Vacation in Spain, Granada

***Long post warning! We took about a million pictures in Granada, so this is my warning to you that this will be a long post. ;-)

After our morning in Cuenca, we headed off to Granada. It was a long, but beautiful drive.

The Osborne Bull is a common sight along the Spanish highways. There are 89 of them around the country, and we lost count around 13 about half-way through our trip. It used to be a billboard advertisement for a sherry company, but because of different laws, it no longer advertises alcohol, but has become the unofficial symbol of Spain.


We also saw a sign that reminded us of North Carolina...fitting as we celebrated our 5th anniversary on this trip.


We arrived in Granada at night, and had to get up very early the next morning to stand in line to get tickets to the Alhambra. On the way to the Alhambra, we got money out of what I think must be the safest bank in Spain:


After a couple of hours of standing in line in the rain, we finally got our tickets, but had to wait a little while until we could enter the main part of the palace.


Ian and Sophie spent some time checking out the map. (Ian is NOT relieving himself on the wall...)

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of Ian and Sophie:


Once we got inside, we wandered a little before we could enter the palace. Here's a view of the old city wall:


Sophie enjoyed herself, and luckily for us, there were some chairs for her to climb on to keep her busy.


And here begins a LOT of detail pictures of the palace. It really is an amazing place--so detailed in every corner, literally, of the palace. For history of the palace itself, go here. The palace was completed during the 14th century during Muslim rule (which should be obvious by the photos).














This is one of the most famous courtyards in the palace where there is a reflection pool. I caught it right before and right after it started to rain.
And here's Sophie posing for the camera:


Some more buildings in the palace:


The El Partal Palace:

Sophie posing on the top of the Alcazaba, the oldest fortress part of the Alhambra:


The part of the Alcazaba where the eunuchs lived:



A carving over one of the portals into the Alcazaba:


An old fortress gate we found on our walk down the hill:


Our beautiful walk back into the city: