparent in Rome using pork and rabbit. The combination with, fish however, was more appealing to the Arabs who would not eat pork. The Arab style of eating right from the pan sitting in a circle still the manner paella is eaten today.
The Arabs introduced starting a meal with a salad because they had an abundance of vegetables. The also used lots of fruits in their salads as well. Another introduction to Spain was the pleasures of pastry and sweets prepared with a liberal use of syrup and honey. They also introduced crystallized ginger and candied fruits that were previously unknown in Europe. Marzipan was also an Arab invention and made possible by the abundant availability of almonds. Even a spicy drink like aloja which is a mixture of honey, water, and a whole range of fruity concoctions are owed to the Arabs.
In 1492 the last bastion of Arab power in Andalusia fell to the forces of the Reconquista and much was lost in banishing the Muslims population . A final expulsion of Moriscos, converted Muslims,
were ousted in 1606. Many Mosiscos went to the new world with the conquistadors and brought their food to the newly acquired Spanish lands like Mexico and California. Likewise, many foods were gathered from the new world and brought back to Spain such as the potato and tomato and chocolate. Spain became the envy of all Europe for the introduction of these foods. Also California with its wonderful soil became a prime growing area for agriculture. Artichokes grown in Watsonville are huge and San Fernando Valley is a cornucopia for vegetables and Santa Clara Valley way known for fruit and nuts. So the Arab traditions of horticulture were not lost after all!
By the time we were done with the walking tour, many of us were exhausted. The ministry if tourism knew this would be so and allows several restaurants at the end of the tour need the huge bus stop. Several of us didn't mind climbing a few more steps to get to the food and the beer.
On the way home, there were many slumbering bodies on the bus.
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