1936 On the Continent

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    If you happen to visit the Palace on July 9th, you will see a great many Jews there, particularly in the Hall of Ambassadors. Some of these Jews come from Morocco and are picturesquely bearded and turbaned. Others come from Venice, Constantinople, Belgrade, Salonica and other places. These Jews are not ordinary tourists and I am frankly amazed that no travel guide should contain an explanation of their presence in the Hall of Ambassadors on July 9th each year.
    Briefly, it was in this hall that, in 1492, Queen Isabel of Spain signed the decree that banished 600,000 Jews from their native land. It was here that Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel, a Minister of the Queen, pleaded with her to withdraw the decree.
    And the descendants of the Jews who were exiled from Spain have been making an annual pilgrimage to the “Old Country” for more than four hundred years! Their love and loyalty has been such that even to-day the Jews of Jugoslavia and a number of other countries speak Spanish in their homes. The Jewish pilgrims go over the Palace, read the Hebrew inscriptions on the walls and pillars, inspect the magnificent water jar of green jade that Rabbi Abarbanel presented to the Queen, then they pray and return to their various countries.
A Haughty Queen
    The Hall of Ambassadors is the largest in the Palace, and every inch of it is decorated, from the floor right up to the dome, 75 feet above it. I do not think I can give you the least idea of the splendour of this Hall, both architecturally and as regards the decorations. No doubt you will visit it again and again during your stay in Granada. If you engage a guide to show you round, I hope it will be Señor Flores, who knows the Alhambra as he knows his own hand, and who will enthuse with you—and genuinely—though he has already seen everything hundreds of times.
    The Tocador de la Reina (Queen’s Dressing Room) was originally used by the sultanas of the harem. It has a little pavilion that is decorated with precious paintings. If I were a millionaire I would never dare to take my wifeto this dressing-room. The Baths, the Court of the Myrtles, the Court of the Lions with its scores of marble pillars and fountain jets, the Sala de los Abencerrajes with its wonderful stalactite roof, and the Sala de las Dos Hermanas, will all delight and enchant you. Señor Flores will, no doubt, tell you in great detail the story of the queen who betrayed her husband with the chief of a powerful tribe, whose leaders were lured to the Sala de los Abencerrajes and there butchered. He could tell you hundreds of stories about every nook and corner of the Palace, and I am sure you would listen to him with eager interest.
The Generalife
    Some highbrows have been quarrelling about the artistic merits or otherwise of the Alhambra Palace and all it contains, and the
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half have proved to their own satisfaction that—isn’t it too bad!—it possesses no artistic merit. The answer is that a brick consists of atoms, electrons, neutrons—that is to say, ultimately of nothing; but it is nevertheless a brick, and if it falls on your hand you will be struck not by intangible atoms, etc., but by a solid brick. It is the same with the Alhambra. Whether it is or is not artistic in its details it inevitably “gets” you, and you come again and again and enjoy it more each time.
    Next to the Alhambra Palace comes the Generalife, the summer palace of the sultans, which stands on another spur of the Alhambra Hill. The gardens with their orange trees and fountains, their cypresses and pools, will charm you. The buildings are not in the same class as the Palace, but no doubt you will go over them, and you will also have a look at the Moorish Palace to the west of the Generalife.
    Granada, too, has a university, and, as I have said, students are always ready to oblige.
    The city has scores of good hostelries, and if you have any special requirements in regard to accommodation the
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office will advise you. Remember, though, that during the festival of Corpus Christi, usually in June, prices are increased by 50 per cent. This festival lasts from Wednesday until Sunday, and in addition to impressive ceremonies in the cathedral there are bull-fights, processions, concerts, street dances, and all the fun of the fair.
    However, it is incumbent upon me to mention a few hotels that can be specially recommended. Here they are: English Pension and Pension Villa Carmona on Alhambra Hill, and the Inglaterra