Granada

The Alhambra was certainly the main attraction in Granada, but I loved the city! It had such a fun feel to it, and I really liked visiting the cathedral where the Catholic Kings Ferdinand and Isabel are buried. I have a hard time thinking of anybody who seemed to have a deeper impact on Spanish culture and history than Ferdinand and Isabel, especially before the 20th Century. We couldn't take any pictures but the Cathedral is small and solemn, but has a few very notable paintings inside, including an original of the one below.

Granada is famed for its night scene, and so we went bar hopping that night, or, as I like to call it, tapa hopping (It's fun to say tapa-hoppin really fast). In Spain, it's customary that if you order a drink, they'll bring out a tapa. (Like an appetizer, it literally means lid, since it traditionally came on top of the drink you were served). As Spain has a special flavor of lemon flavored Fanta (Which is amazing and almost tastes like natural lemonade but bubbly), a group of us went to a few different places, got our fantas and our tapas for dinner.

It was super fun and really delicious. The different bars we went to had very different atmospheres- one was refined, one was like a sports bar, and another had the feel of a soup and salad place.

 The food was good and it was really fun to do something that most modern Spaniards do and is an integral part of modern Spanish culture.

The Alhambra

The Alhambra is the incredible Moorish castle of Washington Irving fame. It is absolutely incredible. When Carlos V assumed power in Spain as both Holy Roman Emperor and Emperor of Spain, he spent his honeymoon here and commissioned a massive addition to the already breathtaking palace. Alhambra means "The Redness" is Arabic.

This is the addition built for Carlos V and his queen in which they stayed their honeymoon. The bricks are designed to look like pillows, and this structure, though I didn't explore it as much as the other areas, is really interesting.

When we visited the Alhambra, the director of the entire place gave us a fantastic presentation on the epigraphs of the Alhambra. The motto of the Kings of Granada was "No hay vencedor sino Alá" or "There is no conqueror but Allah". From his presentation I learned to recognize that phrase in arabic and I saw it absolutely everywhere in the Alhambra.

Some of the writing is really easy to pick out like the stuff in the center of this flower motif. However, much of the art in the palace consists of the epigraphs and is much more difficult to recognize, since it takes the "cursive" form and is elongated into practically abstract shapes.

This is a picture that's easy to demonstrate what I mean. In the medallion style circles near the top, there is some clear writing in this picture below. However, if you trace the lines on the sides of it down to where they curl like and loop back, you'll notice that the lines forming the medallions are letters as well and that some of the letters are stretched incredibly tall and loop back to look like knots.

The Arabic people were fantastic at geometry, and the design below can be completely constructed from interlocking circles.

Originally the whole palace would have been incredibly colored. Look at the picture below. The deep areas would have been blue, the mid depth spots red, and the lettering and overlay would have been covered in gold leaf.

After their honeymoon, Carlos V and his wife never returned to the Alhambra. It gradually fell into disrepair and was left somewhat forgotten. However, Washington Irving came and stayed in the Alhambra for months to learn more about its history stories and legends, and wrote his famous Tales from the Alhambra. After the book's release, the Alhambra became an instant tourist attraction and has been visited by the thousands every year since.

The gardens were really beautiful, and I can only imagine what they would have looked like earlier in the season.

The Alhambra was one of my favorite things I visited in Spain. It's absolutely beautiful, and I think I gained a much deeper appreciation for the religion of Islam during my stay in Spain. While I still don't understand many of the beliefs and key tenets of the religion, I love the architectural symbolism and the devotion and faith I saw woven and engraved into the Moorish and mozarabe buildings.

Seville's Cathedral

Seville's Cathedral is massive. At 124,000 square feet, it is the largest cathedral in the world. There are two larger churches (including St Peter's basilica in Rome) but neither are cathedrals. It is a really amazing structure, and dwarfs the other cathedrals I have been to.

The Cathedral is also home to the largest altar piece in the world. It stands some 65 feet tall.

It is also home to tomb of Christopher Columbus. Columbus has four pall bearers, representing the four kingdoms of Spain that sent him off- Castille, Aragon, Navarre, and Leon. A spear sticks into a pomegranate (Granada in Spanish), representing the kingdom of Granada that was taken in 1492 as the last stage of the Reconquest.

The most impressive, though, in my opinion, is the most expensive crown in Spain. On the crown you can see the world's second largest pearl.
The one in the middle on the top looks kind of dinky right? There's no way that could be the one.
Look again. The cherub on the front of the crown has his entire body carved from one single pearl! There's no telling how large it was before it was carved.

Seville Alcazar

On our second day in Seville, we went to the breathtaking Alcazar. It was originally a Moorish palace, and has just the most beautiful grounds and architecture.

During my time in Spain, I've really fallen in love with the Arabic architecture. It's so beautiful and I love that it is a part of Spanish identity.

Seville Day One

Our first stop in Seville were the iconic giant mushrooms. They afforded a beautiful view of the city. I'm not sure if they were originally designed with any purpose other than as a huge work of art, but it was really fun to get a great view and run around on the massive metal mushrooms.

We also saw the last remaining "Gold Tower". During Spanish colonial times, the ships that were laden with gold from the new world would come up the river to Seville, since it has the furthest inland port, thanks to its deep river. This was to keep the gold from being accessible to coastal raids. The gold would then be stored in large towers as a defense against pirates and invading forces, particularly the French.

We went to another flamenco show that night. It was so great! While the other show was obviously a little bit improvised, this one was highly choreographed and it was just amazing. The guitarist was incredible, and is apparently well known within flamenco music. I really love the quick spins and furious feet of flamenco.