Drop Dead Gorgeous

When it comes to visiting places of so-called historical interest I find myself a good deal more at ease in mosques, cathedrals, temples and the like than in palaces or the mighty residences of the great and good (and, I suppose, I'm most at ease in places where ordinary folk made their passage through this vale of tears. Oh, and homes of writers, especially ones who didn't make a lot of cash.) It's the rather obvious fact that palaces and great houses are about power and prestige, and the asserting thereof, that leads to a certain degree of discomfort on my part. Of course, mosques, cathedrals and temples are, sadly, not always untainted with a dreary sense of religious triumphalism, but at least they usually point in the direction of higher things.

But for all my reservations about palaces and their like I'll make an exception in the case of Al Hambra, which we had the pleasure of wandering around this afternoon. It's just so astonishingly, ravishingly beautiful that it genuinely seems to transcend the flawed creatures who possibly might have believed it reflected their greatness. In fact, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one and assume they knew a place like this could only reflect the greatness of the Creator. There are just too many spots within it that are about being beautiful for their own sake - glimpses of a paradise for all men and women who seek to manifest the same delight in symmetry and balance in their own lives.

Just as a matter of interest, Noi, practical as ever, asked our guide what they did for toilets back in the fourteenth century. It turned out that they had a first rate system of sanitation, based on the running water that is used so effectively throughout the palace, and which was used to carry away the human waste. Definitely heavenly!