Spain: Granada & Alhambra

Today Luke and I took a trip, with our friendly tour guide Peter of Indigo Travel & Events, to the lovely city of Granada, home of the Alhambra. And no, it's not bottled water. Granada is a lovely city, with marble sidewalks and a vibrant student community of the young and fashionable. It's also home to the Alhambra, which is what I would compare the the Getty Museum in LA, only a thousand years older. Get ready for pictures, cause this is a photo worthy location. There are many photos of all our travels that haven't made it onto blogs, so when we return and I have use of our regular computer I plan on a follow up post with those and accompanying videos.

I finally got my hands on some churros!

Walking through the city.

Shout out to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain! You know, of the Columbus days?  Laid for their eternal rest in this very church.

Spices and dried fruits

Herbs to cure what ails you.

Amazing dried fruit, mmm fresas.

Peter and Luke at the entrance of the park below the Alhambra.

On of 36 look out towers.

The ground.

More ground designs.

The ceiling. Individual pieces of wood held together with tension and no glue, and this was just the first room.

Floor holds up after 1,000 years.

Hand cut tile. Like there was any other way back then, I suppose.

Some of the scripture, in Arabic, was poured into casts and adhered to the walls. 

These photos do NO JUSTICE to the absolutely amazing details on every surface of this place.

Wanna see the emperor? Clean your feet first.

View of old Granada.

The Arabic fountains are so much more elegant, and quiet, than the more modern European fountains.

My  next kitchen back splash perhaps?

Wood puzzle ceiling.

In most museums you can't touch anything, here you can touch EVERYTHING.

My most favorite part is the ceiling in the emperor's seating room that looks like stars (again made of thousands of hand cut pieces of wood). I repeat, this photo does it no justice whatsoever. You'll just have to visit for yourself to truly understand the magnificence.

It's a lion fountain!

This is where they would hang out and look good.

Garden view from the room of one of the emperor's many wives.

Skylights

The ground here is made of smooth pebbles, like all the other photos of the ground design. And it's only for walking on.

Pomegranates, the fruit of Granada. Get it??

The most literal translation they could have come up with.

Welcome to the gardens, where the ground is designed in the shapes of flowers, of course.

Water, from 6 km away in the original Sierra Nevada mountain range, rushing down the hand rail of the steps.

If I had the time and correct camera there could be a thousand photos of the Alhambra. It's an amazing place to visit, and if you're ever in the south of Spain, take the time to go there and see it for yourself. The details and artwork are breathtaking and very very old. It's age makes it that much more beautiful. So incredibly beautiful.