Our tour guide for the afternoon, Elena, was waiting for us when we got back from lunch. We headed off to the Alcazar -- a castle started in the 1300s by King Alfonso II. We took a different route to get to it than we did to the Mezquita that morning. We entered the old city through the Almodovar Gate and walked around the Jewish Quarter.
Arriving at the Alcazar, there was a bit of a long line. Being a licensed guide, Elena was able to pick up our tickets and whisk us in. The outside of the Alcazar is severe and military, while the inside is quite beautiful -- especially the gardens.
We wandered all through the Alcazar. Special points of interest included a Roman sarcophagus and a room now used for civil weddings, replete with multiple old mosaics on the wall. The castle keep was also of interest, as it is where the great explorer Christopher Columbus first asked the King and Queen for money to explore trade routes to the west.
In another part of the castle, we saw old carvings in the wall done by prisoners of the Spanish Inquisition. Then we went to the gardens and walked around, enjoy the early spring flowers and plants. The huge sculpted cypress trees were very impressive, and of course, as a Spanish garden, there were plenty of fountains and water features. Each time
we see these gardens/courtyards/inside fountains, we joke that is how we should do the back yard.
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