Spain: Episode Malaga

As I wrote to my friends in the IC group, Malaga was a short, half a day stop. This is a city just relatively recently turned famous, which is the home of:

...Bruna, my friend from IC, who is studying there and who just found out she was accepted in the MC of Ireland. :)

...Picasso. It hosts the museum of Picasso as well as some temporary expositions like the art collection of Pierre Matisse, the son of Henry Matisse, the famous painter.

Antonio Banderas was also born here. And he has his signature in the famous El Pimpi bar, next to those of Tony Blair and Paloma Picasso.

Malaga has a very nice commercial area, that was dressed in festive clothes at the time I was there. This was because people were getting ready for the Semana Santa or Holly Week, which is one week before Easter.

...you cannot see, but there are chairs out in the street witing for people who paid to see the processions that take place during this week. Every day a statue (called Passo or Trono) like the one below is carried on the shoulders by people who pay to do it. And if it rains, the statues cannot come out, so people who paid to carry them are left without their investment or the honour. :)

Ana tells me it's a very impressive thing to see and that the music that accompanies them- which is funeral music- is quite hard to take.

Malaga also has a mini-fortress called Alcazaba...

...with an old Roman theatre, built in the 11th century. It was ordered by a king of Granada.

One can also see the port and of course lye on the sunny beaches.

No Spanish city is complete without...a catherdral.

...and nice squares.

At the end of the day I had a blast with Ana and her friend. We went to a live music concert with this great band that was playing covers... Older fellas, but with a lot of charisma and energy to make a real show and keep us singing and dancing with every song. The biggest victory of the night was to take a picture with them, especially the guy below who was the best looking in the pack. :P

...and boy did we get wild that night. After all..it was our night...and girls just wanted to have fun. :)

A quote I truely, really really believe in...

Thank you Anca. We DO feel and think alike about it...

'The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, gift, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude.
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.'
(Charles Swindoll)

Back to Spain, Granada: Alhambra

Alhambra is just one amazing and magical place to be. In order to truely know it one needs hours and hours of study with guides. There are so many details to be discovered and history to be heard that it's overwhelming. Its tour takes at least 5 hours as it leads you on a very fascinating and relaxing journey from muslim sultans' Granada to Christian kings who all added buildings and legends to the place.

I am almost sorry that my battery ran out and I only got to take so little pictures...I missed so many things...like the sultan gardens and a big part of the fortress...:( But the images and stories are still alive in my mind...

(view from the Alhambra)

The name Alhambra comes from an Arabic root which means "red or crimson castle", perhaps due to the hue of the towers and walls that surround the entire hill of La Sabica which by starlight is silver but by sunlight is transformed into gold. But there is another more poetic version, evoked by the Moslem analysts who speak of the construction of the Alhambra fortress "by the light of torches", the reflections of which gave the walls their particular coloration. Created originally for military purposes, the Alhambra was an "alcazaba" (fortress), an "alcázar" (palace) and a small "medina" (city), all in one. This triple character helps to explain many distinctive features of the monument.

(Lion's fountain)

There is no reference to the Alhambra as being a residence of kings until the 13th century, even though the fortress had existed since the 9th century. The first kings of Granada, the Zirites, had their castles and palaces on the hill of the Albaicin, and nothing remains of them. The Nasrites were probably the emirs who built the Alhambra, starting in 1238.

(Water played a very important part in the architecture and is present everywhere in intricate fountains)

The Alhambra became a Christian court in 1492 when the Catholic Monarchs (Ferdinand and Isabel) conquered the city of Granada. Later, various structures were built for prominent civilians also military garrisons, a church and a Franciscan monastery.

(Nazari palace)

Emperor Charles V, who spent several months in Granada, began the construction of the palace which bears his name and made some alterations to the interior buildings.

(Detail 2: The geometry of the place is very intricate and one can take a tour just to study this)

During the 18th century and part of the 19th, the Alhambra fell into neglect and was to see its salons converted into dungheaps and taverns,occupied by thieves and beggars. "Thus bats defile abandoned castles, and the reality of Spanish criminals and beggars destroy the illusion of this fairy palace of the Moors;" writes Richard Ford. As the crowning blow, Napoleon's troops, masters of Granada from 1808 until 1812, were to convert the palaces into barracks. During one retreat they mined the towers and blew up part of them. Two of them, the Torre de Siete Suelos and the Torre de Agua were left in ruins. And so the incredible neglect continued, until 1870 when the Alhambra was declared a national monument. Travellers and romantic artists of all countries had railed against those who scorned the most beautiful of their monuments. Since that date and up to now, the Alhambra, protected, restored, cared for and even improved, has been preserved for the pleasure and admiration of all.

(Anexe to a palace: el Partal)

For more on Alhambra see: http://www.andalucia.com/cities/granada/alhamhistory.htm

(Sultan's gardens)

Strike over :)

Well...since last time the news is that I have finished my dissertation and handed it in.
This is mine and Erika's victory picture.

I have been to London with the SIFE team at the National SIFE competition in Canary Wharf. Here, each of the SIFE UK teams had to present their projects. Runners up get to go to the European competition in Warsaw and winners to New York. We did not win, Nottingham Uni did, but the competition and the speaches of the winning teams were amazing. Better than I could imagine any students present.


And last but not least I got a "job" :P Since July you can find me in London, in the national support team of AIESEC UK, managing events. :)

More pictures of the SIFE Team:

On blog strike...

...due to dissertation stress. Be back with great Spanish stories after Friday :)

Espania- Episode Granada 21-31 Mar: Places

After going to Granada- the city in the south of Spain in the province of Andalucia- home to Ana and Ivan and many other great people...there is nothing much objective you feel like saying. It just crawls up your soul and leaves you wordless. Which is why, many times I was telling Ana that she lives in heaven. For so many reasons. Which I will try to show you in pictures...and with some descriptions of the city and the history especially.

This fist post I will show you places mostly. Meet Ana- my great guide. Her stories really gave live to the place.

Granada was first settled by native tribes in the prehistoric period, and was known as Ilbyr. When the Romans colonised southern Spain, they built their own city here and called it Illibris. The Arabs, invading the peninsula in the 8th century, gave it its current name of Granada. It was the last Muslim city to fall to the Christians in 1492, at the hands of Queen Isabel of Castile and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon.

The name Granada is ancient and mysterious. It may mean "great castle", for the Roman fortress which once stood on the Albaicin Hill. When the Moors came here, the town was largely inhabited by Jews, for which they called it Garnat-al-Yahud - Granada of the Jews. The Jews are said to have been one of the first peoples to settle in Spain, even before the Romans.

First of all...this is the cathedral..from the middle of the city.
As is the case of most Christian buildings in Granada, the Cathedral was built on the site of the former Mosque. The site of the former Mosque has since been replaced by four buildings: the Cathedral, the Royal Chapel, the Sagrario, and the Merchants' Exchange.The most striking fact about the cathedral is the incredibly long time it took to build. Work on the cathedral began on 15th March 1523 and it was not completed until 1704, 180 years later.


But what is great about this city are all the other churches that you can actually see that they were built in the places of old mosques. So that is why they have towers like this- they belong to the mosques.

Islamic influences can be felt everywhere: in the architecture and the horseshue arches which you'll see later...

..in the tiny streets with oriental souvenirs...where you can dress yourself head to toe in Morrocan or Egyptian like clothes, buy shishas and what not...

...in the tiny cobbled streets that give the city a sensation of cosy...almost like a village...

...in monuments...

...and private gardens of artists that have travelled the globe, but decided to stay in Granada because it felt like a homy heaven on earth.

And how can you not love it when you see houses like these everywhere...

And intimate squares like this one...

About the people in Granada I will tell you some other times. But everyone is laid back and relaxed- just enjoying the many cultural events outdoors you can find everywhere...

And the view is gorgeous everywhere you are!

Granada has a few famous neighborhoods, all spread out on hills. Some examples are:
- Sacromonte (or the gypsy neighbourhood- where gypsies sing their hearts out in the streets and some live in caves),
- Albaicin: a fascinating labyrinth of narrow streets and whitewashed houses with secluded inner gardens, known as "cármenes". The Plaza de San Nicolas, at the highest point of the Albaicin, is famous for its magnificent view of the Moorish palace. This is the great fortress called Alhambra.

But all about Alhambra in the next post...:)
If I could chose one of the next 7 wonders of the modern world...I would cast a vote for this place for sure!