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.

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.

Una noche en la ciudad muerta: A night in the dead city

Tom was thirsty as we searched desperately for a cafe, bar, restaurant...something? ANYTHING! We are hungry, poor college kids in Cordoba on a Monday night--and NOTHING is open in Cordoba on Monday night...at least not where we live in the old city.

We FINALLY found the only food place open in this spanish city...A Chinese restaurant-imagine that. Afterwards, we took our time walking back, and were sidetracked by the only bright light we saw on the walk, which happened to belong to this plaza and old church.

This plaza is to the left of the church from the previous picture. Ben and Felipe are admiring the construction...or are they plotting to break in? We'll never know! The plaza was pretty cool especially at night with the shadows of the arcade from the street lights.

One of the few buildings with any light was La Mezquita, itself! This picture was taken after the group split up before the bridge over the Guadalquivir River. Bob, Felipe, Ben, Billy, Rob, Vic, Sean, and I headed to "the other side" to see what we could find. Cordoba must have SOMETHING to do at this time on a Monday night!

Indeed it does...MORE PLAYGROUNDS! We really are drawn to them in some mysterious way! Billy commandeers the ship through sand dunes and Rob maintains that HE is "King of the World."

We found a big block, which pretty much had no purpose until we came along and made it a pedestal for this fabulous photo. Then we left the playground and made way for the wet, unlit path along the Guadalquivir.

While we really wanted to cross the bridge that was under construction, we managed to keep ourselves under control and NOT to fight the guard. As we continued on our way, I did a double take..."Guys?! What the hell is a BLOBJECT?" Clearly, no one knew...we still haven't figured it out..."Give me your best 'I'm a Blobject' impression!"

Disclaimer: No trees were hurt in the taking of this photo. As we were walking through a grassy area (in which we found yet ANOTHER fantastic Spanish playground), Bob came across this GINORMOUS palm branch, and Ben found...no surprise: an orange. After Bob chased Victoria and Ben with it for a bit, we decided the moment should be caught on camera, and this is the result.

Well...since Cordoba, like most cities, used to be fortified with walls, there are a few towers remaining. We climbed the super-steep stairs of a different one, and were going to be illegal and go inside the locked gates, but we are pretty much big wusses and we scared ourselves from talking about the possiblities of killers and such before running away to this tower, the next one along the river. This is basically a re-enactment of all of those high school movies when they show people running out of school on the last day before summer...I dont know why, but I guess jumping off a tower is kind of the same as jumping off the front steps at school!? Sean, Ben, Vic, and Rob were awesome at it, too-don't you think?!

I know, I know-this looks totally fake and I probably found it online, right? Wrong. This is one of the molinos left over along the river after being captured on film with an extended exposure time since it was so dark and there weren't any lights to capture this ruin otherwise. It was about 10 or 15 feet from the sidewalk where we stood, and the vegetation was probably about 10 feet down...we were trying to do the math to see if the boys could jump to it to explore, but we factored in the possibility that they would fall through the roof, slip on the jump, or miss completely and that = not worth trying...but it was exciting to consider! I have to include the fact that this was an innovative machine as well as a building which used its natural resources to its advantage...maybe the current world should take a hint.

La Mezquita: The Great Mosque of Cordoba

CORDOBA

Home of La Mezquita...a huge mosque dating to the 900s, it was added to multiple times by different rulers. When the Christians regained control of the area in the 1200s, it was named a Cathedral, and a section at the center of the mosque was constructed into a Christian church. I think that most of us, as architecture students, were astounded that people would attempt to desecrate such a great religious structure with little or no regard for the spaces it is surrounded by. There are no transitions of note between the two types of architecture and the church creates a block in the center of the open forest of columns supporting 2-tiered arches. It was sad and amazing all at once.

The entry to the Mosque starts before the Mosque itself, in a plaza full of orange trees with a complex irrigation system throughout.

The first step inside brings immediate awe at the full height screen bringing light into the entry-way.

From the screen, you can sit on the bench and strain your eyes into the dimly-lit expanses of the mosque all the way to the mihrab wall. Your view is bordered by the columns and double arches on either side.

A look in either direction will awe you as you stare into the grid of columns that covers the plan of the mosque and lifts the ceilings beyond view.

All the way at the back is where the actual heart of the Mosque sits: the Mihrab. This niche is etched with scripture and ornately decorated in the utmost detail. While not well-lit, this is the destination point of Muslims because it is the part of the Mosque closest to Mecca, the direction in which they pray 5 times daily.

I refrained from taking many pictures of the Christian part of the mosque/cathedral, which I now realize robs any viewers from drawing their own conclusions about the cathedral inside. This, however, was one of the poorer attempts at integrating the two types of architecture.

On a much brighter note, the detailing was inspiring. I wonder how long it must have taken to design such details and if the architects did both the general AND detail design...I don't know if that type of detail is even done anywhere these days. This also has a Christian cross thrown in there under the left arch.