I arrived in Grenada at 11am after a four hour train journey from the port town of Algeciras, located and checked into a backpacker hostel situated off a street full of hippy shops in the Albayzin area and set off for the Alhambra. It was a sunny but not stupidly hot day but I was still having to sit down at every opportunity on the long steep walk up. How steep? This steep:
Bench on path up to Alhambra
The Alhambra is a large fortified hill top containing a group of palaces of which the most well known is the group built in the 14th century by Nasrid sutanate. This is the palace of intricate tiling, tinkling fountains, cool marble courtyards and incredible decoration. Next door is the 16th century palace of Carlos V with a fabulous circular courtyard with pillared gallery. There are also ruins of an earlier palace and early houses, a church built on the site of the mosque and gardens. The really wonderful gardens are close by in the Generalife however and I spent a long time sitting on benches in the shade, breathing in the smell of flowers, listening to the fountains and birds and feeling content.
The Renaissance palace had a small exhibition on M C Escher and the inspiration he gained from a visit here in the ’30s and another display on the recent conservation work carried out on the stone lions from the most photographed part of the Nasrid palace, the Court of the Lions. However, since that area was a bit of a building site as they rebuilt the fountain, here’s a picture of the nearby Court of the Myrtles.
Court of the Myrtles, Alhambra
And here’s my Lego interpretation:
Lego Court of the Myrtles
Jackie's mid life crisis gap year 