A Piece of Heaven on Earth

Spain : Granada
Autumn 2011

 Inside the reclusive Nasrid Palaces of the Alhambra in Granada
(Nov-2011)

Journal Entry... I am not about to leave Spain without setting foot on the Alhambra, even for a day... It is said that the Alhambra is the Arab version of a "heaven on earth". A writer, W. Irving, had described the Alhambra as the most beautiful city he had ever laid his eyes on, in his book, Tales of the Alhambra. 

10-nov: Day trip to Granada... It took four hours on a train ride, from Seville, to reach Granada. A mini bus awaited outside the Granada train station to take visitors up the Alhambra complex on Sabika hill.

The vast complex of the Alhambra on Sabika hill in Granada

Generalife gardens

To avoid lining up for tickets, I purchased a Day Pass online-- I ended up purchasing two kinds of Alhambra tickets out of confusion what time certain tickets applied to which areas, either lower or upper Alhambra, as well as a timed entry to Alhambra's main highlight: Nasrid Palaces. Purchasing two kinds of tickets turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I would misplace the first ticket while doing photo-op at the Parador in upper Alhambra.

Arabian fortification
of Alhambra

The mini bus dropped us off right to the Generalife entrance, which is in upper Alhambra. A ticket dispensing machine produced those Day Pass(es) swiftly. And there I was coming face to face with the Arabian fortification, a symbolic heaven on earth with a vast garden and continuously flowing water filling up fountains and ponds. Those intricate Moorish design, especially on the walls, were like secret messages that needed decoding. 

Nasrid Palaces features the Court of the Myrtles

A soothing scenery at Patio de la Acequia in upper Alhambra

Two Peas in Granada

Hubby and I toured the Alhambra, starting from upper Alhambra (in the morning) down to lower Alhambra (in the afternoon), where we had a timed entry to the Nasrid Palaces... 
A day of exploring the Alhambra is never enough, but we only got ourselves a Day Pass. It was on that Alhambra visit that hubby and I concluded our 10-itinerary cities in Spain, journeying from north to south, and then back to north again, at Barcelona for the outbound #SingaporeAirlines flight.

Granada cityscape as seen from the Alhambra lookout point

oOo
PHOTOSTITCH

#Spain #Granada #autumn2011