I, and my good friend planned a short trip to both Spain & Maroc on winter 2011.
The plan was to rent a car from Madrid Airport, and drive all the way towards our hotel in Granada which we booked online, then spend 1 day in Granada, 1 day in Tanger (Maroc), and 1 day in Madrid. Total of 3days.
I would like to share my photos with all of you DF community, hope you enjoy it.
Day One - (Granada)
1) We arrived at Madrid Airport, and rented a car to start our journey.
At that time, the airport was in a chaos due to a strike carried by employees who refused to show up at work, thus created a big mess that many airlines had to delay their flights and a lot of passengers got stuck in Madrid. We were luck to get the last car which was ridiculously EXPENSIVE, but we had no other choice.
2) On the highway from Madrid to Granada.
3) Olive trees were planted through out the whole highway! It was amazing!
After the last Islamic Andalucian kingdom of Granada was overtaken by the Christians of Castilla, few changes occured in Alhambra such as the attempts of adding some Italian architecture in addition to the main Islamic architecture of Alhambra.
4) Courtyard of Charles V in Alhambra, was built next to the main Islamic Andalucian palace in the 18th century.
5) In the center of the courtyard, there is a circle which if you stand on and clapped, you can hear the echo all around.
6) Walking towards the main part of Alhambra.
Alhambra is actually pronounced as Alhamra. The proper old name is Qasr Al Hamra, which means the Red Palace. The word Hamra (Ahmar) is Arabic for Red.
7) One of Alhambra gates, this is the typical architecture of the Islamic Andalucian kingdom.
8 ) The whole palace is decorated with beautifull calligraphy of poems from the Andalucian period, and also some motos and phrases praising God, and the Nasrid kings, the last Muslim Andalucian dynasty of Granada.
I had to gaze and read the words very carefully as they're written in the Andalucian font which is different than the modern one of today. It says .. Alqudrato lellah (Ability to God) .. Almolko lellah (The Kingdom is God's) ..
9) Inside the rooms of Alhambra
10) Walls are all completely decorated beautifully!
11) Wall decorated with more calligraphy ..
12) This is the Nasrid dynasty's moto .. Wa la ghaleba ella Allah (And no victor but God).
13) The ceiling .. Its decorated in a way to resemble the seven heavens.
14) Another decorated ceiling ..
15) The calligraphy in this wall is written by ibn Zomrok, a famous Andalucian poet.
It says the following:
Beh-el marmar-ol majlowo qad shaqqa noroho *** Fa yajlo min-al thalma ma kana dajeya
With the shining marble shimmering light *** Burnished by the darkness that can no longer be overshadowed
16) Landscaping of the palace ..
17) Inside ..
18) Behind the columns are the 12 lion fountains, which were taken inside for some servies..
19) The 12 lion fountains ..
It was placed indoors for some servies. No cameras were allowed inside, so I took this shot from this angle.
20) ...
21) Towards the gardens of Alhambra ..
22) The view of Granada from Alhambra. The view was breath taking! One would think its a portrait!
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To be Continued..