Granada

We took a bus from Lisbon to Madrid, Spain, then another to Granada. We bought a train ticket for the same night at the Granada train station heading for Barcelona. From the highway Madrid looked rather arid and with tons of commute traffic in the early morning. Around Granada we saw many new housing developments with bright orange and pink colors much like what you see in Florida or Southern California. When we arrived at Granada bus station, there were many touts for hotels, but we didn't need one.

We came to Granada to see the famous Alhambra, the old Moorish fortress that has survived for over 1200 years. It was quite an interesting hike to get to the gates on top of the hill from town. The Alhambra is absolutely stunning. WIthin the Nazarid's Palace, the intricately carved interiors, tiled walls, formal hedges, courtyard fountains, reflecting pools, all were incredibly beautiful, refined, exquisite. It has reached the pinnacle of elegance. Within the intimate scale of the courtyards one feels complete peace, comfort, and elegance. The fortress portion of the Alhambra reveals their old age and ruggedness. Outside the palaces the Generalife gardens were a great example of elegant landscape design, with many orange trees irrigated by the snow-melt waters of nearby mountains through intricate channel systems. It shows there are much treasures to be learned from Islamic and Jewish art.