Walking through the Alhambra was like walking through history. It is a place of great mystery with tales of love and romance. A place where you can find exquisite Islamic architecture, soothing water fountains/reflecting pools and beautiful, well manicured gardens. Fellow traveler and blogging friend, Flygirl, Synchronicity, once commented on one of my blog posts that there is a certain "mystique" about the Alhambra and I wholeheartedly agree.
Since my words can never do justice in describing the Alhambra (Wikipedia), I decided to create a video and allow the images I captured along with the words of the great American Author, Washington Irving, who once lived at the Alhambra describe it for me!
As the Alhambra is one of the major tourist attractions in Granada, I learned on the Slow Travel website that I needed to pre-purchase my tickets on-line here: ServiCaixa.com It worked like a charm. For more information on Visiting Hours, go to their official website: HERE
The General Life Gardens (also described as paradise on earth by some) was "the summer palace and country estate of the Nasrid sultans of Granada".~ Wikipedia
When visiting here, you should allow yourself enough time so you can enjoy the beauty and tranquility of these beautiful gardens and fountains. I remember sitting on one of the benches and appreciating what the Sultans once enjoyed daily many centuries ago.
Wow Kathy, your photos are so wonderful and you did a great job on that video. I love the exotic architecture and those gardens with all the water features are so peaceful. It looks like you were there on a perfect sunny day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this!
Hi Annie, I'm glad you liked my photos. And yes it was a beautiful sunny day. It's no wonder that a lot of people visit this part of Spain in the winter. There was really something so relaxing and more about the Alhambra. The gardens were so pretty and well manicured, almost perfect.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comments Annie. Have a great day today, long weekend coming up!
Kreative Kathy: 'incredibly rich' and 'surprising perspective' for sure! Mahalo for putting this together and taking me back there with your captivating video and my memories.menehune
ReplyDeleteKathy, your work is really beautiful -- this makes the gardens really come to life! I've long dreamed of seeing The Alhambra....someday!
ReplyDeleteI also love your new photo of the month.
Hi M, thanks! I'm so glad my post brought you back to your visit there. I really love photos but sometimes it's cool to watch a video so I'm glad I made this video so I can go back and visit the Alhambra whenever I feel like it... :)
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra, the gardens are so beautiful. I do hope that you get to visit there someday too. I think you will really like it too. Glad you like my photo of the month too. This was my favorite part of the gardens and so I stayed here the longest...
Thanks again M & Sandra! Have a great evening and great day tomorrow.
I love the new photo of the month too - you captured the water sprays at the perfect angle!
ReplyDeletehi Annie, glad that you like my photo of the month. That was my favorite part of the gardens. I just love the fountains, architecture surrounding it is so light and airy. Very beautiful. I wish I had a garden like that. :)
ReplyDeleteKathy, I enjoyed the video so much, that I watched it twice! You did a fantastic job matching the narrative with the images. Love the water staircase and the words of Juan Ramon Jimenez (he's one of my favorite Spanish authors). I regret not having time to re-visit Granada but I hope to return in the near future.
ReplyDeleteYour photo of the month is really lovely. I'm glad that I'll be able to enjoy looking at it all month long.
Hi Maria, thanks so much for your kind words. That's cool to hear that you watched my video twice... I really enjoyed walking through the General Life and the Water Stair case was one of my favorites. I loved Ramon's poem. I can see why he is one of your favorites. I used my ipod recorder to record some parts of my audio guide for the background narration. I did it so I could remember what I saw and then I thought it would actually make a cool background to some of the video I took.
ReplyDeleteThanks also for liking my photo of the month. That was my favorite garden in the General life because it had everything, water, flowers, architecture and a fabulous view.
A return trip to Spain would definitely something to look forward to. I would love to return there too one day...
Thanks for your comments Maria. Hope you're having a great holiday weekend!
Thank you for "taking" me back to the Alhambra. I actually lived in Granada for 3 years in the late 80's/early 90's. There were far few visitors back then and no pre-booking needed. In fact, every Sunday was free--and on a sunny afternoon it was my favorite place to hang out.
ReplyDeleteHi Maya, thank you for your kind comments. I'm glad to hear that my post and video brought you back to the time when you lived there and were able to visit the Alhambra. That must have been such a wonderful experience to live in Granada for three years and to be able to visit there for free on Sundays. If that was the case for me, I would've visited there as often as I could too. I found it so beautiful and the experience was very calming and relaxing for me. The Palace and Alcazaba were amazing but I really enjoyed the gardens the most.
ReplyDeleteI will revisit my memories there as often as I can and hope that I will someday be able to return.
Thanks again for your comments.
Wow! Great video and beautiful photos. The Alhambra is so amazing! I really enjoyed this post.
ReplyDeleteHi Girasoli, glad you enjoyed this post and my video. I really enjoyed making it. I hope you get to visit Spain one day too! They have a wonderful selection of great Towers to climb with some pretty fabulous views. In Seville, Cadiz, Cordoba. You would enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteAwesome video, Kathy. So well done, and I love Irving's descriptions. My mom raved about the Alhambra too, thought it was absolutely gorgeous. She too loved the feeling of being drenched in history.
ReplyDeleteHi Anne, glad you enjoyed my video. I loved listening to Irvings descriptions too. Your mom was so right about Alhambra. The history, the beauty, the relaxing gardens . . . what a memory to cherish for the rest of my life. I do hope that I get to revisit that part of Spain again.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your comments Anne. Have a great day today.
I congratulate, a brilliant idea
ReplyDelete