An unabashed tourist and her family explore the world one holiday at a time.
And so the Spain 2010 trip finally comes to and end, which means it’s time to reflect on what we did right, where we went wrong and what we should never mention again! Although Gareth’s parents joined us for most of the trip, the exercise is really to determine what the two of us thought of the holiday, so without...
On the last day of our Andalucían holiday, Gareth and I visited Córdoba, which turned out to be the city we liked best. We managed to find a free parking spot on the banks of the Guadalquivir river and set out on foot towards the old town. Our first view of the city was of the impressive Roman bridge that...
Along with the Alhambra, the Generalife gardens and its palace is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The name is derived from the Arabic Jannat al’Arif, which means “Architect’s Garden” and refers to Muhammed III, the sultan of Granada (1302 – 1309). It was used as a summer estate, a place of refuge, when the sultan needed a break from the...
When the time had finally arrived for us to enter the Alhambra’s Nasrid Palaces, a group of people were mulling around the entrance. We were all herded into the first room of the first palace, where everyone stopped dead and listened attentively to their handheld guides. The room was crowded and gloomy and Gareth and I quickly slipped past everyone and...
There isn’t much to see inside the Alhambra’s alcazaba, but we had fun nonetheless walking along its walls and exploring the foundations of what used to be the military barracks. The soldier’s quarters seem very small to me, but if you look carefully you’ll see one of them, probably the commanding officer’s house, was large enough to have the luxury...
I can’t tell you how much I loved walking towards the Alhambra’s entrance. On the one side, the wall of the fort is at least two storeys high, rough-hewn stones and mortar tantalizingly hiding the history behind it. On the other side, the lush vegetation in autumnal hues let a dappling light fall on the path leading to the gate....
Our real reason for visiting Granada was a trip to the Alhambra. I know, it gets confusing. We visited the Alcazaba in Malaga, the Alcazar in Seville and now the Alhambra in Granada. Here’s the quick and easy translation: alcazaba comes from the Arabic for citadel, alcazar means palace and Alhambra literally translates as “the red one” and is the...
When we arrived in Granada, the GPS directed us to the nearest (and probably most expensive!) underground parking garage in the area. It seemed a little dodgy to us at first. The walls were sprayed with graffiti and a boisterous group of teenagers sporting hoodies and tattoos congregated around the exit. We avoided eye contact and tried to look as...
The only things my father wanted us to bring back for him from Spain was a leather belt and Cajun spices. So wherever we went, we kept our eyes open for exotic spices (although we later found out that Cajun is actually a mixture of various spices, which we ironically found in a pharmacy back home). But before we found...
Last week I wrote about our visit to Seville’s Real Alcazar. Here are some more pictures of this interesting palace and it’s beautiful gardens. For more posts in the Spain 2010 series, click here. Have you been to Seville’s Real Alcazar? What was your favourite spot?