El resto de la noche: The rest of the night

We did a quick tour, search for but couldnt find a plaza, watched nature at work...twice. and ate principes and oranges at sunset. We also visited the gypsy street in the old islamic sector, and Mon and I did a little bit of bargain-hunting. A nice shirt, a skirt, two bracelets and a pair of shoes for less than 30 euro

PS..Granada had a crazy nightlife...but not as crazy as Madrid. Victoria and I took a roommate picture before we went out to dinner at Restaurante Arrayanes (a Moroccan restaurant) with a charming owner, who doubled as our host and waiter.

La montana: The mountain

So...yesterday while we watched the sunset and the Alhambra...we thought it was disappointing that we were at the wrong place to see the sunset OVER the Alhambra, because we were North of it. "The perfect place to watch from," we said, "would be the mountain BEHIND it." Well, it didn't take Christi long to realize that we actually wanted to try it, and it took her even less time to tell us that she in no way shape or form encouraged such an activity, ESPECIALLY at sunset, since there would be no lights at all.

With this in mind, Team Aldana (minus Brian), who had been wandering the Generalife together, decided that we were going to climb the mountain behind the Alhambra. We had exactly 40 minutes before we had to meet the group at the bottom of the mountain, so we made our way up the road, despite some of the male-minds wanting to trespass, or jump fences to go straight up the mountain...

We actually found a path (though not at all what Americans would consider a good walking path, being unpaved and at an angle greater than 45 degrees), and proceeded up said path until we hit a marked point. From there we dropped what was dragging us down on our climb (namely backpacks, jackets, etc), and literally RAN toward the west side of said mountain (we climbed up the south side), cameras in tow. The results were as follows:

THE COUNTRYSIDE-to the east

THE COUNTRYSIDE-to the south

THE COUNTRYSIDE-to the north

LA ALHAMBRA-to the west

TEAM ALDANA -minus one AL (Bri) and DANA (me)

THE SUN THROUGH THE CLOUDS

Yeah--it was pretty much perfect up there...and it was also pretty much 4:52 and we had to be down the mountain in 8 minutes!

Sooo...we took one of the shorter paths down...I went first, and Ben went last--"wave Ben!"

And THIS was the bottom of the path...who knew they had cacti in Spain?!

So we go down the hill singing "We are Aldana," and using our mad track/cross-country running skills (plus bags and jackets), and we manage to get to La Alhambra JUST as the only bus pulls in to go down the mountain... WHAT LUCK! We jump in for a euro, and ride down the mtn, passing Billy and Felipe on the way, and make it to the plaza...5 pm. And it's a good thing for Christi that she had set up a tour afterwards, too, because the sunset wasn't too far off...

La Alhambra-Generalife: The Alhambra-Generalife

Generalife is the summer house for the palace rulers...which seems odd since it was only a 10 minute walk back through town...but I guess if I had the choice of being on top of the first plateau of the mountain or being further up, I'd choose to be further up, too! From the other end of this photo, we could look out onto the hill and see where gypsies have made caves in the side of it and where the old wall to protect the city is still partially standing.

Why on earth is this random, dead tree worth taking a picture of...?

A love-story of course! "The story goes that this Cyprus of the Sultan was a testimony of the love of an Abencerraje horseman, and the wife of Sultan Boabdil." Apparently, the two met in this garden under the tree. It is difficult to find out the precise story, or if this translation is correct. The Abencerraje was a tribe of people including Boabdil's mother, who was the 1st wife of Boabdil's father. After her, the father had a new wife and wanted to wipe out the Abencerrajes so that Boabdil, from his first marriage, could not become the new ruler, so he killed 3o-something tribe-members, but eventually Boabdil still became one of the last rulers of la Alhambra. I don't know where the love story fits in...somewhere after this whole massacre thing, I'm sure...but it's still a love story...I think.

The next neat thing about Generalife is the waterfall stairs. Water flows from the top of the stairs along the railings. It also runs underneath the walkway to the center of each rest circle on the staircase. That is some pretty amazing plumbing for you!

This is the last shot of Generalife...I really like the way the geometries step back from each other. They are not expressive or intricate through curves and strange angles, but instead through the layering of simple geometries, they create a complex whole.

La Alhambra-a continuacion: The Alhambra continued

Even after I left Palacio Nazaries I couldn't get away from it! I got out of that portion of the Alhambra with about an hour left before our meeting time for lunch, so I headed into the Alcazaba, which was its own city before it was expanded later on into what became La Alhambra. At the top of the first tower that I got to, I found Sean and Victoria, and we all decided to try a "15-minute sketch" of our view from the tower of Palacio Nazaries. Because you limit your time, it is suggested that you will pick out the most important lines and geometries of what you are trying to draw. Below is my 15-minute sketch of the view.

I am really happy with it. While it has lines that are not at the perfect angles or some conflicts of scale, the general proportions and shapes are easily distinguished. One thing that makes drawings easier is actually drawing from a pciture, such as the one above, because it is easier to see how your lines physically compare at approximately the same scale. The problem with this is that it often loses the emotion that comes from sketching from the space, itself. This is especially true when you begin to incorporate shadows and textures.

Granada, from a guard tower in the Alcazaba...I really love that the building are all very unique, but that they maintain the white facades and tan roofs. It is picturesque (obviously).

When the Alcazaba was a town, this entire space was for the homes of the citizens! It is amazing that an entire city consisted of so few people. Although it may be misconstrued how many people actually lived in these homes since people lived with much less then than most US citizens do today, especially regarding the size of rooms. The way that this part was retored was really interesting, to me because it gave a good idea of the way houses were layed out and how people adapted to the space they had. I would have liked to be able to walk inside the walls that are blocked off to get a better idea of the way those spaces would feel, but it was really cool just the same.

After visiting the Alcazaba and the Coliseum-like building next to the Palacio (which really just doesn't belong!), we headed through the gardens toward El Generalife. Above is yet another example of the time and effort put into the design here. I believe these gardens were put in more recently, though I am not sure if they are to replace a previous garden or if the land was originally used as farmland or for another purpose altogether.

The water, the "tree-bushes," my Aldana boys, the sun that finally came out...it was an awesome afternoon.

Bob was super-enthralled by the tree-bushes..."Ohmygod...It's like a carpet!"

Then we headed up the hill to the Generalife.

La Alhambra-Palacio Nazaries: The Alhambra-Nazaries Palace

Wow--today was great! We got up early and "furiously hiked" up the mountain to La Alhambra where we walked quickly to the Palacio Nazaries for our entry time. We had a sketching assignment here (How could we not with so much inspiration in this city inside of a city?!). Bob Ben and Tom gave the lecture on Alhambra, then we were let loose to sketch, and explore the grounds of the Alhambra, starting with this, Palacio Nazaries.

Within the first three rooms (only defined by the change in levels of the floor and/or ceiling, as opposed to physical walls between them), we could already see damage that had been done between being occupied and re-done by different rulers. After each ruler died, the next ruler either built additions, re-did parts, or just plain destroyed the old palace and started over. This caused some serious issues when it came to restoration because who is to decide which part(s) of which palace(s) and from which time period(s) should be considered most important and worthy of rebuilding and restoration?!

In any case, this room was the 4th in the entry sequence, and the most well lit and well-restored. It looks out over the old islamic part of the city. You can see some of the amazing detail that represents islamic architecture. I couldn't begin to imagine how long these carvings must have taken.

A few rooms later, after crossing from the early public spaces into the transition courtyard, we find ourselves in a more private space called the Ambassador's courtyard and Ambassador's chamber. This is where I spent the majority of my time sketching. The above window is just one of about 8 in the Ambassador's chamber of the palace. You can see it in the sketch below.

I spent nearly 2 hours standing and holding my sketchbook working on just that one drawing--but I am really proud of it now that it is done. The hardest part was trying to get the proportions correct for the drawing, and after that, the detailing was ok except for the Islamic script. I was afraid that if I missed the tiniest curve in a line that it wouldn't read correctly. Luckily, as I was sketching the courtyard, a woman came to up to me and asked me if I spoke arabic because she saw my sketch. I told her I didn't and asked her if it was correct. She said yes and continued to tell me that it is the repeated phrase, "En el nombre de Dios"-in the name of God.
This is probably one of the two most well-known views of La Alhambra in the Ambassador's Courtyard. Water is a huge part of Islamic architecture. I sat underneath the arcade on the other end of the pool to sketch the facade above me in the picture because it was raining for most of the morning and I was tired from standing for those 2 hours! It was strange to have people walking by and looking at me like a real artist. I remember being so in awe of people drawing when I was younger, and today that was me...weird. I even had an Arab family come over to me and ask to take their picture with me! It was pretty funny, really. Everyone joked later that it was not because of my sketches, but probably because I'm blonde-haha.



While I would love to show you the OTHER most well-known view of The Alhambra, I'm afraid that I can't because of the construction that it was undergoing. The space, however is Patio de los Leones. This dome is adjacent to the court. Once again...THE DETAIL! I can't even explain. I won't try. Hopefully you can even get SOME concept of how incredible this place is.

This is a shot taken after passing through el Patio de los Leones, back toward it. The sun had just come out when I walked through the court and it seemed like a perfect moment and a perfect way to show the uniqueness of every square inch of this place...it's like fingerprints: no two are the same.

After walking through the private sections of the palace, I came to the gardens (I'm not sure if these were private or public). This is near the end of my walk through Palacio Nazaries, but once again shows the way that water and the movement and longevity represent our path in life and whatnot...it's quite moving.