We were waken up at 7:30 and took a nice long shower. Our time to enter the Nasrid Palace was at 8:30 so I assumed that we had plenty of time since Alhambra is only up the hill according to the map. But when we went down for breakfast and chatted with the receptionist, she urged us to leave right away since the entrance is on the other side and we still have to pick up our tickets. She hailed a taxi for us and we made it to the ticket booths at 8:15.

I fell in line for the advance sale tickets (quite shorter compared to the regular lline) and felt quite comfortable but when I handed my printout voucher, I was told that it was not good for the day. In my haste in ordering the tickets, I had typed in Oct 28 instead of Aug 28. The lady informed me that she can't do anything and that I have to get in the regular line to get new tickets. I approached one of the ushers and explained my situation. She was very helpful and allowed me to get back to the advanced sales window and get tickets. She just adviced me to call the ticket agency and cancel the original order to get my money back.

We headed to the entrance admiring the ruins along the way. Got to the main entrance by 8:28 but were cut off because the number of visitors are regulated by group. We got in about 10 minutes later and went inside.

The Nasrid Palaces consist of interconnected rooms and courtyards used by the Muslim rulers for different purposes and the designs and carvings on the walls and ceilings are really indescribable. The picture on the left is part of the walls in the Golden Room where the emirs held audiences. The stucco detailing on the walls here is typical for nearly all the rooms in the Nasrid Palace.

The photos below are of the Patio de los Leones which lies at the heart of the Harem section. It was built for sultan Muhammed V in 1378 with a central fountain supported by 12 tame-looking lions. The fountain is connected in the four cardinal directions to rooms via water channels and there are 124 marble columns surrounding the courtyard.

This is the Patio de los Arrayanes (patio of the Myrtles) with the large central pool and was the private residence of Emir Yusuf I (1333-1354). The enormous wall rising behind this is the palace of Carlos V which was built a couple hundred years later.


We pretty much walked through all the rooms admiring the architecture and design as well the scenery outside. The kids took a lot of pictures and clowned around a bit. Since we're on our own, we took our time and was able to see the whole palace. It's hard to take pictures without people in the background though since they're everywhere.

This is part of the Palacio del Portico which dates from 1305. It is a part of the Jardines del Partal and has a balcony with a mangnificent view of the landscape. I almost had a perfect picture until the lady walked into the scene. Grrrrr.

We skipped the garden tour and just went straight to the Alcazaba. It is the fortress which served as military headquarters for the Nasrid dynasty and was built on the highest point of the hill. The original construction had 24 towers but only 6 remain.

We climbed up the ramparts to get a view of the surrounding area and then walked through the center which served as the quarters for the men.

We climbed up the narrow and winding stairwell to the watchtower and took more pictures with the flags and bells in the background. We didn't stay long though because it was a very hot day.

Took some more pictures on the way out and then stopped over at the souvenir shop. We then walked out to get a taxi and was advised by one of the locals to just wait where we were at since the taxis will pass by. Found out later that he had a motive: he wanted to make a quick buck by shining my shoes. I allowed him to go ahead (as a nice gesture) but got irate when he wanted five euros since all he did was brush up a bit. I gave him some loose change (about 1.50) and we all walked to the taxi stand.

We had the taxi take us to the cathedral which wasn't very far. It is surrounded by buildings so it isn't really possible to take a whole picture. We had to pay to get inside but it was worth it. There was a huge side altar in honor of St. James who is the patron saint of Spain. The main altar was undergoing renovations so the scaffoldings covered most of the area.

Walked through the alleys afterwards and took a few pictures of the cathedral's towers. Plenty of souvenir shops which reminded us of Tangiers but a lot cleaner and no street vendors pushing you to buy their wares. Walked out to the adjoining plaza, had lunch at an outdoor Italian restaurant and walked back to the hotel.

Here's a picture of the intersection near our hotel.

Got all our belongings from the receptionist and then headed back to El Puerto. It was a lot better driving through the narrow one-way streets during the day and we were able to make it out to the freeway in no time after getting some gas. The drive was a little shorter since we didn't have to drive through Seville.

Rested a bit after getting back and then headed out to the beach to watch the sunset and for some night swimming.

The kids also decided to create sand sculptures: a bull for Romar, a matador for Theresa and a Spanish fan for Leanne. Well, now we know that they can't quit their day jobs. Romar's bull looked like a spread-eagled turtle, Theresa's matador looked like he had Mickey Mouse ears but Leanne's came out pretty good and she used some seaweed to detail the fan ribs. Played in the warm surf some more and then headed home since we were getting hungry.

Lit up the tiki torches for some survivor shots, took showers and then headed out to downtown El Puerto. As I've mentioned before, the Spanish come out late for dinner and tonight was no exception. We each staked out tables and ended up waiting for about 30 minutes before we were finally seated. Mom bought crabs and shrimp from the counter to speed up our food and I ordered salad and beer from the waiter. It was a very good meal and was worth the wait. Check out the pictures.

Walked through the nearby park afterwards and browsed the stalls for souvenirs. Clowned around a bit with Theresa getting on Romar's shoulders, Romar piggybacking on Theresa and Theresa piggy backing on me. They also got to ride a mini-BMW scooter. ha ha ha ha. A very fun day.