Granada

Granada was once again a town with two faces. A modern one and a very historic one. Both were very nice; I think Granada was my second favorite city after Seville. The historic areas were enveloped in the foothills of the mountains and the new city sprawls out on the plains beyond.

Granada´s most significant feature is the Alhambra, an ancient palace which was almost lost in the 1800s as it was ravaged by people selling off the tile work to tourists. It was painstakingly restored in the 1900s and now is more beautiful than ever. (it is the complex that sits on the mountain below.)After arriving, our first task was to hike up through the historic Muslim Quarter to see the sunset over the Alhambra. It was breathtaking and the mountains beyond were awesome looking. The winding Muslim Quarter is shown below
Part of a delapadated, ancient arch near the Muslim Quarter

A picturesque town square in the MQ The Alhambra was an amazing place. Everywhere, Beautiful gardens and private courts are surrounded by graceful buildings with beautiful tile work. These pictures hardly do it justice, but they can give you an idea of what it is like there. Me sitting on a little window seat somewhere in the maze of rooms that is the Alhambra
The Muslim Quarter as it is viewed from the terraces of the palace

Modern Granada was also very cool, but almost too close to an American town making it seem not truely Spainish. This building I thought was undeniably American looking, eagle and all.
Their main avenue had some very interesting street lamps that were just finished being installed. I would love to see something like this in the arts district in Kansas City

An attractive row of buildings in downtown