Photos from our Garden Tour of Southern Spain.

25 Mar '05 8:05 am

I'm slowly working thru our spanish garden photos for the new spanish gardens section and couldn't resist posting a few sneak previews. I feel that after all the forum upgrading I've done I'm allowed to post some photos Smile

The photos below are from our Southern Spain Garden Tour last year.

We were in totally the wrong garden season but the gardens were still amazing. Moosey would have loved ALL of the gardens we visited in the 10 days we were in southern spain - each garden having its own resident cat population...

One small garden in Ronda must have had 50 cats running around!

25 Mar '05 7:43 pm

I have been asked to print a retraction - The photos displayed above were taken on a 'Romantic Holiday in Southern Spain' and not a 'Garden Tour of Southern Spain' as stated above Smile

30 Mar '05 7:02 pm

What beautiful photos Cool

...especially of the lovely Bex and the water feature! Please keep up with the romantic hols Wink

and post more pics! Very Happy

5 Aug '05 1:49 pm

Yes, Eggy, please more pics. They're great! I love the blues too, lovely tiles in that garden. Nice to see you Bex. Smile

18 Apr '06 11:23 am

What nice fotos.
What month were you folks there?
My wife and I lived in Granada for a year a few years ago and
did quite a bit of travelling around to the surrounding towns and villages
during this time. I must say though, the greatest bonus was that every Sunday
admission to the Alhambra and the Generalife was gratis. I almost wore my camera out
in a frenzy of clicking. I never could get enough.
I found the old city one of the most...no THE most romantic place in the world. Well,
of all the places I have visited anyway. Strolling through those narrow, high-walled shady streets dappled with filtered sunlight and perfumed with the faint fragrance of jasmin gently wafting to the various corners of the Albaicín is almost more that one could stand.
There is an overwhelming Moorish influence there in the architecture and habits of the people. The private gardens are not easily accessable, but you can easily view many of them through black, wroght-iron gates from the outside. The aspect that always gripped me was the enchanting sound of the fountains that were always present in them.
The remarkable Generalife gardens (part of the Alhambra Palace complex) is certainally a place that one will not soon forget. It has all the elements required for beauty and romance. There are different sections separated by high, green "walls" of trimmed cypresses with Moorish arches cut into them, giving the effect of real palace or city walls. There are small fountains placed throughout and along the outside of the grounds is an absolutely breathtaking panorama of the palace on the other side of the clove and further below the plain which surrounds the city. Truely moving. There are all sorts of different flowers and fruit trees there and the water feature that runs through it is also cleverly done.
There is a mini summer palace there with a long, narrow pool framed with gorgeous flowers including a huge bougainvilla.
I don't know what got into me there...hahahaha...Just fond memories, I suppose.
Thanks for the fotos, they were nice to see.
cheers...

21 Apr '06 10:08 am

I could imagine your description .Sjoerd ,as you have a wonderful ability to convey the atmosphere of places...This wonderful website enables those of us who have not had the experience of travel to nevertheless 'see' other places from a creative garden-artist`s view .
Dixie.

21 Apr '06 10:49 am

Thanks Dixie,
I agree that this is a wonderful website and the way that it is arranged is really nice in terms of being able to see what others are doing in their gardens and seeing what they have seen in foreign countries.
Speaking of travelling...I visited your country about eight years ago. What a revelation THAT was! I never imagined how lovely and varied a country New Zeeland was.
We landed in Aukland on the weekend of a famous boating race and there wasn't a bed in the city! We eventually decided upon buying "Magic Bus" tickets, as they were good for six months, and made an extended tour of the north and south island. Magic Bus was perfect for us at that time because you could literally stop where you wanted get picked-up again when you wanted and even be dropped-off at the backpackers, hotel or campground of your choice -- and be picked-up there when you were ready to travel again. Marvelous, that.
Aside from the pristine beauty of the country, I found the people there uniquely genuine...so open, hospitable and friendly. It was remarkable actually. I loved the hikeing. It was astounding to take a walk in a rainforest, for instance, and have the trail come out at a glacier at one point!
My wife and I have always said that if we would ever choose to make a different country our home...it would be New Zeeland, without a doubt.
Cheers...

21 Apr '06 1:13 pm

How lovely that you and your wife were able to visit here .You would understand the NZ dialogues on the forum, having seen the country for yourself. The two islands are completely different .A great many Dutch folk settled in our North Island town after the war ,and now that they are retiring age, have built a beautiful village ,where anyone can buy a home.The gardens are meticulous ,and absolutely beautiful.
I enclose a photo of our last week`s trip to the South Island.
The rivers are a gorgeous shade of blue, being glacier formed ,and the rocks have a ruggedness that is breathtaking ...to those with 'seeing' eyes.
We were speechless to see a squealing group of 10 girls hurtling down the Kawarau river clinging to toboggan -type boards. I quickly clicked the camera,just as one girl fell off her board -you can see her fartherest away in the photo .A couple of others then moved her into the side of the river, and took her on their boards .....and they all continued on down the river .
Dixie

22 Apr '06 12:44 am

Hi Dixie,
My goodness...you really were right on time, weren't you? Spectacular foto!
Just in time for the foto and to see the small drama unfold. That must have been something.
I love that sort of "wild" countryside. We lived in Alaska for a few years and much of the landscape looks just like that. It is breathtaking in the summer as well as during the winter months.
Where was this area near, on the south island?
---

22 Apr '06 7:54 am

The photo is near Queenstown .This is where for some reason ,people throw themselves from a bridge to the canyon below ,held by elastic .(Bungee Jumping) It didn`t really have anything to do with gardening ,except perhaps, I would LOVE to have some of the South Island rock features in my North Island garden. My sister also visited the south island separately with a tour group. We were comparing photos... and believe it ..we had both taken the same photo of a pretty little stone house we both had admired ...it was in Clyde ,and had roses growing all over the front yard.
Dixie.

Photos from our Garden Tour of Southern Spain.

Photos from our Garden Tour of Southern Spain.

Retraction : Romantic Holiday not Garden Tour

Romantic Spain Gardens

Spanish Gardens

visualising

NZ

visiting NZ

Spectacular Foto

South Island grandeur