Tag Archives: Spain

Fortification of Alcazaba

The original fortification at Alhambra is the Alcazaba, which faces west and overlooks the city of Granada. Indeed, high up on this hill, views are stunning in all directions:

View from Alhambra

Overlooking Granada from Alhambra

The exteriors of Alhambra offer some really great photo opportunities:

Alhambra, Spain

Alhambra, Spain

Alhambra, Spain

So, too, do the interiors:

Alhambra, Spain

Alhambra Arabesque

A word about the equipment I used on this 54-day cruise:  Don’t let anyone tell you that you need a DSLR or expensive travel zoom to take good pictures. The images captured throughout this series were taken with a Panasonic ZS-3. This little gem, now long retired, only captured JPEG images. It had a 10-megapixel 1/2.33″ (6.08 x 4.56 mm) sensor fed by a 25-300mm (in 35mm equivalent) f3.3-4.9 Leica lens. The whole thing weighed about half a pound, 229 grams to be exact, and fit in my shirt pocket. Near the end our voyage the ship’s photo department held a contest for passenger-taken photos. The contest had three categories — People, Landscape, and Architecture. Contestants were limited to one entry per category. Entries were printed on 8×10 stock. Passengers voted on the entries, and the top three photos in each category were awarded prizes.

The results, going up against much more sophisticated equipment? A first place finish in one category, and the third place finish in another.

Alhambra, Spain

MS Prinsendam left Madeira on April 3 heading for a scheduled docking in Tangier, Morocco two days later. We didn’t make it. Approaching the Strait of Gibraltar, we encountered near-hurricane force winds and high seas. When we turned south toward Tangier the ship immediately rolled probably 20 degrees or more from the sudden broadside of wind, and everything not nailed down slide off tables and shelves, crashing onto  floors throughout the ship. The captain ordered MS Prinsendam turned back into the wind and announced that we were bypassing Tangier for our next port of call, Málaga, Spain. How bad was our passage through the Pillars of Hercules? I put together this little YouTube piece incorporating both still images and video I took from the Crow’s Nest bar above the bridge of the MS Prinsendam:

Ursula and I wouldn’t be spending much time in Málaga, however. We had another destination in mind. Less than two hours from Málaga is the fortress-palace of Alhambra. This place positively drips with history. Alhambra’s foundations date back to A.D. 889, when the Romans built on this site a small fortress. Construction of the current palace began shortly after 1238, commissioned by Muhammad I of Granada. Nearly a century later, in 1333, Sultan Yusuf I of Granada dessginated Alhambra his Royal Palace, and in 1492 (does that year ring a bell?) Alhambra was occupied by Isabella and Ferdinand. It was here, at Alhambra, that Christopher Columbus gained his commission from Isabella I to voyage across the Atlantic.

Alhambra, Spain

Alhambra’s 14th Century Moorish origins are reflected in its Islamic architecture. Below is a an image I took of arabesque carved into some of the plaster arches:

Alhambra, Spain

Of course, no palace is complete without exquisite and meticulously manicured gardens:

Alhambra, Spain

Alhambra, Spain

And no palatial garden is complete without impressive  fountains:

Alhambra, Spain

Alhambra, Spain

While Alhambra is a palace in appearance, its surrounding walls are a reminder that it also served as a fortress:

Alhambra, Spain