Albert's Greenhouse

Southern Spain is a fascinating place - heavily Catholic right now, but with a history of Moorish art and architecture. The Alhambra in Granada is a huge palace and fortress complex completed by Muslim rulers of Spain in the mid to late 14th century. It's filled with beautiful architecture and beautiful gardens. It's also probably one of the biggest tourist attractions in all of Spain.


We visited on a cold, rainy day in early spring as part of a medium sized tour group. A tour group composed primarily of retired Americans who might have been expecting Southern Spain to be a little more sunny and a lot warmer, but who gamely trudged up and down the cold and slippery stone steps to see what must have been a very beautiful place in more gentle weather.

The plants here are nothing particularly special, but the garden design is striking. The use of water and geometric forms is particularly pleasing. Fountains and ponds are everywhere.


The Palacio de Generalife - or Summer Palace - next door has perhaps more beautiful gardens on a smaller scale. The most recent garden restoration there was completed in 1951, and the palace was originally connected to the Alhambra by a covered walkway, which would have been useful.

In the end, the entire tour group survived several hours in the biting cold and rain, and though the term "Alhambra" became a pejorative one for the rest of the tour, I think that we left with not just an impression of extreme cold, but with an appreciation for the grandeur that we had seen.