The Alhambra: A Series Of Tales And Sketches Of The Moors And Spaniards

MP3 Audio CD. The Alhambra: A Series Of Tales And Sketches Of The Moors And Spaniards

THE JOURNEY


In the spring of 1829, the author of this work, whom curiosity had
brought into Spain, made a rambling expedition from Seville to Granada
in company with a friend, a member of the Russian Embassy at Madrid.
Accident had thrown us together from distant regions of the globe and a
similarity of taste led us to wander together among the romantic
mountains of Andalusia. Should these pages meet his eye, wherever thrown
by the duties of his station, whether mingling in the pageantry of
courts, or meditating on the truer glories of nature, may they recall
the scenes of our adventurous companionship, and with them the
recollection of one, in whom neither time nor distance will obliterate
the remembrance of his gentleness and worth.

And here, before setting forth, let me indulge in a few previous remarks
on Spanish scenery and Spanish travelling. Many are apt to picture Spain
to their imaginations as a soft southern region, decked out with the
luxuriant charms of voluptuous Italy. On the contrary, though there are
exceptions in some of the maritime provinces, yet, for the greater part,
it is a stern, melancholy country, with rugged mountains, and long
sweeping plains, destitute of trees, and indescribably silent and
lonesome, partaking of the savage and solitary character of Africa. What
adds to this silence and loneliness, is the absence of singing-birds, a
natural consequence of the want of groves and hedges. The vulture and
the eagle are seen wheeling about the mountain-cliffs, and soaring over
the plains, and groups of shy bustards stalk about the heaths; but the
myriads of smaller birds, which animate the whole face of other
countries, are met with in but few provinces in Spain, and in those
chief