Alhambra

While the Alhambra is not the only jewel in Granada's crown, it is one of the brightest.

First I feel obligated to give these tips to anyone planning a visit. If we had known all of these helpful hints, I think that our visit would have been less stressful at times:

• Book your Alhambra tickets at least two weeks in advance.
• Book the tickets for a morning visit and make a day of it.
• Wear Sunscreen
• If you start in the center of town leave at least half an hour to get up to the Alhambra, the hill is quite steep and it is a pretty walk.
• Leave the Generalife for last, not first (like we did)
• Get in line for the Nazarí at the time of your ticket, if you get in line before they will send you back to the end of the line.
• Keep your tickets with you at all times, they are checked constantly
• I personally would not go during summer if at all possible.

We had booked our tickets way in advance (3 weeks) unknowing of the fact that it was a holiday weekend (All Saints Day was on Friday). Our tickets were for entering the grounds at 2pm, entering the Nazarí (the most photographed part of the Alhambra) at 3pm, and leaving the grounds at 6pm when they closed for the afternoon. 

We decided to see the gardens of the Generalife first. They were beautiful, but we had to cut our visit short and run to the other side (the grounds make a "U" shape around a river) to get in line to see the Nazarí. There are plenty of things and gardens to see on the way to the Nazarí palace so next time we will book a morning ticket and go to the palace first. Then we will have plenty of time to explore the gardens of the Generalife. 

Here was one of our first views of Granada from the hill on which the Alhambra sits. It is a view of the Albayzin, a glorious medieval neighborhood where you can get lost on the narrow windings streets and see a decent view of the Alhambra itself, but more on that in my next post.

Like I said the Generalife gardens are on the opposite arm of a "U" to the Nazarí palace, and affords a good view.

Even on the 2nd of November the gardens were still blooming.

The garden are planted in the romantic style I know and love, so I enjoyed them very much.

Just look at the artistic way that sidewalk is paved (click to enlarge).

There is smaller palace located in the Generalife which gave us the first glimpses of how beautiful this place is. The whole Alhambra is a mix of relaxing views/gardens and the beautiful, awe-inspiring complexity of the decorations inside.

These next photos are the views that the above tourists were photographing.

Click to enlarge this next photo. There is layer upon layer of fine little details expertly carved into the gypsum. I love the 3D effect at the top of those columns. You will see that same effect mirrored in huge domed roofs. There is so many designs and textures that there is little hope that you could see every detail, yet the whole combination is breath-taking. Just look at those window screens!

Really it is a place that needs to be visited and marveled at.

A place that photos can only capture the smallest essence of it. Hopefully the photos will wet your appetite to go and see it. I will let them speak for themselves.

The famous fountain of the lions.

High and intricately carved domes. Like the bases of the columns, it was a dome made out of a lot of little domes.

Frankly, after seeing all of that intensely textured beauty the gardens were a rest for the eyes.

There were, of course, much photographed Pomegranate trees with the fruits spilling out.

It is hard to put together a post about a place such as this. This is the post with the most photos in my 2.5 years of blogging, but it was hard to narrow it down to 29.

 I hope you enjoyed the highlights of my visit. Have you ever been to the Alhambra? What was your favorite part?

Adventures in Spanish

 So There is a local fruit store that is on the way home from the metro, and they have very good produce. Usually, I get in and out without any real spoken interaction. This, sadly, is my goal because although I speak Spanish, when I get nervous the weirdest stuff comes out and I make no sense at all. 

Spanish has two things that English doesn't really have: A sex for every object (ex: table is female), and a complex grammer system. There is different ending to a verb for almost every person (I, you informal, you formal, we, they), a lot of irregular verbs, and many different future and past tenses. I will not get started on the slang and idioms.

OK, so I am at the fruit stand where Paco has recently discovered that I am an English teacher and he wants to learn English. He is being a friendly business man and likes to talk about our "shared" interest, or he is flirting, or he wants me to teach English for free, OR a combo of all above. We never, however, talk in English. This is good practice for me as most of my life, even in Spain, is in English.

I do not speak Spanish well when I am nervous. I get even more nervous when strangers can hear me (I kind of know Paco). Spanish people like to listen to me speak Spanish and have no qualms about openly listening/staring. This phenomenon leads to my husband and I speaking mostly English in public. If we speak English, we are less likely to be impeded by the people trying to listen to us (they literally get in your way or slow down to listen). I have many theories about this: it could be that my accent is drop dead sexy in Spanish, or it could be that my grammar mistakes are too hilarious to miss. Like this one:

Paco: Did you bring your own bag as usual?

Me: Yes I brought my own bag, but I bought a lot of fruit. I weigh a lot, may I have two bags?

Paco gives me a look but continues to pack the fruit in one bag. It is important to note that there is a woman behind me in line buying three bananas. I am buying a lot of produce. I have never felt glutinous buying produce before.

Me: Can I have another bag for these two things? I weight a lot and I have to walk a bit far. 

I hear the giggle from the woman behind me, and who can blame her. At this point my brain wakes up, gives me the correct grammatical version of the verb and I mutter it. "it weighs" Spanish people do not mutter, they well have never heard me.

Ahhh, adventures in another language. It does help to have sense of humor about your mistakes. I hope mine made you smile. Do you havelanguage mishaps to share?

Two year Spain-iversary

Sunny Spain is finally here!

 Also sometime after I was coming home from work I realized that today is the date that two years ago we flew into Madrid to begin our life here.

I have only taken two photos so far today. Looking back at my first anniversary post I realize that the top two things I love about Spain is the Sun and the roses! How appropriate! I have looked back at the list of the top 10 things I love about Spain, and I still agree with myself on every point, go and have a look.

I bought myself Hydrangeas, Basil (not shown) and potting soil on the way home and indulged myself in some gardening. The weather has just gotten warmish again and it feels marvelous! It is finally warm enough to sit out on my terraza while I work. The container plants really set off the white walls and the tile. Did  mention that we live across from a park?

I might have tried to photo shop the wrinkles out of my table cloth. Domestic goddess I am not.

Ok now for the serious journal entry.

I am so much happier this year than last year. Don't get me wrong, but I know that I don't "fit in" in Spain, and I am beginning to wonder if I ever will. The fact that my husband is starting to look for work outside of Spain comes as a little bit of a relief. It is not that people are unfriendly to me. Spaniards are a fairly friendly people. 

What I think it is, is a combination of things: My Spanish family lives really far way (Barcelona) and I just do not have as many Spanish friends as I thought that I would. In fact, I seriously surprised myself by jumping feet first into the ex-pat community. I used to judge people a little bit when they clung to an ex-pat community when they moved to a new country. Boy did moving here ever open my eyes! 

Other people have written this far better than I have, but here is my go at explaining the ex-pat feeling. There is something about being an ex-pat that only another ex-pat can understand. It does not even have to be somebody from your country or culture. You are "transplanted" people and that is enough to start the bond. If you are a crafter, you know that when someone shares your hobby there is always something to talk about even if you have nothing else in common with them other than the hobby. The ex-pat community is so much more than that. Moving to a different country and culture changes you. It changes you in big ways and in small ways. It changes you in so many different ways it is not even possible to measure the change.

There is homesickness sometimes, and that can hurt like a physical pain. But there is something beyond homesickness is the real obstacle (for me, at least). That is the point when you come to terms with the fact that you are never going to be the same. OK change is a way of life, but this is more. You have pasted the point when you are ever going to "fit in" to either culture. You are too much a part of each culture to ever go completely back into the other culture. There is never going to be one home. You are never going to know all of the slang and the jokes and the cultural references. You will always be a little on the outside.

Some people handle this observation with grace and eagerness. I, however, have not. It is still something I struggle with. It is something that scares me down to the bone when I think about potentially moving to a third country and possibly learning a third langage. (Fit in even less!) If I let it, the fear could paralyze me. However, I am slowly coming to terms with this. I am finally beginning to make my peace with the fact that I am unique, and that is a good thing.

 Ok so back to why I am happier this year:
I am finally mastering the Spanish language (which is still as big struggle as most of my life is in English and I have to make time to practice). I am no longer in terror of going out to do day-to-day interactions. 

I finally live in an apartment with enough space that both my husband and I can work from home if we needed to. I can see tress from every window, and I have a little container garden started on my terraza that is big enough for more than a table and four chairs. This is very important to me, as living in such a big city is something I am not sure I will ever like. I have my oasis here.

For the first time in months I have hope for my business that I am trying to get off the ground, and hope that my husband can finally find a job (and a country to settle down in). I do not know how nomadic people do it (besides take their family and friends with them).

So spring is here and life is good.

Sorolla musem

There is a precious little museum in the center of Madrid. It is the former house and studio of a painter who is, strangely, not really well known outside of Spain. Joaquín Sorolla had a wonderfully impressionistic style and way of capturing the light in Spain that is utterly captivating. I did not attempt to take photos within the museum, click on his name above or do a google search for his work it will be worth your time.

The first I ever heard about the museum was from the "Notes in Spanish" podcast. Which is a podcast in Spanish by a Madrileña and her husband from Oxford (UK) about Madrid and Spain. If you are learning Spanish, I can not recommend this podcast enough. Just listening to their conversation has improved my Spanish immensely. I tend to listen to it while I am walking or on the metro to "warm up" my Spanish for the day.

When my beautiful Sister-in-law and partner came to Madrid over New Years, we only had the time to go to one museum out of the many in Madrid and we chose the Sorolla. I am so glad that we did. It is the perfect size for a museum, not too small, not too big. The rooms of the house (mansion) are filled with light, the beauty of his art and his collections. But your visit will start with the gardens...

The gardens, by the way, are free. I am sure that they are magnificent in Spring, but even in winter they are something to see. What I have here is just a taste of what you can expect.

He was a man enchanted with the Alhambra and the style of his garden reflects this.

The garden is not large (by US standards) but there is art tucked away everywhere you look.

I highly recommend a visit. 

Has anyone ever been?