The Alhambra in Granada, Spain

On July 28, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Spain14 Comments

We really enjoyed traveling around Southern Spain and one of the highlights of our trip was staying a couple of days in Granada and visiting the Alhambra fortress and palace. Before traveling to Spain, we weren’t aware of how much of influence the Moors had on the region. The Alhambra is a magnificent example of Moorish architecture and the colorful details are amazing.

In the late 15th century Ferdinand and Isabella used the Alhambra as their royal court. During that period, there were some changes to reflect the Renaissance tastes of the time. What is amazing is that they found the original beauty of the Islamic palace so beautiful that they didn’t destroy most of the existing structures, but just augmented it. The gardens that were added are still absolutely breathtaking and you could literally spend the entire day just walking around them.

One of the most interesting features of the Alhambra is its use of water and the unique delivery system. Water is brought from an aqueduct and then runs down, even along the stairs, to feed the various fountains and ponds on the palace and fortress grounds. We enjoyed all of the fountains, but the Court of the Lions, with its fountain surrounded by stone lions is one of the most interesting.

Water Coming Down One of the Chutes of the Aqueducts in Alhambra

You will definitely need a full day to see everything that the Alhambra has to view. There is the palace itself with its stunning mosaic walls and the fortress walls with the spectacular views of Granada. No matter what time of year that you visit the Alhambra, you will want to purchase your tickets weeks in advance or you won’t be able to get them. In order to maximize our time in the Alhambra, we ate lunch at the Hotel America that is actually located on the grounds of the Alhambra. The food and atmosphere was amazing and was well worth the somewhat higher prices.

Looking Up at the Outside of the Alhambra

No visit to Granada would be complete without a visit to the Alhambra. Washington Irving made this palace and fortress famous in his book Tales of the Alhambra and it is definitely deserving of the notoriety. The history of the Alhambra is so fascinating that we definitely recommend getting a book on it as there are so many interesting facts to learn about the wonderful place. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is definitely worthy of the honor.

The Residenz in Würzburg

On April 24, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany7 Comments

Taking a tour of the Residenz in Würzburg, Germany, was definitely a highlight of the weekend that we spent in the quaint little city. You can usually count on finding a palace, castle, and a cathedral or dom in most historic European cities and Würzburg was no different. The palace, which is called the Residenz, is one of those truly beautiful places that is definitely worth visiting. We were there during the winter, so we didn’t get to enjoy the beautiful gardens, but the interior, with its Baroque/Rococo architecture and artwork more than made up for not walking through flower lined paths.

There were many Prince-Bishops who resided at the Residenz during the time that it was constructed, although the end result is not disjointed or lack cohesion. The foundation for the palace was first laid in 1720 and construction was completed around 1780. As with many cities and palaces in Germany, the Residenz suffered tremendous damage during World War II and reconstruction work continued from 1945 to 1987. Great care was taken to restore it back to as close to it’s original grandeur as possible at a great expense, but the result is magnificent. In 1981, the Residenz was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, which is richly deserved.

The grand staircase is by far the most spectacular part of the palace. With it’s Baroque artwork, amazing frescos, and 3-D reliefs, there is so much detail to enjoy. Unfortunately were not able to take any photos within the palace, but we enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful artwork. Outside of the palace, the Franconia fountain is the dominating feature. It pays homage to the artisans whose artwork adorns the palace walls and ceilings.

Würzburg may not be top on most lists of places to visit in Germany, but we found that it was definitely worth a stop. Obviously there is more to see than just the Residenz, but we would highly recommend taking a tour if you get the opportunity.

Bergpark Wilhemshöhe

On March 24, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany7 Comments

The very first trip that we took while staying in Germany was to the city of Kassel where we spent most of our time at the incredible Bergpark Wilhemshöhe. There are so many wonderful sights to see on the grounds of the largest European hillside park. Due to it’s size of 590 acres as well as the fact that it sprawls across a steep hill makes it a strenuous day of walking, but the views and historic sites are well worth the effort. The park is made up of four major points of interest, Schloss Wilhemshöhe, Lowenburg Castle, Hercules Statue, and the fountain and water feature that cascades down the hillside.

As you enter the sprawling estate, Schloss Wilhemshöhe looms large across the landscape as the prominent feature for anyone who enters the park. As the one-time summer home of Kaiser Wilhem II in the early 1900’s, this magnificent palace was originally built in the 12th century as a monastery and used as a castle for centuries before becoming the summer home of the aristocratic elite. There is no doubt as to the reason that this site with it’s beautiful gardens is still the site of many fairytale weddings, which was also the case on the day that we visited.

For us, the Lowenburg Castle was one of the highlights of our visit. First of all, it was the first true castle that we visited while staying in Germany. It has all of the typical features that one would expect of a castle such as the turrets and fortress walls. In order to reach the castle, you have to walk through a relatively dense forest, which certainly fosters the images of the stories of the Brother’s Grimm who came from the area and whose museum can also be found in Kassel. Walking the grounds of the castle certainly provided all of the images that we had imagined when we envisioned ourselves travelling to Germany.

Hercules Statue is certainly a site that cannot be missed. Mostly due to it’s prominent location at the top of the hill and presiding above the cascading fountain, it can be seen from throughout the park. To reach the statue itself, you must scale a long series of stairs the climb steeply up the hill. We chose not to go all of the way to the top, mostly due to the fact that we had a single day in Kassel and we were quite exhausted at this point with all of the walking that we had done through the park. It was certainly an impressive sight to see.

Unfortunately

for us, the cascading fountain was not running at the time that we visited, but it was still wonderful to see and we could imagine how impressive it must be when it is running. The thought that the statue and the cascading fountain were created in the early 1700’s is something truly hard to imagine. We can only imagine what it must have been like for the elite of Germany society to visit to walk along the grounds and see such an amazing sight.

Kassel was definitely a worthwhile location for our first exploration of Germany outside of Frankfurt. Specifically Bergpark Wilhemshöhe was truly incredible to see with everything that is located inside of this incredible UNESCO Heritage site.