Granada and the Alhambra. Excursions

To be honest, I’m not used to trusting loud advertising slogans, but I have to agree with one: “Granada is a city that fascinates.” And by charm, I do not mean the hypnotic look of a gypsy woman offering you a sprig of rosemary and asking for a reward in return for this seemingly selfless gesture.

No, although this is enough here, but it is in the center by the cathedral and the Gran Via. Gran Via de Colon, i.e. “The Great Way of Columbus” – this is the name of a wide avenue along which cars, taxis, buses rush. On the same avenue, in Victorian-style buildings, there are all kinds of branches of banks, savings banks, insurance companies. And surprisingly, just a few steps away from this vanity parade, there is a parallel world that has nothing to do with it.

Having visited once on the narrow streets of the old Albaisin, inhaling its spicy aroma, you involuntarily fall under the influence of magical charms that fill these places. They are attracted to another world, far from the daily bustle. Whitewashed walls of houses, narrow streets climbing up the hill, slender cypresses peeking out from behind high walls, all this is imbued with the spirit of eternity. Each house keeps the history of its inhabitants. But the first settlements on this hill were founded by the Turdul tribe. As time passed, the Iberian tribe was replaced by Romans, then Arabs, then Christians, but now the area attracts immigrants from Morocco who came here in search of a better life, as well as immigrants from developed countries such as England or Germany who came here in search of exoticism, as well as hippies who lead a peculiar lifestyle. And it seems that all this motley audience found what they were looking for.