Granada and the Alhambra, Travel with a Little History and Geometry

At the foothills of the Sierra Nevada...
lies one of the most significant cities in Spain,
Granada in Andalusia.
We wanted to explore its medieval alleys...
where an interesting camera shot awaits each bend...
and experience this vibrant university town's culture and cuisine...
while skipping the curios.

Granada and the Alhambra, Travel with a Little History and Geometry

The social heart of Granada is its numerous tapas bars...
and we made several friends here...
while trying vastly different kinds of food and beverage.
I'm trying a little vermouth...
It's a local specialty.
My personal interest in coming here...
was more historical and geometrical.
Granada was the last bastion of Muslim control on the Iberian peninsula.
With monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella's re-conquest of Granada...
Spain was finally free of internal conflict...
and beginning with Christopher Columbus...
exploded across the planet into an enormous colonial empire.
But the Muslims left their mark on the city...
and it is now considered the finest example
 of Islamic architecture on the European continent.
I'm walking up to the Alhambra ticket office
It's almost 7:00 AM.
I gotta get in line early...
so I can get a ticket.
The Alhambra complex evolved over 700 years...
 starting from the 9th century citadel outpost...
to the 14th century Nasrid Palace.
 It is a sprawling complex...
complete with fortifications,
 royal chambers,
 baths,
fountains,
and gardens.
Strolling through the corridors of the Nasrid Palace...
 is visually tantalizing.
 The architectural design...
 is intended to conjure a physical realization of paradise.
Abi are you enjoying the palace?
Ahhh.
You like it.
Ahh huh...
The airy courtyards are bound by slender marble colonnades...
topped with stalactite-like horse shoe archways...
which seem to float like clouds
Water is everywhere.
Large pools reflect the palace walls...
 into bending and moving entities...
ephemeral and serene.
Vaulted honeycomb ceilings and fine latticed windows...
softly illuminate lavish motifs...
that cover every available space...
 with intricate geometric designs...
Islam forbids representational depictions in art.
Instead art is expressed abstractly.
Geometric designs represent an artistic expression of beauty...
 based on mathematical laws...
 infallible and logical.

It is Geometry that acts as the unifying intermediary...
between the material and the spiritual world.
"This room is not so exquisite as the others."
So there it is,
Granada
with it’s exquisite palace on the hill.
We enjoyed getting to know this charming town and it’s people,
sampling the local delicacies,
and discovering the Alhambra,
the remarkable legacy of the Muslims of Al Andalus
which 19th century American writer, Washington Irving describes as,
 “an elegant memento of a brave, intelligent, and graceful people...
 who conquered, ruled, flourished, and passed away.”