Part 4 - Right across the way is the Royal Palace, where Queen Isabella received Christopher Columbus when he returned home from his discovery of the New World. One cannot help but see the power - both church and state- that was concentrated in this relatively small geographical area. All the money that was eventually plundered by Spain was brought here and used to develop the wealth of their reign. One wonders why Spain who had such power and sophistication lost the race to dominate the world, instead of Britain, and we think it was a case of over reaching their abilities too quickly, similar to what has been occurring in the U.S. We also recently watched The Tudors at home, the BBC series on Henry VIII and understand a bit better after seeing the seat of the Aragon's in Spain, why Catherine of Aragon thought she was forever and always Henry's Queen - she came from royalty which was every bit as sophisticated as England during the time.
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