by Bradley

          So...I still recommend going up Montjuic for many of the things it has to offer but the castle is pretty weak as far as castles go. To be fair it is free to visit, is rich with history and would be awe-inspiring if you have not seen any other castles in person. But when you compare it to others, it pales.

          It is plain, geometric, flat, straight lines - just boxy. It really looks like a fortification, it would perform its intended function well, it just isn't the prettiest. A couple things I liked were the moss growing on the side of the walls, the views of the city below, the view of the sea (except where you see an industrial looking port) and the multitude of cannons. Check out the pictures below to see what I mean.

by Bradley

          The Alcazaba in Malaga is a fortification that is attached to the Gibralfaro castle. For a fortification it was surprising to me, it was very low to the ground as opposed to how high you had to climb to get to the castle. It was also surprising due to the fact that it is very decorative inside.

          The walls are decorated in many places and many of the ceilings are patterned and distinctly different from each other. There are also several courtyards with gardens or reflecting pools that make it a very inviting space.

by Katherine

          As I've mentioned before, the Alhambra was the main reason I wanted to visit the south of Spain; it's just so dang gorgeous. If you go, I suggest you see every section, which includes the Alcazaba, the Nasrid Palaces, the Partal, and Generalife. Everything is beautiful and requires ample time to explore. One thing you must keep in mind is that the Nasrid Palaces requires a timed entry ticket, meaning that you must line up for entry no later than the time marked on your ticket. However, everything else you can explore at any time during the day.

by Katherine

          I didn't know much about Malaga before we visited other than one of my friends' aunt lived there. She had been, and said it was absolutely beautiful and Ryanair conveniently flew there from Nuremburg so Malaga got written into our plans. It certainly helped that when I was doing research I came across pictures of the Alcazaba, which is my kinda castle. It's beauty made me really want to visit. 

          One thing you need to know, you always hear people talk about the Alcazaba, but really there's two fortifications that actually do require separate entrance. The Gibralfaro is the castle that sits higher on the hill, while the Alcazaba sits lower on the hill. Though connected by castle walls, there is no way for visitors to go from one to the other internally. Since we got a late start and weren't exactly sure where we were going, we ended up doing them on different days. We started with the Gibralfaro, which might very well have been the prettiest part of the entire trip.

by Bradley

          We couldn't believe that Tim and Stephanie had not been to Hohenzollern, especially Stephanie because she used to live fairly close. It was a must see because it was a new experience for all of us.

          It sometimes looks like it is floating in the clouds because it sits high above everything else around and the clouds are actually below it. One of the coolest parts of this castle was that it has been rebuilt 3 times at the same location, if I remember correctly. And you can see different parts that are from the older castles.

by Bradley

          Katherine found this castle, Burg Eltz, when she did research for our trip, Tim and Stephanie had never been and I don't think they had heard about it either. Since it was a new experience for all of us it made it that much more fun.

          The really unique part of this castle is that it is actually located in a valley; every other castle we've seen is on a hill for obvious defense reasons. We were told that it is located where it is because it protected a valuable trade route along the water. To me, it looked like a tiny creek running along side it but I imagine that it was probably a much larger river back when the castle was built. I still prefer Tim's explanation of why it's in a valley "It was probably some prince who was just confused."