Spain - Granada Day 2, Part 1 : THE ALHAMBRA

Our second and final day in Granada was packed full of pre-planned activities.  The main thing to see in Granada (and some would say all of Spain), is The Alhambra.  And that is where our day began.  There was some mix-up with our tickets (I can't remember what now), so we ended up with quite a bit of time before our timed entrance to the Palace.  This ended up being a good thing because it gave us ample time to explore the gardens and The Generalife (their "country" home).  These might have been the best parts of the whole thing!  The grounds were so beautifully maintained and so well manicured.  There were the most amazing flowers, tons of orange trees, lots of water features and pools.  The views of Granada and surrounding mountains from the Alhambra were also breathtaking.  The country home was just gorgeous.

Anyway, lots of pics to share!

Entering the ticket area...yeah, this is before you even get inside!

Neat ceiling inside one of the many other

buildings surrounding the palace

The next couple of pics are of another palace on the grounds.

Emperor Carlos had it built because the Alcazar Palace

"wasn't meeting his needs".  Um...I went to the Alcazar

in Seville and it was AMAZING.  It would meet my needs!

(I'll tell you about it in a couple posts!).

We had fun exploring these little passageways

that ran along the old water moat

 Chapel on the grounds

 I really loved all the orange trees!

 We didn't do a great job of taking pictures with ourselves

in them on this trip.  But, here's one of Michelle for you!

 SNAIL!

 There's the "country" home.  Wayyyyy out there in the country.

After quite a bit of time wandering through the gardens and other buildings, we made our way to The Generalife.  I still think it's strange that their country home was right next to their regular home. Then again, I guess a Palace isn't really a regular home.  I will say that it was an extremely peaceful place and had a nice pool with surrounding gardens, so in that sense, it did feel like a country home!

View of the Alhambra from the "country"

One of my favorite pics!

Finally, we made it to the palace itself.  It was full of neat architecture, tons of beautiful tile, and very intricate/detailed plaster work.

It rained on us this day, but it wasn't terrible! 

So, that's the Alhambra!  It was very fun to explore.  We spent hours there and didn't regret all the extra time we ended up with at all.  We had afternoon plans, too, so stay tuned for the next post!