Tuesday April 29th 2008
Noon position: Granada - the Alhambra, Spain.
Getting the Tickets
Bob: Today we finally got in to see the Alhambra, but it was more by hook and by crook than by good planning. Since we failed to get in yesterday because Monika forgot the PIN for her credit card, this morning we attacked with a two-pronged ticket assault: I was in the "cash" line with enough Euros to purchase 2 tickets and Monika was in the "credit card" line with our Apple ATM card for which she knew the PIN and which we had already used successfully in Spain. Monika had gotten us up at the crack of dawn and hustled me through breakfast and out the door as only a good German who wants to be early can do. She not only pulled me out of the room but also was 20 steps ahead of me all the way uphill to the Alhambra, acting as some kind of pace setter or motivator for charging up the hill at top speed. We got there about 8:30, an entire hour earlier than the previous day, but the lines were already twice as long! Drat! I talked with a lady who mentioned that the Alhambra museum was closed on Monday, which might have explained why there were fewer people trying to get in. In any case, I inserted myself in the "cash" line and crossed my fingers and Monika went into the "credit" line and pressed her thumbs (the German equivalent of crossing fingers). Both lines moved glacially slowly and a voice over the loudspeaker kept droning "450 tickets left for this afternoon", "250 tickets left for this afternoon", and finally "125 tickets left for this afternoon". Well, I had counted more than 125 people in front of me and was just about ready to give up when I saw Monika had reached the ticket machines in the credit card line. But I saw her fail to get tickets with her credit card and then fail again with my Apple ATM card. I quickly turned to the British lady behind me (we had been discussing Bristish sitcoms) and asked if we could use her card to buy 4 tickets and then pay her back for our two. She agreed, handed me the card, and told me the PIN, so I wildly gesticulated for Monika to stay right there. Then I moved a barrier aside, jumped over to some ventilation slots in the side of the kiosk, and passed the credit card to Monika while yelling out the PIN number. She quickly inserted the card, punched in the PIN, grabbed the 4 tickets that the machine spit out, and ran for the exit where we gave our benefactors back the credit card and 26 Euro to cover our tickets. It was a win-win as they were in line with me and would certainly not have gotten tickets to get in today in that line. Since our tickets were some of the very last sold for the day and didn't allow us in until 2:00 p.m., we took the tourist bus back into town, had lunch, shopped for groceries at a Mercado, and returned to our room to back up our pictures onto the computer and clear out the cameras for our afternoon excursion to the Alhambra. To save ourselves yet another long trek up the hill we took the tourist bus back up and alighted about 3:00 p.m. |
Monika: We got up early, hustled through breakfast, and were on our way before 8. We got to the Alhambra around 8:30 more than an hour earlier than yesterday, but the lines were twice as long. We had decided, that Bob would go into the cash line and I went into the credit line, hoping, that either our ATM card would work or I would remember the PIN for my German card. When I finally got to the machine, there were only 125 tickets left, as the cheerful announcer told us. I tried our ATM card, but it did not work. So I tried the credit card with a PIN I thought should be correct. It did not work. Trying either card again did not make a difference. I was just ready to turn away, when I heard Bob. His line happened to have him right next to where I was trying to buy tickets. He had chatted up two ladies from England who were behind him in the cash line. When they figured, that I had no luck, Golda, one of the ladies, offered her credit card and PIN. Bob handed me the card through ventilation openings that separated him from the building I was in. Huzzah it worked! I purchased 4 tickets on Golda's credit card and was rewarded by seeing the magical words "tickets being printed". All four of us were overjoyed. We all had tickets for the afternoon. Our entrance to the Nasrid Palace was not until 6:30, but that gave us plenty of time to see the rest of the grounds. What a win-win situation. After having triumphed and with tickets in hand or rather in a secure pants pocket, we decided to take the bus back down since we definitely would be doing enough walking in the afternoon. We went to the Kebab place that we had gone to yesterday but unfortunately it was closed. We finally settled for a little cafeteria where we could point at the sandwich we wanted. It was a ham sandwich and very tasty. We then proceeded back to the hotel to download pictures, charge all batteries to be totally prepared for the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a complex of several different palaces and forts and it seemed several unrestored palaces. It was the last stronghold of the Moors, before Ferdinand and Isabella finally drove them out in the 15th century. You could see why they could remain here for so long. The Alhambra is situated on top of a rather steep hill. There are the Sierra Nevada to the south and east and a plain with mountains at the edge to the north and west. You can walk into the complex without tickets, but to get to the four main parts, the Alcazaba, the palace of Carlos the fifth, the Generalife, and last but definitely not least the palace of the Nasrid. |
Since we saw so much and took so many pictures of the Alhambra, we have divided our journal for the afternoon into three sections. Click on the "Alcazaba", "Generalife", and "Nasrid Palace" links on the line below to see our visit to each part the Alhambra:
| Alcazaba | Generalife | Nasrid Palace |
| Prolog | Map of Trip | Epilog |
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