The Alhambra

Our beautiful weather has come to an end. It was only 9 degrees for most of the day and raining for the most part. When in Rome etc, so we had churos and chocolate for breakfast this morning to try to warm ourselves up

 

There is really only one word to describe The Alhambra and that is WOW. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and should be on everyones bucket list. Construction began in 1278. The spectacular Nasrid Palaces contain room after room of incredible architecture, some of which is in amazingly good shape. A lot of the finely detailed work is carved out of wood and then plastered over. There are mosaics, arches, fountain, ponds and sculpted gardens.

 Don't you love the caligraphy in the decoration? Then in 1492 it was surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs and in 1526 Charles V built a palace which is one of the most important works of the Spanish Renaisance.

There are courtyards everywhere.

And the gardens were looking beautiful, with everything in flower.

But it was oh so cold and wet, such a pity but now I have warmed up I must say it was worth it!