The Alhambra – Granada, Spain

The Alhambra was the place I most wanted to visit in Spain. Bill Boothe and I walked for 6.5 hours and didn't see it all. I had thought it was a mosque/cathedral. I didn't know it was an extensive complex of buildings and gardens covering the entire hilltop on the edge of the city of Granada, which is inland from the southeast coast of Spain.

The full name is Calat Alhambra, which means the red fortress – and that's exactly how it appears from the outside – a citadel with thick, high walls sheltering an oasis – exquisite palace, mosque, and living quarters for the Moorish rulers, surrounded by innovative water features and lavish gardens. It was constructed during the 1300s and later used by the Catholic kings/queens, who added their touch. So it's a combination of Islamic and Christian architecture and gardens … and truly worth a day's exploration.

Attention to detail is present everywhere the eye can see – ceilings, walls, floors, nooks and crannys – nothing is left plain, everything is intentional. The spaces are quiet and easy to be present in – cool, even in warm weather. Water is channeled and contained, soothing to the eye and ear. Flowers and shaped hedges dot small sanctuaries as well as providing beautiful landscapes through which one can amble and enjoy.

If you click on the pictures, they will enlarge.  The upper left one is of the fortress part of the Alhambra, the next two pictures are different water features. The one on the right is in a main courtyard and is famous in architectural books for modern-seeming waterworks that were constructed in not-so-modern times. The lower right is a ceiling in one of the rooms – all inlaid wood and colored stones.

This last one on the left is typical of the architecture – graceful grandeur. This is what I had expected. I hadn't expected the extent of the calm elegance that is the Alhambra.