This is one last photo taken right after the exam, showing the effects it was starting to take on my fashion sense. I splurged on these way too expensive red shoes that are so high quality that you can feel every stone in the street as you walk. This particular day I wore them with a lime green shirt and the rainbow colored scarf you can see here.
Kate’s parents and brother came to visit the last week of November so they kept her busy while I finished up my school work. I went up to Madrid with them on the 1st so that I could get Charlie from the airport. While in Madrid we just did a lot of wandering around and shopping but didn’t really take any pictures. Sorry.
On Sunday we headed back to Úbeda and on Monday attended a school excursion with David. He drove us out into the middle of an olive grove so we could check out the ruin of a monastery that was carved out of the hillside around 600-700 A.D. This monastery was particularly special because it had decorative designs carved into it unlike the other simply constructed structures of its kind. We wandered in and out of the building, checked out what was left of the monks’ garden (mostly incense and fig trees), and I did my best to translate David’s explanations of it all to Charlie. During the visit, one of the Austrian ladies that was with us decided to try an olive straight off the tree and ended up gagging and spitting for a while. I, of course, forgot my camera.
On Tuesday we headed down to Granada to have the BEST food ever at a Lebanese restaurant and then see some really good flamenco singing and dancing at a schmancy theater. That night the receptionist at our hotel managed to get us a last minute reservation at the Alhambra for Wednesday morning so we got up bright and early to do some ultra tourism. Here come the pictures...
First of all, in case you didn’t know, “The Alhambra is the old Arab fortified city in Granada where the Arab kings lived before the Christian Kings defeated them and forced them to leave Spain, ca. 1500 AC (they had been there for 800 years).” That’s a very simplified version of the story that I found on the internet somewhere. It may or may not be completely accurate.
Our hotel was only a 15-minute walk from the Alhambra and we discovered that to get there you have to go down this lovely shady path. It was a good way to start the day.
As you can see it was a beautiful day but still managed to be cold as hell.
Charlie observing the other tourists... well, not really. He was at first and then he stopped when he saw me get the camera out, so I made him pretend like he was still observing the tourists.
The Alhambra is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I really wanted to live there so I decided to try to take it over with some good old-fashioned guerrilla warfare.
While waiting for an hour before we could go in we found this poem by Borges on one of the walls. I made the mistake of trying to show off by translating this poem to Charlie. It didn’t work out so well because I didn’t know one key word that was repeated several times. Supposedly, Borges was blind when he visited the Alhambra and wrote this. Here’s the poem:
“Alhambra”
Grata la voz del agua
a quien abrumaron negras arenas,
grato a la mano cóncava
el mármol circular de la columna,
gratos los finos laberintos del agua
entre los limoneros,
grata la música del zéjel,
grato el amor y grata la plegaria
dirigida a un Dios que está solo,
grato el jazmín.
Vano el alfanje
ante las largas lanzas de los muchos,
vano ser el mejor.
Grato sentir o presentir, rey doliente,
que tus dulzuras son adioses,
que te será negada la llave,
que la cruz del infiel borrará la luna,
que la tarde que miras es la última.
And here is a fairly reliable translation of it. I don’t agree with it completely but I’m too lazy to do it myself right now:
Alhambra
It is sweet the voice of water
to whom black sands have overwhelmed
it is sweet to the concave hand
the circular marble of the column,
sweet the fine labyrinths of water
between the lemon trees,
sweet the music of the zéjel,
sweet the love and sweet the prayer
to a God that is alone,
sweet the jasmine.
Vain the alfanje (1)
against the long lances of the many,
vain being the best.
It is sweet feeling or having the feeling, pained king,
that your sweetnesses are farewells,
that you will be denied the key,
that the cross of the unfaithful will erase the moon,
that the afternoon you are looking at is the last one.
(1) Alfanje is a kind of arabic sword.
The place where the poem is written is outside the entrance to the Alhambra in this covered patio. There are all these cool leafy vines that crawl up the columns and all over the ceiling.
See?
The light was gorgeous that morning. I told Charlie this picture he took wouldn’t turn out because you can’t photograph into the sun. I was wrong.
Looking like a couple of thugs defending our turf. No wonder people kept looking at us weird.
After waiting for an hour, we finally went into the Alhambra. If you see the entire thing and actually pay attention to what you’re looking at, it could take an entire day. I saw a good portion of it last year and it took several hours. The morning we went there were a b’zillion people there already and tourism isn’t really our thing, so we managed to see just the parts we wanted in about an hour and a half. We didn’t have a tour guide or read any signs so we ended up having to use the book about the Alhambra that Charlie bought to identify just what we had taken pictures of later. So here goes:
Entry bridge into the Upper Alhambra. Has been described as one of the most advanced military structures for its time
These were just some cool white trees that I liked.
Garden of the 'Secando'. View of the Convent of St. Francisco.
Me looking at some fish in a water pool in the Garden of the Secando.
Charlie says, “As far as I an tell, this is one of many ‘Torre de Capitán’. The outside wall of the complex.”
Inside the Mexuar Oratory, part of the old royal house, looking over Granada.
The Albaycín, the oldest part of Granada outside the Alhambra, as seen from Mexuar Oratory.
Fachada de Comares (built in between the 13th and 14th centuries. Completion attributed to 1369)
Same, with view of doorway.
Charlie doesn’t remember where he took this, but it’s a close-up of the design on some wall. Anybody read Arabic?
Patio de Arrayens (south gallery). Greek and Roman influenced, commissioned by Mohammed V. View of Sala de la Barca (north gallery).
Sala de la Barca
Entry into the Sala de Embajadores, the last and greatest Muslim court in all of Europe. This part of the wall is highlighted with gold leaf. All the designs have great meaning, incorporating astrological motifs with Qu'uran quotes, bestowing the Caliph with Allah's blessings.
Wall inside Sala de Embajadores
Entry into Sala de Embajadores
Entry into Sala de Embajadores (close up)
El Patio de los Leones, the main part of the harem.
The interior wall and ceiling of one of the rooms just off the Patio de los Leones.
El Patio de los Leones as seen from the Sala de los Reyes. The cool thing about this patio is the heavy Benedictine influence. It was built in 1362.
Ceiling of the Sala de los Mozárabes.
Floor of Sala de los Abencerrajas, the fountain runs out into the Patio de los Leones.
Mirador de Lindajara
Fountain in the garden of the Mirador de Lindajara
A reflecting pool in front of Palacio del Partal in the Jardín del Partal.
We decided to block the view of this cool fountain in Jardín del Portal.
Posing near this shrubbery structure in the Jardín del Portal.
Can’t a girl tie her shoe without having her picture taken?
Some little birds enjoying persimmons. If you zoom right into the center of the picture you can see a little brown bird with his head all the way inside the fruit.
Outside view of Sala de los Abencerrajas.
A pretty fall tree on the path leading out of the Alhambra.
The rest of the week we spent hanging around in Úbeda, checking out the monuments there, eating Spanish food and looking at the view off the terrace. Then we went back to Madrid so that I could see Charlie off and get on a plane to Switzerland. To be continued...
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