The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly on the Tourists

And so it did. It rained a lot while we were in Spain. March is their rainy season, apparently. It poured the entire first day we were in Madrid. It rained in Toledo. It rained in Salamanca. We were lucky to have better weather in the southern parts of Spain, beautiful Sevilla, Granada, and Cordoba. But take note of the color of the sky in these pictures.

Spain was a beautiful country, filled with cathedrals and palaces and fabulous plazas. I especially loved the tiled walls that were seen in the palaces, a definite Moorish influence.

There is still a strong Islamic influence on Spanish architecture. Many of the cathedrals were built as mosques, then taken over by the Catholics after they threw the Moors out (which Isabella and Ferdinand did in 1492. They were then able to turn their attention to other matters, including giving this guy Columbus some money to finance his trip to India.)

Check it out! Click the image to see a larger photo (warning: when I say "larger" I am not kidding. These pictures are enormous!)

View of Medieval Toledo	Cathedral Toledo	Bridge with foundation dating to Roman era
Plaza Meyor The town square Salamanca	La Giralda, Sevilla Once a minaret, now part of a cathedral Twin to minarets in Marrakech and Rabat	A Pretty Street Sevilla
The Spanish Square built for the 1920 World Expo Sevilla	The Tower of Gold along Rio Guadalquivir Built to protect Sevilla	El Alcazar Ninth Century Palace Sevilla
Alhambra Vista Granada	Patio de los Arrayanes Courtyard of the Myrtles at La Alhambra Granada	Patio de los Leones Alhambra, Granada The fountain in this courtyard used to keep time. At some point, the fountain was taken apart to see how it worked. It no longer works.
Generalife Gardens at La Alhambra	La Mezquita Once a mosque Now a cathedral Cordoba	Madrid's Plaza Meyor

My Morocco
Vacation Main Page
Back to Jen's Home Page
Send Email