Real Alcazar

The Real Alcazar is the moorish royal palace in Seville.  Maybe my favorite part of the entire trip.  The interior of the palace has ornately carved roofs and pillars with walls covered in decorative tiles and mosaics.  You can picture it filled with low divans and cushions.  I could happily live in the Alcazar.  That's saying a lot because most palaces aren't actually that livable!

If the interior is beautiful the gardens are even more so.  I cannot begin to describe the peace and tranquility that covers the gardens.  The gardens are set within huge walls and although there are busy streets just on the other side it's impossible to tell.  The walls block all thought of the outside world and you're left in this place that is absolutely perfect.  The gardens are a series of courtyards built around descending fountains.  There are benches and hidden nooks where you could spend the whole day undisturbed.  Beyond the structured gardens there is a wooded area that is made up of tall trees and mossy grass.  Here too you find small fountains and benches as well as peacocks that roam free.  The prevailing sound is the humming of doves broken only by the soft calls of other birds.  People walk the gardens in silence reveling in the beauty.  I spent my time there imagining all of the history that must have taken place inside the walls and wandering around in a sort of trance trying to take it all in.  I hope you enjoy the pictures but they don't come close to actually being there!

  

Heath and his favorite fountain