TR-Mission:Exploration of new worlds by Capt’n Wrongway Wendy-Complete

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 2

I loved this hidden fountain



And DD captured the dove flying off.



The garden was pierced by walkways with central fountains and Arabic rills. I liked the way the entire garden complex was surrounded by a wall so the ladies could walk around unprotected.







Another Jacaranda



Back in the Patio de la Monteria.



By the time we had shopped the gift shop we were ready for a rest. Decided to head home for some more fresh bread rolls with ham and salad left over from the day before rather than eating out. En route I found the train offices behind the main square on Calle Zaragoza and bought our tix to Granada for Saturday then it was home for a typically Spanish late lunch and a sprawl on the couch with the internet.

We went back out later and headed south-west to the river. Came across the huge El Corte Ingles department store – an upmarket chain here. Followed the river south past lots of parks and groups of mostly young people – probably backpackers, sunbaking and picnicking. The area closest to us was seedier especially near the main bus station which had a huge busted up plaza surrounding it (what is it with bus station surrounds?) but itself was in a new looking arty space. Further around the gardens got smarter.

Looking towards the town



Puento de Isabel II



We crossed over the Puento de Isabel II to Triana and popped into the San Jorge Castle which was the headquarters of the Inquisition from 1481 to 1785 and is now a museum including archaeological excavations of the original castle on view including the house of the chief inquisitor, a church and stables. This was free with very good audio explanations to tell how the process of inquisition worked and the stories of those imprisoned there. Most confessed after torture even if they were innocent.





We continued wandering along the Triana side of the river. Lively with bars late at night I had read but very quiet in the late afternoon. This was once the gypsy area and the home of flamenco when there were no bridges linking either side of the river. Before that it had been the Jewish area. It was also where the main tile works used to be.



Most of the bridges date from the 1992 World Exposition when 6 new ones were built.

We crossed back over the Puento de San Telmo and made our way past the Tobacco Factory (now University buildings which looked more like a TAFE than a Uni) where the opera Carmen was set to the Parque de Maria Luisa. This park contains lots of buildings for the 1929 Exposition.





The centrepiece was the Plaza de Espana. Every pillar and seat is covered in tile work which is very striking. You could hire boats to row around the canal and horse and carriage rides run from the cathedral to here.



Lots of romantic bridges over the canal.



The area in front was where they filmed Anakin as a teenager with Padme for Star Wars II Attack of the Clones.





Despite sore, tired feet could not convince DH to spend €50 on a ride back to the city centre so we slogged back and up through the main shopping district along Calle Sierpes-they have cloth awnings strung up to protect shoppers from the sun.





We stopped along the way in one of the plazas for some drinks and tapas. Tried the speciality here of Patatas Bravas – potatoes smothered in a spicy tomato sauce and drizzled with some sort of mayo – delic! (sorry no pics) and also a pork dish. The potatoes were so good we ordered seconds together with chicken served with 3 sauces and another round of beers and we were done.

A little dog came and lay under our table while we ate. He was so good we gave him some treats at the end and he ate them then ran off happily to the next table to do it again! A couple of musicians then wandered around serenading the tables and playing atrociously, so we beat a hasty retreat. They were almost but not quite as bad as our experiences in Athens a few years ago. We picked up some pastries from a Pastaria on the way home to have with coffee and so to bed.

Capt’ns Highlights: The Alcazar, wandering the streets, good cheap food!
Capt’ns Lowlights – none except we are too tired to stay out til midnight when everywhere gets the liveliest.

 

[zanzibar138]

What a great first couple of days in Spain. Those buildings and gardens are just gorgeous

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 26 Thurs 6 June Cold in Cordoba

We had to get up early today to catch the train to Cordoba for the day so set the alarm for 6.30am. It was so quiet and dark it was like 3am at home.

We left the apartment by 7.30 – it was quite cold but we figured it would warm up later. Wrong! Circumnavigated our way in what seemed like early dawn – correctly this time but with copious referral to the maps - to the Santa Juste railway station. (NB. I have never seen so many tourists pouring over maps looking lost in a city as I have seen in Seville!)

We bought return tickets to Cordoba for the 8.30 train and the 18.14 back (in hindsight the 16.00 would have been OK given we were so cold). The train was freezing!! DD had her scarf in her bag to wrap round her though it was her thin one. I huddled up to DH. Wasn’t a lot to see out of the window. We passed a lot of small farming towns that had a slight down-at-heel look about them. The train wasn’t the fast one but still went at 160kph at times and it took around 1.5 hrs to get there.

We walked out – into a dull, very cold day – where was the sun to warm us up and why, oh why, didn’t we bring jackets. This is meant to be Southern Spain = hot!! DD and I insisted on a coffee break at the station with hot mochas and muffins to warm us up. Decided to walk through the gardens in town, down to the old quarter. They were full of fountains and sculptures and roses – very pretty.





The old quarter which included the Jewish area, the Juderia, was surrounded by the old walls still.



One of several entry gates.



Once inside, we wandered through the usual maze of streets til we found the Mezquita – our goal for the day.





Inside it looked just like the guidebooks – a forest of red and white striped arches and an extravagant cathedral popped into the middle (commissioned by Carlos V, who after he saw it, said “I have destroyed something unique to the world”-bit late mate).



In total there are 850 columns in jasper, marble, granite & onyx, many sourced from old Roman and Visigothic remains.



The gold Mihrab was very pretty – it doesn’t face Mecca though and the experts don’t know why. At one time, this mosque was the second most important place of pilgrimage after Mecca housing an original copy of the Koran & a bone from the arm of Mohammed and in the 900’s the town was one of the greatest centres of art, culture and learning in the west with universities of philosophy, science and literature, and medicine. It was conquered by King Ferdinand in 1236 when it reverted to Spanish Catholic rule (and Granada took over as the centre of the Spanish Arabic world).



The portal includes 1600kg of gold mosaic cubes, a gift from the Christian emperor of Byzantium.



The roof above the Mihrab



Where is everybody?



Details of the arches



Here are some pics of the cathedral in the midst built in 1523.



The choir and organ




The altar





The choir and choir stalls



Details of the carving.



We had a look at the ornate treasury with its beautiful ceiling.



I now can’t remember what we looked at and Google has deserted me!





DD liked the Arabic script and I the coloured bibles.






Got confused as early in the piece we walked past what were obviously the loos-we were sure in one corner, later could we find them? We circumnavigated the huge structure twice checking each corner but to no avail. Very weird!

The Patio de los Naranjos



continued next post

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 2

From the Mezquita we walked down to the river with its Roman Bridge.

Detail of some of the exterior decoration above the doors.



Looking towards the Roman Bridge and Torre de la Calahorra through the Puerta de Puente.



The bridge much restored.



The river was pouring through – they’d had floods not too long ago and apparently this is an unusual sight. We walked past the restored Arabic waterwheel which used to provide water to where we were headed next-the Alcazar gardens.

DD and I with the water wheel and bridge behind.



The Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos was once a Visigothic fortress then was the palace for the independent caliphate. The inquisition began here with this as one of its headquarters in 1482 and it continued to be used for the next 300 years including using the Arab baths as torture chambers. It also served as a garrison for Napolean Bonaparte’s troops in 1810.

Today turned out to be a free entry to the gardens day so we enjoyed looking through them.



They weren’t very big



But very pretty.



A mother duck and her bubs stole the show though.





We also saw what we believe is a Scotch thistle – which we never saw in Scotland.



And urns in all shapes and makes.



It was now our lunch time (1.30) so we walked along the river to a restaurant I had short-listed – Almatea. It was just opening. It was a proper restaurant rather than a bar and we were pleasantly surprised by the reasonable prices.

The complimentary green olives were amazing and these bore no resemblance to the green olives we get in Qld. So having pigged out on olives and bread, I had chicken in apricot curry sauce with rice,



DD had pasta with blue cheese, apricots and walnuts



and DH had potatoes and smoked cod which turned out to be slivers of smoked cod sandwiched between potatoes and baked in a savoury sauce.




All very different and delicious.

We managed to fit in two deserts to share, a strawberry parfait that was nothing like what I expected (not an English parfait) but was frozen chunks of a strawberry and cream combo by the taste and a divine warm chocolate brownie with vanilla icecream.



All accompanied by a nice glass of white wine for the girls and a very nice Alhambra brand beer for DH. All up it cost us less than €60 so we were happy.

We wandered out into finally some sunshine and wended our way through the narrow streets past white washed houses.



This street had canaries in their cages all along it.



We had hoped to visit the Archaeological Museum to fill in the time til our train but it closed that day at 3.30 pm so ambled through the Juderia and came out into the main modern shopping street. Very nicely laid out with a mall but of course all the shops were shut for the siesta. Then we discovered the Spanish department store El Corte Ingles was open so we spent an hour browsing – very much like David Jones. Not keen on the dress material in fashion though – silky satin that reminded me of nighties – I had noticed this in England too.

Time then whisked by so in no time we had to return to the train and another freezing trip home. Memo-wear warm clothes to Granada! Still full from lunch we just had two minute noodles for dinner and hit our pillows early (for Spain).

Captn’s highlights: The Mezquita, the gardens, lunch!
Captn’s lowlights: Being freezing cold for much of the day.

 

[PrincessInOz]

WOW! Spain is amazing. It's on my list to go see, very near the top.

I'm so envious. Your pictures are amazing, Wendy. Thanks for sharing.

 

[zanzibar138]

Cold in Spain? Yeah I never would have expected that either!

TBH, Spain has never really been high on my list of places to visit. You are doing a good job of changing that though It looks amazing!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 27 Fri 7 June Sumptuous Seville

Our last day in Seville. We visited the Palacie de Contessa de Lebrija first as it was on our way. This belonged to the Countess of Lebrija in the early 20th century but is a 16th century palace. She was a dedicated collector who “rescued’ a lot of the artefacts and mosaics from the nearby Roman city of Italica and renovated the house to fit them. Theoretically it is thanks to her a lot of the mosaics have been preserved. The inner courtyard also has Moorish arches and azulejos (tiles). This is one of the few places in the world where you can actually walk on Roman mosaics which I thought was cool, if a bit unethical.

Front (thanks to wiki as on a busy shopping street too hard to take a pic)



Inside the inner atrium with a mosaic displaying all the stories of Zeus






More views



Walking on mosaics. It was interesting to be able to get so close to the mosaics and really see how they are made-quite irregular chips of stone.



A sculpture



Medusa mosaic



Plate collection



Amazing tile work in the gallery beside the courtyard





Details of some tile work



In the courtyard



In the entry foyer






Next it was off to the Cathedral.



A replica of the bronze weathervane on the Giralda.



Horse and carriage rides around Seville



Bit of a queue here but not too bad and DD occupied herself taking pics of the detailed carvings. I liked the dragons best.






In the museum at the entry – a model of John the Baptist’s severed head.



Inside the cathedral proper- a forest of Gothic arches.



This is said to be the largest and richest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third largest church after St Peters in Rome and St Pauls in London. Supposedly the architects declared their aim was “to construct a church such and as good that it should never have its equal. Let posterity, when it admires it compete, say that those who dare to devise such a work must have been mad”. The clergy renounced their income for the cause. It was started in 1402 on the site of the earlier mosque which had been used as the Christian church for 150 years and was not completed until 1507. The mosque’s original minaret still stands – the Giralda.

Also lots (27) of sumptuous side chapels



Looking towards the altar.



The Capilla Mayor and carved wooden alterpiece (retalbo) is renowned as the largest and richest example of Gothic work but was away for restoration. Lots of other things to see though.



Continued next post

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 2

The organ.



Custodia de Juan de Arfe, 475kg silver made in 1580s, in Sacrista Mayor



The Tomb of Christopher Columbus dates from 1890s. Tomb bearers represent the Kings of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarra. Believed it houses the bones of Columbus’ son though.



Goya’s painting from 1817 of Santas Justa y Rustifina; Seville martyrs, sisters who died at the hands of the Romans.



In the cabildo (chapter house) with its magnificent dome and Murillo painting La Immaculada. Since often chapter houses are closed off it was nice to be able to visit this one.





Outside the Puerto del Lagarto gate (see the lizard)



In the Patio de los Naranjos (the original mosque courtyard) with the 6th century Visigoth fountain that dates from the original cathedral demolished to build the mosque and used as the mosque ablutions fountain and now back in a cathedral!





The Visigothic fountain.



From here we climbed up the 35 floors of the Giralda – by a series of ramps (we would never have made it had it been steps) made like that so the mezzuin could ride his horse up to the top to call the faithful to prayer. Great 360 views again.

Bells in the Giralda when it became the Cathedral bell tower.



Views of the town. Looking south towards Parque Maria Luisa



Looking east over the Patio de los Naranjos.



Close up of the bull ring by the river.



Close up of the Metropol Parasol.



Looking over the cathedral roofs.



Showing the narrowest part of the ramps.



For lunch I directed us to a place recommended called Duplex. Their menu del dia included 2 courses, bread and a drink for €10 so good value. We found it and sat upstairs and had a good lunch. We had Spanish tortilla to start with followed by me, pork in whisky sauce (very garlicky but nice), DD chicken with a pepper sauce and DH paella which was a little too salty for his taste.




My pork



DDs chicken



DH paella



We wandered home via the shopping streets browsing and eating delicious gelato.



Flamenco anyone?



This sculpture caught our eye.



Continued next post

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 3

As we had free entry with our Cathedral ticket into the recently renovated Church of El Salvadore we called in. This is a baroque church built in the 17th century with over-the-top ornate chapels. Though it contains lots of famous sculptures I have no idea what these are  we just wandered around amazed at the extravagance of it.













Valdes 1670-one of his severed head painting series.



In the museum



Silver salt centrepiece



Unusual pew carvings



More over the top extravagance.



On the way home, I love all the tile work on walls.



Later in the evening having had a snack and some catch-up time, we could hear music so headed out towards Plaza Encarnacion and found some big free event under the Parasol. There were bands including a very good drumming band we watched and artists and booths selling food and alcohol. We have noticed here on our walks every evening and every night of the week, the bars and squares are full of locals drinking  both younger people after work in their office clothes, and families who stand at the bar drinking while their children play in the playgrounds in the centre of the squares. Much more obvious than at home  makes one think they should have a drinking problem here actually.

We stayed to listen to the bands for a while then wandered a different route home past several huge fig trees and came across a Boys and Girls Brigade Band marching through the streets playing thus arrived happily home for a late cuppa and biscuits before bed.

Captn highlights: Spain in the evening  so full of life, bustling with music and happy people. The grandeur of the Cathedral and craziness of the Baroque Church of El Salvadore.
Captn lowlights: none.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Cold in Spain? Yeah I never would have expected that either!

TBH, Spain has never really been high on my list of places to visit. You are doing a good job of changing that though It looks amazing!

I love the Arabic influences inspired by EPCOT!! and garden books and then there was World Expo 1988 hosted in Brisbane who closed with a special show from Seville as the next host. Then this was fuelled by a visit a couple of years ago to Istanbul. We did enjoy it much more than I anticipated though. I would love to visit Morocco now too.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

WOW! Spain is amazing. It's on my list to go see, very near the top.

I'm so envious. Your pictures are amazing, Wendy. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks PIO-we enjoyed it even more than we thought. Pics are all a bit blurry - that's uploading low res via FB but its the quickest with our internet speed out here. I will go back to catching up with your TR tomorrow!! I am so impressed you are onto it so fast! and enjoying every minute of it!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Everything looks amazing in Spain, Wendy. I love the mosaic and the architecture and the flamenco!

 

[zanzibar138]

Everything is so elaborate! And well done for climbing up 35 floors worth of ramps How long did it take to walk up?

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 28 To Granada

Our taxi arrived 10 minutes early, at the door as promised, though I was concerned at the circuitous way he seemed to take as we headed south around the Alcazar instead of across to the east. I was worried he was taking us to the other train station but we shot out onto a modern road and back up to Santa Juste so maybe it was quicker than the tangle of streets around us  who knows. At ¬10.30 couldnt really complain.

We were highly amused at the train station by an older, mostly American it seemed, tour group - Iris was most upset as she had left her cushion at the hotel. Shes fussing and her hubby kept saying Iris, just forget about it but she ended up running off to the tour guide with her husband yelling at the top of his voice after her Iris, its too late, well miss the train; Iris forget about the goddam cushion but the tour guide then hurried off out the door with Iris trailing behind. We will never know if Iris retrieved her cushion and they made the train in time!!

We, however, did. We had 3 seats around a table and had a pleasant trip looking at olive groves and fields and the snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Though a slower train, we still reached speeds of up to 159km/hr at times though we seemed to slowly puff up a mountain side once.









The snow capped peaks meld with the clouds.



We were met at the train station by a taxi driver, Antonio  part of the service where we were staying at Solar de Montes Claros. He was very friendly and it was a short drive along a scenic street with a park down its centre lined with red roses and statues (never got time to go back and explore as I would have liked) til we reached the old part of town and followed a narrow, semi pedestrian only (other than taxis) road along the river to our lodgings high on the Albaicin Hill.

The manager Julien was also lovely and insisted on carrying our heavy bags up the flight of steps to our room, Nubia, on the first floor. The bed was huge and I loved the African-influenced décor. For DD they had added a fold-out bed, not as comfy as our grand bed, but OK. We had French doors opening onto a little balcony that overlooked a bigger shared balcony space. Downstairs was a guest sitting area with comfy couches, bookcases, television, and kitchen that guests could use and where the included breakfast was served.

The upper entrance (we used the lower back entrance all the time)



Our massive bed



And the room (it had an ensuite with separate shower and sink open to the room behind where this pic was taken).



Snacking on our balcony.



The lower shared balcony with glimpses of the Alhambra behind the umbrella.



After settling in, we headed out for a Spanish late lunch taking the back stairs down to the river road, Carrera del Darro. This was very scenic under the shadow of the Alhambra, with stone bridges crossing the river, and lots of youth (Granada is a University town) busking and selling handmade jewellery and the like. DD would have liked to have sat and listened forever to a clarinetist as she can play to a reasonable level but marvels at guys like this one who could play an amazing range.

The upper end of Carrera del Daro



Overlooked by the Alhambra



One of several bridges



Near the musicians



In town we found an ATM to get some cash out and the Alhambra tourist office where we had to use the machine to convert our on-line prebooked tix into real ones (wed tried unsuccessfully to use one of the Caixa machines in Seville). We then had lunch at a place called El Carmel just behind a big statue of Queen Isabel and Columbus.





Granada is one of the few places left in Spain that provides free tapas with your drinks (though we found buying a menu del dia elsewhere they were often included as part of it). Here our freebie was tortilla and olives.



It was good and really, if you had eg 3 drinks each, you would get your fill for free of food as they give you different tapas plate with each round. Not being big drinkers, however, we ordered a main meal each.

DD had mousaka



And DH and I both ordered a pasta plus there was the usual basket of different breads. It was very nice and relaxing, sitting enjoying the sun as it was quite cool.



Next, in case we ran out of time the following day as we only had one full day in the town, we headed around to the Capilla Real.



This was where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, of whom we kept hearing about, were buried. No pics were allowed inside. In the chapel they had designed, their tombs were elaborate marble but you could walk down a set of stairs and look through a window to the crypt underneath the marble sculpture and see the lead lined coffins which contained their actual remains.

As we came out we could hear music so we followed the sound around to the front of the cathedral where we were just in time to see a procession of the virgin. Not the best spot but got some glimpses. The procession was preceded by priests holding silver candlesticks with blue candles then the big statue which looked very heavy and was supported by what seemed like many youths, judging by their feet underneath, followed by a marching band. Everyone cheered and threw rose petals as the procession headed out of the church. We had a quick peak inside the cathedral as a choir was singing but then they closed the doors off as I presume a special service was being held.











Continued next post

 

[gogo65]

Wendy, your trip report is fantastic, I love Spain, it is my favorite country in the world, (equalled with Guatemala).
Love love love seeing all photos, bringing back memories, we are currently planning a trip for next year and unfortunately Soain is not on the list, I so wish it was, but just another excuse to go back.
I really don't think one can ever tire of Spain

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 2

From here we wandered through the Alcaiceria, a reconstruction after a fire in 1843 of the original Muslim silk market. It means the “house of Ceasar” as the Emperor Justinian granted the Moors permission to make and sell silk. In the past this area of the city was much bigger and was an independent town closed at night.





We headed home just after dark buying some pastries to have with coffee from our lodgings kitchen, as we were full from lunch and then fell asleep in our big, comfy bed.



Captn’s highlights: Our friendly accommodation (thanks TA as always), free tapas, the atmosphere of this University town.

Captn’s lowlights: Some parts of the town have an edgier feel than Seville or Cordoba. Lots of more dodgier-looking youth (not students) hanging around in groups eyeing off the tourists or in alleys in the quiet, narrow, deserted back streets off the tourist-routes that did not encourage us to explore unlike Seville or some years ago, Athens.

 

[PrincessInOz]

WOW! Wendy. Another fantastic update. I think I'm going to steal your itinerary for WHEN I get to Spain. You're really encouraging me to go sooner rather than later.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 29 Sun 9th June Writing our own tales of the Alhambra: Part 1

To my dismay I have discovered I neglected to write up today in my diary . Too much to write about, too little time; I obviously skipped over and then never went back which is really annoying as I have only wanted to visit the Alhambra for 40 years and whilst I have pics, it’s my diary notes that add the little extra impressions or nuances that I always forget til I read it and think – that’s right. Darn it!

So lots of pics, light on words – the day started with a delicious but rather rushed breakfast as we had to be up to the Alhambra and at the Nasrid Palaces for our booked entry time of 9.30am and had to allow 30 mins to get there. Breakfast was, however, a delicious spread of freshly squeezed orange juice, toasted bread, fresh tomato puree with salt, olive oil and vinegar, sweet sugary bread, fruit and proper espresso coffee.



Given where we were staying we took the “back” road to the Alhambra up the Chapiz del Rey Chico rather than via the town.



The Alhambra was a fortress from the C9th. The Nasrid Emirs in the C13th and C14th converted it to a fortress-palace complex. After the Christian conquest the mosque was replaced with a church. Carlos 1 (the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella-yes he who had part of the Mezquita in Cordoba knocked down to build a church inside) had a wing of the Nasrid Palace destroyed to build a Renaissance Palace. In the 18th century it was all abandoned and narrowly escaped being blown up during the Napoleonic occupation when it was used as a barracks. In the 1820’s writers like Washington Irving stayed there and their writings resulted in interest in restoring the complex.

Our first stop was the Nasrid Palace which has timed entry to manage the number of tourists.

The entry is rather nondescript:



The first rooms are the Mexuar (dating from the C14th and used as a council chamber).



Detail of tile work



A small prayer hall is attached with views over the Albaicin Hill. The script most often is Arabic verse with the Nasrid mantra “there is no victor but God”.



Then you cross the Patio de Cuarto Dorado – intricately carved walls which contain the shielded windows of the harem.



DD and I by the entrance



Some more detail



The Cuarto Dorado (guilded hall) has a carved wooden ceiling inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl.



Detail of the different layers.



More detail of an alcove



The Patio de los Arrayanes is very pretty (courtyard of Myrtles)



A little bird



To the north is the Salon de los Embajadores (the audience chamber of the Muslim kings) built in the 1330’s. It contains impressive dados of azulehos (tiles) topped by symbolic inscriptions stamped on stucco. This was where Granada formally surrendered to the Reys Catolicos in 1402. It is also possibly where Columbus pitched his plan to Isabella and Ferdinand to finance his sea voyage to the Orient.



Most outstanding it has a domed ceiling of Cedarwood that represents the seven heavens of the Muslim cosmos.



Another view.



Elaborate colonnades surround the Patio de los Leones.



Its centrepiece is a marble fountain supported by 12 marble lions (these are replicas, the original are in the museum). For the scientists among us, the original builders of the 124 columns around the court built them with lead fittings between pre-cut sections to allow for flex during earthquakes.





The lion spouting water represents the sun which gives life to everything. The 12 “suns” of the fountain represent either the 12 suns of the zodiac, or the 12 months of the year, or the 12 tribes of Israel as the fountain may have been a gift from a Jewish leader celebrating good relations with the sultan. In Moorish times each hour a different lion spouted water so it kept the time. From the centre 4 streams led out, figuratively to the centres of the earth.



DH and I posing



A close-up



The domed ceiling



Continued next post


Continued next post

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Tales of the Alhambra part 2

The patio is surrounded by a variety of rooms. Some were closed for renovation work. This is the Sala de los Abencerrajes where supposedly the last Emir Boabdil had the throats of 16 sons of the Abencerrajes family slit for having an affair with his favourite wife. The intricate ceiling features an eight pointed star.



Then we have photos that I have no idea which room they came from – we kept wandering around.



In one of the linking corridors-over-the-top magnificence.



More detail of Arabic script.



In the Mirador de Daraxa which contained the room where Washington Irvine stayed and wrote the tales of the Alhambra which rekindled interest in the site.



Views from the windows of the Mirador towards Sacramonte (former gypsy quarter where many once lived in caves in the hillside). You can see the city’s old protective walls.



View of our area Albaicin Hill and adjoining Sacramonte



Close-up of the walk beside the river and the bars where we had dinner this night.



A view of the Jardines de Daraxa (Gardens of the Sultana) from the ground.



In the adjoining Partal Gardens



My favourite roses



The ugly palace of Carlos V. It was meant to be domed but was never finished. This rubbed salt in the wounds of the defeated Muslim population who paid for it through a tax.



DD kept finding stray cats.



The church of Santa Maria de la Alhambra



A craftsman’s workshop in the grounds making inlay. Some beautiful products-we bought some small tiles.



Star-shaped openings in the old Arab baths



In the original fortress – the Alcazar (where Alhambra probably gets its name – the red castle).



It was here in 1492 after a 7 month siege that the Christian cross and flags of Castile and Aragon were raised. Supposedly Boabdil who was escaping with his followers and his powerful mother looked back and wept and got bawled out by his mother "Do not weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a man." Tough woman! but she had helped him take the throne from her husband and his brother.



Looking out over the town. Panorama 1



Panorama 2



A close-up of the cathedral and Capilla Real where we were yesterday.



A close-up of the main square, the Plaza Neuva.



Looking over the Alhambra woods




Continued next post.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Tales of the Alhambra Part 3

Amongst the hedges en route to the Generalife Gardens.



Rose gardens











Sniffing….



Oh oh – did my nose touch??



In the Generalife gardens, the ancient summer palace of the Nasrid kings dating from1250 but much rebuilt and changed in the Renaissance.



Pretty views in the Patio de la Acequia



More sniffing



Luckily not this plant with its bug



Flowers



Us.



View back towards the Nasrid Palaces with the Alcazar to the far right.



In the Patio de la Sultana.



View looking the opposite way.



In the Jardin de la Sultana with the trunk of a 700 year old cypress where Boabdil supposedly caught his lover betraying him.



A view looking the opposite way.



The Puerta de la Justica and exiting the Alhambra.



A fountain in the Alhambra woods



Having had our fill of the Alhambra we took the back roads down town stopping for a drink and tapas en route but must have been over taking pics as we have none. Then we headed home for a long siesta as we were totally exhausted.

Continued next post.