Date Prisa! Viene la noche!: Hurry up, night is coming!

GRANADA

We arrived in Granada and got held up by our inability to find the hotel neatly placed in front of us upon stepping off the bus! We had to hurry into the old part of the city to find a beautiful view at dusk. So we dropped our bags and took off.

The walk was an intense uphill climb, but the grafitti kept us content, and so did this doorway, covered over by a cement wall, and uncovered again...WeIRd.

All of the streets and alleyways were like this one; old, narrow, made of stones that could either be a nice massage or a "pain in the foot."

Despite the long walk and the fear of missing sunset, we made it with plenty of time. For some reason I was not into the experience today. Most days I think I would be excited about the sunset or the city or the ancient parts of the city, or just the fact that IM IN SPAIN, but today I was out of it. Hopefully I can get back on track tomorrow. I think it may just be the constant changing from city to city. I can already feel the lackluster coming on and the possibility of each city blending together in my memory, even though they are all so different and incredible.

The view of the Alhambra was great, though.

After the Alhambra, some of team Aldana took a walk along the canal and grabbed pizza, then met the group, who got dinner. Tom and I ordered some tea and split a chocolate-banana crepe...mmm.

From there, it was a slow pace back to the hotel, where a bunch of us just hung out in Bob and Ben's room for the night, laughing hysterically and genuinely enjoying each other's company. Gotta love the Barca kids :)

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!-Called at midnight to tell him he was already a year older-funny how that works when I am ahead of that half of the world!

Al fin de Cordoba: The end of Cordoba

Not much happened this am in Cordoba. We took a walk to get breakfast, then saw an old city entrance, then went to see one of the few remaining sinagogues in southern Spain (apparently the Jewish people were left out of that cultural acceptance thing shared by the Christians and Muslims?!).

This is a detail of the top of the entry to the sinagogue. I really liked the color of the wood, and the layering of the latice behind the main detailing.

This is just one of the major panels of ornate designs through pattern, not to mention of the Hebrew script.

Even the floor of the entry courtyard was super-detailed and must have taken a long time! Impressive.

We didn't have much time at the sinagogue, but I tried to capture a few of the designs that surrounded us inside of the sinagogue. The lower right is a study of the ceiling construction which was both beautiful and functional. On the top left I tried to capture the writing above the entry on the interior.

A guy, who we believe may not have been "all there" came up to me and tried to tell me something in Spanish about the meaning of the words he had seen me sketching, but I didn't really understand. It may be because I was slightly afraid after he entered when we had first arrived, opened his jacket to show us his Jewish star, and left for another room--creepy when you aren't aware of your surroundings or the people you are encountering! What made this experience even more sketchy (no pun intended) was the fact that the man followed us when we left the sinagogue and headed down the street to visit a preserved Andalucian home.

Sarah Green: I am considering this in the design of your future home ;-)

This was the main courtyard in the center of the house, fully equipped with fountain, "doorbell," a well, and ventilation!

This is the basement entry from that courtyard. I really liked how the stairways were treated to become arches underneath.

Needless to say, we all loved the tub of flowers at the side of the house.

So, I mentioned that the guy from the sinagogue followed us? He entered the room I was in followed by the guy at the counter, who put in a cd that the guy told him to play. He then looked at us and said, in spanish..."listen, this music lifts your heart up to the sky." We left creeped out and mesmerized at the same time. The rest of the walk back I expected this guy to jump out of the woodwork, but luckily he didn't, and we walked to Calle de los Flores (a major disappointment in the wintertime), and back to the hotel without a hitch.