Andalucia, Day 2 (my birthday)

The climb up to Al-Hambra was rather interesting, to say the least. We somehow ended up on the walking track (no driving) up the hill towards Al-Hambra. I was out of breath most of the climb but I was actually glad we walked up...the walking path was actually beautiful. Running along the side was this lovely little river, which I later learnt was the River Darro. Inside Al-Hambra were also plenty of fountains, reflecting pools and Royal water passes and you can hear the sounds of the water all around. It turned out these water features of Al-Hambra was the highlight of the trip for Adam.

This is the side of the Palace of Charles V.

And this is the inside. This palace and some of the Christian buildings were built in the 16th century, after the christians rulers took over.

But for us the main attraction was the Islamic architecture in the Nasrid Palaces, built in the 13th century. I had never seen anything like it. There are so many photos, I wish I could put it all up to show you just how beautiful this place is..

Breastfeeding in Al-Hambra. Too weird ? hehe. She doesn't care. This girl has breastfed ALL OVER the WORLD, literally. Now focus your attention on the beautiful walls. This is just a tiny, hidden little corner of the Nasrid Palaces. Now imagine all of that beauty and more, all over the place, up the wall and ceilings.

Some of the intricate details on the walls. Subhanallah, isn't it brilliant?Everything must've been sculpted by hand.

The view over the Court of the Lions. The Fountain of the Lions at the moment is under restoration work. The lions have been carefully removed because they have been deteriorating from water from the fountain and the fact that it is exposed.

The lions can be viewed here in this building. Sorry Ernie no photos of the lions because it's on special exhibition and they don't allow any photography in there..apparently since the restoration work they've discovered new things about the lion - for example they have slight differences in the details and they've been made in pairs i.e. pair of similar ones.

Can you believe the view from up there? When Mia saw the view she went 'Wow!'. Seriously.

Adam kept checking out where the water was flowing, the water channels, stopped to listen to the sound of the water, looking out for the fish in the reflection pools etc...He was the Hydraulic Engineer for the day..

Al-Hambra was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

That night we had dinner at the same restaurant as yesterday. Food there was really delicious and the owners are this wonderful couple. We had some yummy local spanish food for my birthday dinner. Seafood is quite reasonably priced here, and very fresh. The owners suggested another very local dish - paella, for our dinner the next day and we agreed and couldn't wait to taste it.

I had the best birthday I could ever wish for. We retired to the hotel room, ready to rest when I discovered another birthday surprise waiting for me.

From the most romantic man I ever met.

I am very lucky, indeed. Alhamdulillah...

p/s: I have no idea why my text is coming out underlined and I can't seem to fix it. oh well. hope it's not distracting you too much.