"The royal palace forms but a part of a fortress, the walls of which, studded with towers, stretch irregularly round the whole crest of a hill, a spur of the Sierra Nevada or Snowy Mountains, and overlook the city; externally it is a rude congregation of towers and battlements, with no regularity of plan nor grace of architecture, and giving little promise of the grace and beauty that prevails within." - Washington Iriving, The Alhambra
And this is so true, as you walk to the Palaces Nazaries, you are very unprepared for the grace and beauty that prevails within. When you enter the Palace, you are immediately struck by the intricate designs on the walls and ceilings.
Water features and courtyards are a big part of the Palace.
Courtyard of the Myrtles...
Ship Room...
Grand Hall of the Ambassadors. That wooden ceiling is made form 8,017 inlaid pieces like a giant puzzle...
This is the largest room in the palace and functioned as the throne room for the Sultan. In 1492, two big events happened in this room. First, the Reconquista was completed when the last Moorish king signed his surrender. Second, it was this room where Christopher Columbus made his final pitch to Isabel and Ferdinand. Isabel said "Sí, señor", and Columbus is said to have fallen to his knees.
You get a better sense of the room in this short video I shot.
The Courtyard of the Lions...
This is the Hall of the Abencerrajes and was the sultan's living room. The ceiling is gorgeous and based on the eight-sided Muslim star.
Again, here is a video of the room where you can see it all better. It's hard to imagine such a beautiful place having a terrible story, but it does. Long story short, there was a family feud and the sultan killed a lot of family members. He is said to have stacked 36 heads in the pool under this star ceiling.
I'm just obsessed with the beauty of this place. You had to go through so slowly because there was so much to take in, and you spend so much time looking up.
The Hall of the Kings. This is a goat-leather painting that depicts 10 of the 22 sultans of the Alhambra.
Lola's suvenir was a stuffed version of the lions
The Hall of Two Sisters. It is another royal reception hall.
The Washington Irving Room where he stayed at the Alhambra when he was writing "Tales of the Alhambra". His tales of the Alhambra actually caused it to be recognized as a national treasure. He later served as ambassador to Spain.
Hallway with a View...
(unless its' a rainy day)
Gates to the Alhambra as I left for the day.
I had intended to stay in Granada for a good portion of the next day, but the train routes didn't cooperate and I was on a train well before the sun came up. This put me in Madrid and checked into my hotel by 11:30. I was starving, but of course no Spanish restaurants were open, so I braved the crazy wind and rain and went to Five Guys for a burger. I had plans for Madrid, but they were all outdoors and the weather until mid-afternoon was just terrible. So I scrapped the plans, and waited until the rain stopped and headed to another artisan Christmas market I found.
West Texas or Madrid?
This Artisan market was amazing. Well over 100 booths, and Father Christmas!
I got my dad a hand carved olive wood spatula, and my grandmother a hand painted ceramic pendant.
I got my dad a hand carved olive wood spatula, and my grandmother a hand painted ceramic pendant.
I switched to a different hotel for my last night in Madrid, right by the Metropolis building. The Principal Madrid is a Boutique Hotel that is rated one of the top hotels in the city.
My evening activity was to go up the roof and check out the light show. This is a photo I snapped before dark...
Waiting on the "show". Holy cow it was windy up there!
Holiday lights show videos...
The next morning, I had an early flight. I had intentionally booked a flight with a layover in London (later I regretted not booking a full day layover there, but when I tried to change the flight, American wanted like $2700! TO CHANGE THE FLIGHT! Uh, no thanks I'll go for a week for that amount). I was able to shop at some of my favorite London stores at Heathrow. I bought almost everything at Cath Kidston, loaded up on Dairy Milk, taste tested varieties of Hendrick's Gin, had lunch, and got my British fix for a while.
And that's a wrap on Spain! Thanks for following along. If you are planning on visiting Spain, I think the 3 things I saw that I would categorize as "Can't Miss" places, are the Mezquita in Cordoba, the Real Alcazar in Sevilla, and the Alhambra in Granada.
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