Friday, 28 March 2008
Today’s excursion was a perfect one. The entire cast was dressed, fed, out the door and on the road by 8:30am. The drive to Granada took less time than expected so we were poised to secure our tickets to enter the palaces (there are a few sections of La Alhambra that require specific tickets—some folks reserve them months in advance but a portion are saved for same day sale) and the weather could not have been more perfect! The views of the snowcapped Sierra Nevadas were gorgeous. We hit the ground running upon our arrival, waiting in line just a short time until Annie discerned the line was not necessary (Chris’ lemmings theory), and she proceeded to purchase our tickets via a machine, reserving a 6:30pm viewing time of the palaces for our fiesta de nueve. We paced ourselves accordingly, enjoying a lunch in the warm sunshine before exploring the gardens. The gardens (Generalife) were everything they were designed to be: peaceful and serene, beautiful and relaxing, filled with fountains and all the flora and fauna necessary to create the perfect sense of awe. The kids (and Chris) had a great laugh and entertained others with their antics on the Water Steps, a staircase with fountains on each of the three landings and water runs down the stairs (like mini aquaducts). They would create a dam at the top and then open it up to create a mad rush of water. In all my excitement of their escapades, I turned around and planted my right foot in the fountain and walked around with one sock off in a squishy shoe for the remainder of the day. By the time we finished roaming the Alacazar (fortress) we realized it was 6:20pm and we should get in line for the palaces. When we reached the ticket taker we were rejected—it was 6:32pm. We had misunderstood that our viewing time range was expressly between 6pm and 6:30pm. Despite making a case for the fact that we were in line in time, it was of no use and we had to abandon our plans to tour the palaces. (I think my sockless foot may have had something to do with our rejection.) Our despair was quickly lost on the stroll back to the car as the kids tickled us with a catchy jingle they created for PapPap’s (I’m still singing it). We were certainly disappointed about missing our tour of the palaces but, overall, it was a fantastic, beautiful, happy day out and we leave La Alhambra behind with peace of mind and soul (its beauty really does that to you), a few souvenirs, loads of photographs, and this wonderful dictation for our blog.
Today’s excursion was a perfect one. The entire cast was dressed, fed, out the door and on the road by 8:30am. The drive to Granada took less time than expected so we were poised to secure our tickets to enter the palaces (there are a few sections of La Alhambra that require specific tickets—some folks reserve them months in advance but a portion are saved for same day sale) and the weather could not have been more perfect! The views of the snowcapped Sierra Nevadas were gorgeous. We hit the ground running upon our arrival, waiting in line just a short time until Annie discerned the line was not necessary (Chris’ lemmings theory), and she proceeded to purchase our tickets via a machine, reserving a 6:30pm viewing time of the palaces for our fiesta de nueve. We paced ourselves accordingly, enjoying a lunch in the warm sunshine before exploring the gardens. The gardens (Generalife) were everything they were designed to be: peaceful and serene, beautiful and relaxing, filled with fountains and all the flora and fauna necessary to create the perfect sense of awe. The kids (and Chris) had a great laugh and entertained others with their antics on the Water Steps, a staircase with fountains on each of the three landings and water runs down the stairs (like mini aquaducts). They would create a dam at the top and then open it up to create a mad rush of water. In all my excitement of their escapades, I turned around and planted my right foot in the fountain and walked around with one sock off in a squishy shoe for the remainder of the day. By the time we finished roaming the Alacazar (fortress) we realized it was 6:20pm and we should get in line for the palaces. When we reached the ticket taker we were rejected—it was 6:32pm. We had misunderstood that our viewing time range was expressly between 6pm and 6:30pm. Despite making a case for the fact that we were in line in time, it was of no use and we had to abandon our plans to tour the palaces. (I think my sockless foot may have had something to do with our rejection.) Our despair was quickly lost on the stroll back to the car as the kids tickled us with a catchy jingle they created for PapPap’s (I’m still singing it). We were certainly disappointed about missing our tour of the palaces but, overall, it was a fantastic, beautiful, happy day out and we leave La Alhambra behind with peace of mind and soul (its beauty really does that to you), a few souvenirs, loads of photographs, and this wonderful dictation for our blog.
1 comment:
These kids have NO CLUE where they are nor do they seem to care.
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