Alhambra

Of the quarter-of-a-million photos I estimate were taken at the Alhambra today, a disproportionate number were mine. Probably people kept taking photos because, like me, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. These Islamic palaces, built in the 14th century for the last Muslim emirs in Spain, are beyond pictures and beyond words, with glorious architecture and gardens, exquisite mosaics, intricate carvings and breathtaking views over the white courtyard houses on the next hill across to the nearer purple and further snow-capped mountains. Water runs throughout the buildings and gardens, in fountains, runnels in the marble floors, down the middle or sides of steps, into pools that reflect the buildings and sculpture.

The forecast promised rain today but we got sun and most of my pictures were of water in the sunlight. A lot of them were trying to get an angle on a fountain in the Generalife gardens that would fit the colonnade at the edge of the garden. This was the best.

We spent the evening blipmeeting in a tapas bar with guiri and F. A great evening chatting, drinking and eating until late. What fun - we must do it again!

This week's challenge word: repetition.