Friday, 7 April (continued). After lunch at the hotel and a little rest, we finally left at 1515 for our tour of the Alhambra. It was magnificent, more beautiful and far bigger than we had imagined. The Palace of Comares, built under Muhammad V (c.1370), is said to be the masterpiece of the Alhambra and was the king's official residence. The beautiful Patio of the Myrtles (Patio de los Arrayanes) is part of this Palace.

 

 

The Patio of the Lions, located in the private palace of Muhammad V, is a rare representation of animals in Arabic art.  We also saw the adjoining Generalife Palace and gardens with an elaborate system of fountains and flowing water. Although only a short walk from the Alhambra, the Generalife served as a kind of summer palace.

 

 

Of the buildings added later by the Christian kings, the Palace of Charles V (1527) is probably the grandest.

 

 

The bus then took us to the center of the old city. We toured the Cathedral (1521-1714) and its Royal Chapel (1521) and Treasury. The Chapel was built to house the tombs of Queen Isabella and her husband, Ferdinand. The Treasury features Isabella’s crown and scepter and King Ferdinand’s sword.

 

 

Adjoining the Chapel was La Lonja (1518), an ornate merchants' building. We elected not to go back to the hotel on the bus so we could explore the narrow pedestrian streets of the Albaicin district on our own. We bought a graceful hand-carved wooden statue of Don Quixote ($60). Eventually we took a taxi back to the hotel. With dinner that evening we had our first sangria and liked it very much.

 

 

Afterwards, our group was bused to the Neptune Gardens, a tourist night club featuring Spanish music and flamenco. This was an optional extra arranged by Mr. Lehmann. It was a good show, but we had bad seats. We also had a little more sangria. The show finally ended at 01:15.

 

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