Tapas and Moorish Architecture...Life Doesn't Get Much Better

Location: Granada, Spain














Granada is a city located in Southern Spain, roughly 5 hours by bus from Madrid. It's one of the major sites to see in the South, so I decided spur of the moment to catch a bus after work for a weekend trip. I was also hoping for a respite from the cold Madrid weather, but that didn't pan out.

The directions to the hostel had an explicit warning that it was hard to find. Well, here I am getting off a bus around midnight (at least an hour after check-in had closed) trying to figure my way around. Apparently this part of town is considered a maze. Here it is on google maps.
It's actually even harder than it looks because most of these streets aren't marked and/or are incredibly narrow, making it impossible to see ahead.

Amazingly enough I found it without getting lost (thank you to the shuttle driver who dropped me off nearby). My elation was quickly deflated because no one answered the door when I rang the bell. Or the next time. Or the next. This went on for 20 minutes until someone answered...meanwhile I'm weighing my odds of catching a cab back into town and finding another place. Not fun.

Thankfully the night improved significantly when I walked into my room and found my roommates to be two Australian girls. Go figure - a room with 10 beds and only me with two Aussie girls - what are the odds?

I awoke early Saturday morning to take a walk around and get a feel for the city. This is typical of the narrow and windy streets around my hostel.
This is the first square I came to. As judged by the abundance of crowds, clearly I was wandering around at the Spanish rush hour. But then again they do like to party until 7am, so maybe I shouldn't have been too surprised.
And just a few minutes away was this river which transverses Granada from west to east. Convenient when one gets lost in that part of town...
And another one which shows off the the narrow one-way road, river, and old buildings.
Some local graffiti not far from my hostel. I was impressed to see something this good on a random wall tucked away in an alley.

Alhambra
By far the largest attraction in Granada is the Alhambra, which is a palace built in the 1300s during Moorish rule. The name itself translates to "red fortress", which refers to the red clay on the outer walls.

(Pepesaura, 2005)

For roughly 100 years it housed the Muslim rulers before falling into the hands of the Christian Spanish when the city was conquered as part of the Reconquest in 1492. This event is especially seminal because it marks the end of a more than 500 year dynasty where the Moors ruled the majority of modern day Spain. And the Battle of Granada was the last great battle of Spain's reconquest.

This was taken shortly after entering the grounds. It sort of looks like the start of a hedge-maze (something out of The Shining maybe?), but is the opening walkway. Still pretty cool though.
This is the exterior view of The Palace of Charles V, built in 1527 and intended to be a permanent living residence for the king.
It's main highlight is the impressive inner courtyard, which looks like this.
This picture was taken overlooking some of the outer ramparts and inner ruins.
There were also great panoramic shots of the city on the other side of the same tower, showing a beautiful day. You can't tell by the pictures, but it was also the coldest morning of the year. I myself was wearing at least 4 layers.
Because the Moors controlled Spain for so long, one can find their architectural influence in several buildings scattered throughout the country. I had already seen some of the Moorish style, but the Alhambra is unparalleled in scale or detail.

Likely the best gem of the entire ground is the Fuente de los Leones (Fountain of the Lions). It's considered to be the most impressive piece there, and I admit it does have a commanding presence. Unfortunately it was under renovation when I visited, but I was able to find some great pics of it online.

One side note - it was also inside a nearby reception room where Christopher Columbus received his support to sail to the New World.

This is probably my favorite picture of the entire grounds.

(Jamesdale10, 2008)

An inside shot of the palace which shows off the incredible attention to detail which is so characteristic of the Moorish architecture.
Another pic of one of the ceilings.

(Wires, 2007)

Right outside one of the palaces called The Partal. This also illustrates the sometimes frustrating aspect of having strangers take your picture. Every now and then you get one who can't even get it level (NOTE TO PHOTOGRAPHER: Thank you for taking my picture, even if I do bitch about it).
The same courtyard on a sunny & clear day, with a more talented photographer.

(Jamesdale10, 2008)

One of the side gardens along the outer wall which overlooks Granada.
Another ceiling which shows off their attention to detail. It still blow me away to this day.
The Alhambra also has lots of fountains and flowing water, as shown below in one of the courtyards inside the Palacio de Generalife.
The grounds also include a large park with wildflowers, roses, orange trees, and imported English elm. It takes easily an hour to walk through, and my favorite part was the large outdoor theater.

Tapas
The other famous highlight in Granada is its tapas culture. Actually, the tapas culture is alive in many parts of Spain, but Granada is well-known to have the best dishes and largest portions. Historically, the tradition came about when servers would include a small plate of food on top of drink glasses to keep flies out of the patron's drink. But of course restaurants started to specialize in certain dishes to distinguish themselves, and it took off from there.

So how's it work nowadays? Traditionally (and still in Granada), one orders a drink in a restaurant and receives a small plate of complimentary food. And since the drinks aren't particularly expensive (roughly 1.50€ for a glass of wine or beer), it's a really cheap way to eat if one enjoys several rounds of drinks. The only downside is the customer doesn't get to pick what they're served. Each place typically has a half-dozen different dishes which they rotate between customers. And usually the server makes an effort to never repeat a dish if they've already had it.

This form of dining quickly became my favorite Spanish culinary experience. It's really cool to go between several tapas bars and have a drink with free food at each. Kind of like restaurant hopping and ordering a single appetizer at each restaurant, except it's free.

Back to my story. I asked the guy running the hostel for tapas recommendations. Actually, I specifically asked where the local Spanish go to get away from the local college crowd. He thought for awhile and gave me the name of a place which he thought matched my description. The only catch was that it was a little hard to find. The Aussies and I fortunately stumbled upon it with little problem, but it was indeed not well advertised. It was at the end of a dark alley with only a very small and unlit sign outside.

When we walked in, we were literally the only people there except for the bartender. We had arrived around 8:30pm, which may sound late but is quite early for dinner by Spanish standards. The girls were new to Spain and thus found this quite odd, but having lived in Madrid awhile, I talked them into staying for at least a drink. It quickly picked up; a half hour later there were no seats, and after another half hour there was almost nowhere to stand.

One of my favorite aspects of this bar were the restrooms. They were nothing special on the inside, but I got a chuckle from the door signs...
We actually wound up staying at this place the whole night because the drinks were cheap, the atmosphere was fun, and the tapas were amazing. This picture is of our first plate, and is comprised of toasted bread with a Spanish-style omelet called tortilla (no relation to the Mexican food) with a spicy mustard sauce.
The dishes became more and more elaborate with Spanish ham and even seafood, but I was having so much fun I didn't remember to get any pictures of them.

The following day, I ate at a restaurant called La Bella & La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast). The beer (and hence the free tapas dish) cost a whopping 2€. Gotta love Granada!
Fortunately the traditional tapas culture is also alive in Madrid. But in other parts of the country, tapas are not free and one is expected to pay for them. However, one can pick what they want, making it analogous to ordering an appetizer. Barcelona is a good example of this for instance. Madrid is roughly half and half, meaning half tapas bars give food for free and the other half don't. But once one learns which are free, it's a really cool experience!

Additional photos from the trip can be found here.

The Coolest Monastery EVER!

Location: El Escorial, Spain













Around early December (yes I am quite far behind) I hopped a local train out of Madrid to head North about an hour to El Escorial (full name is Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial). I knew very little about it, but a coworker recommended it for a great day trip. It was raining badly so I didn't want to venture too far out of Madrid, so I figured "what the hell" and just went. Maybe it was my initial low expectations, but it ended up being one of my favorite spots in all of Spain.

As I mentioned, it was raining like crazy in Madrid. The easiest way up North was to hop on a local commuter train which runs above ground. As we were leaving the city limits I noticed we were beginning to climb slightly, and within a half an hour the rain had turned to snow.

This seemed strange, to say the least. It was the first time I'd seen snow in Spain at all. Perpetually clear skies and lots of sun come to mind when I think of Spain...but here it was snowing right out my window. Other than wishing I had dressed a bit warmer, it was kind of exciting.

Although El Escorial is the name of the town, its most famous landmark, the Monastery, also goes by the same name. This provided me quite a bit of confusion when I walked off the train and saw no signs for anything resembling what I wanted. So I walked around a bit and asked some locals what appeared to them as stupid questions. They were kind enough to point me in the right direction.

At one point I entered a park and talked to a guard. He pointed me in a direction and said it was about a mile up, which meant I essentially had to cross the entire park. But I was still riding high from there being snow and didn't care.

Along the way I stopped and took this. As you can see there were not many people around that day (notice the lack of footprints).
Eventually I found the Monastery, at which point it was snowing hard. It still shocks me to think this picture was taken near Madrid.
And my favorite shot of the Monastery from across the street.
The building itself has been transformed over the centuries (common for many structures in Spain I've noticed), and although it was constructed as a monastery in 1595, it was also meant to house the king and his entourage on vacations. There is a whole host of cool things inside, and we'll get to soon.

Here's the entrance, which I admit is pretty bland by Spanish standards. Especially for royalty.
Unfortunately photos were not allowed to be taken inside, so many of the following are not mine. I've given credit wherever possible, and I was able to sneak in a few for myself when the guards weren't looking.

Hall of Battles
Our first stop was barely mentioned in my guidebook but was one of my favorite rooms. Called "The Gallery of Battles", it is a 55 meter (~180 feet) hallway which is entirely covered by frescoes. Philip II (the king at the time) had them commissioned to include famous battles during his reign. As such, there are 9 separate pieces each depicting a different battle of his war against France, plus 2 sea battles where he conquered Portugal. I found them all incredible not only for their size but also their detail. Notice, for instance, this entire wall is one single piece.

(F. Avila, 2007)

Library
The library is often considered one of the most prized possessions of the grounds. Although it was built prior to his reign, Philip II gets credit for having it expanded to its current state. It houses over 40,000 works brought or lent from all over the ancient Spanish empire, including several original pieces in Latin, Greek, and Arabic.

The ceiling comprises of frescoes which represent Philosophy and Theology in large depictions on the ends with 7 additional and smaller pieces in the middle representing anything Grammar to Music to Astrology. The differences in sizes lends an insight into how religion still dominated academics (indeed, this was before Newton and the birth of Science altogether).

(ATPM - 2006)

Royal Pantheon
The next picture explains the main reason why the Monastery is considered royal. One of its most important functions is to house the remains of all the Spanish kings, queens, and other royalty. After decomposing next door in the Pudridero ("Rotting Room"), they are transferred into urns. In this room are four centuries of monarchs, kings on the right and queens on the left, in chronological order. It's a circular room with a high domed ceiling; almost everything is made of marble, bronze, granite, and gold. Pictures cannot capture how beautiful it is.
Directly down the hall is the Infantes' Pantheon for other royalty, most notably princes and princesses. These span for several rooms but are mostly all done in white marble.

(Reenen, 2006)

There is a separate piece (not shown) which at first glance looks like a very large wedding cake but is a twenty-sided structure which holds the remains of infant children. It was a little eerie to walk past that one.

There are other sections which include bedrooms for past kings (surprisingly not that big), a small collection of paintings, and a chapel. But none were quite as photogenic as the places above, and although the outer grounds were impressive, the snowstorm hindered me from getting anything good from the outside.

And there I am, freezing my butt off with a smile!
However, on a clear day the grounds apparently look more like this.

(Duran, 2007)

Unfortunately there was originally a second part of the trip planned which I had to skip because I barely missed the last bus out. I don't know why but they stop running them around 3pm. Weird.

Still, a wonderful place to spend an afternoon if one happens to be in Madrid!

Additional photos may be found here.

Así, Así, Así Gana el Madrid

Location: Madrid

I was originally going to write these as separate posts, but since they are obviously related I have decided to just combine them. The short version is that I have now gone to two Real Madrid fútbol games.

The first was a long time ago...all the way back in September. I was living with the host family then, and by chance we had 4 Swiss girls come and stay with us. (Side note: Life can be so cruel!)

They were here in town only for a couple of weeks, and since they were Europeans (or just not Americans) they were really into fútbol. And since Real Madrid is so famous they were really motivated to go. Fortunately they were kind enough to let me tag along.

The tickets wound up costing 35€ each, which were for the nosebleeds in what was widely anticipated to be a terrible game. I say "terrible" because the opponent was the lowest rank team in the division. But we'll come back to that.

This is what the stadium looks like at night.
The area outside was insanely packed. The stadium itself can seat 80,000 people, and I can only imagine how much worse it would have been had they been at full capacity.
This was our view during the match. We actually didn't feel that far up to me, probably because the stadium itself is so steep.
And just to prove I wasn't making it all up about the Swiss girls, here they are. They were the equivalent of seniors in high school and were in town on a school exchange to brush up on their Spanish. They could all speak better than me, which was particularly frustrating because it was their 5th language! I swear they could all be professional translators. They had a great time teaching me naughty words in other languages.
Some of the fans seemed absolutely crazy. Take this guy who was 2 rows ahead of us; after every goal he apparently felt the need to remove his shirt and swirl it around while yelling and humping the air. It was quite the spectacle.
Occasionally when Real Madrid did something really good, the crowd would start a cheer which went "así, así, así gana el Madrid". I wasn't able to get it on film so I snagged this one from youtube so you could experience it too. I think it's the equivalent of us doing the wave...pretty cool stuff.

This was the final score. Yes you're reading it right...7 to 1. It didn't even look like Real Madrid was trying, so turns out the other team was indeed crap. And it also meant a lot of dry humping for our friend above. The girls were having a great time yelling obscenities at him in German whenever he started his thing.

So that was my first experience at a Real Madrid game.

"First", you say? Well yes, I wound up going to another game some months later. And this one literally fell into my lap.

It all started when I was sitting at my desk. One of my coworkers came over and said he had something big and asked what I was up to the following night. I said I didn't have any plans, to which he smiled and said "well then I have some good news for you".

Apparently my company has season box seats which they use for high-end clients, but since there was nothing planned for this particular game our manager had two extra tickets. Everyone else in the office was occupied (one of the few advantages I can think of having coworkers with children), so one of the tickets was for me if I wanted it.

Of course I wanted it. This was my first experience with box seats for any sport. I'm not sure how it's done elsewhere, but this was pretty cool.

First, we skipped the lines and went through a VIP entrance and shown our room. It was fairly intimate and could seat about 12. This is what our room and view looked like. There were <10 people in the box that night, and as you can see they were kind enough to lay out snack food for us.
This was our personal server for the evening, complete with a cute little skirt and high heels. My apologies for it being a bit blurry; I didn't use a flash because I was attempting to be covert. About every 10 minutes she brought a different tray of food and passed it around. This particular one was cured ham; my coworker assured me it was absolutely top notch (I believe him because the Spanish are crazy about their ham qualities).
By half time we had already made the transition from beers to rum & cokes. For the break everyone emptied into a common room where they had buffet lines with more food for all the folks in the box seats. This was also the first time we saw the servers in the other boxes; I found them to be some of the best looking in Madrid. It's probably better for everyone involved that we didn't have them in our box; nothing good could have come from that.
After a few more drinks it became obvious the game was a blow out, so I went over and chit-chatted with our server. She probably found having an American hit on her funny, but I'd like to think it was an opportunity to hone my Spanish skills.

Clearly not a bad way to spend an evening. I assure you that smile is real.
After that my coworker and I stopped by an Irish pub near the stadium and had a few pints before heading home. "La vida es dura" (life is hard) as they say here. It certainly was that night!

Nothing Rhymes with "Segovia"!

Location: Segovia, Spain

The last day trip I took before Christmas vacation was to Segovia, located roughly 60 miles Northeast and an hour´s drive outside of Madrid (or 30 minute train ride in my case). It's a small town with about 50,000 people.

It has 3 main historical sites: its aqueduct, cathedral, and alcázar.

Aqueduct
This is probably the most recognized and famous symbol of Segovia. It was built by the Romans (and contains the arches for which they are so famous) approximately 2,000 years ago.

This picturesque part is located in the old city center. In total, the aqueduct extends for 20 miles and connects to a nearby spring. And at its highest part stands 100 feet tall. All together, there are 167 arches (from what I read...I didn´t count).After climbing a lot of stairs, this is the view of the city from a ledge near the top of the aqueduct.
Cathedral
A little further into town is the cathedral. Located in the Plaza Mayor, it was constructed in the early 1500s and is considered to be Europe's last great Gothic cathedral. It was ordered to be built by the king after the town's original cathedral was destroyed a local mob, apparently in a revolt against the same king.As is typical with Spanish cathedrals, the ceilings are enormously tall and every spare piece of space (walls, columns, ceilings, etc) are intricately decorated.This is one of the main altars on the inside.

And another made of gold.

I unfortunately was not there at night to take this in person, but it is a particularly gorgeous shot of the cathedral when lit.

Alcázar
It is believed to have been built in the early 1100s as an Arab fort, but it was gradually expanded once the city was conquered by the Christians. Throughout the Middle Ages it remained one of the favorite residences of the Monarchs and a key fortress for the region.

It is located at the complete edge of town on a cliff's edge overlooking the valley below. And by having such as location, one can only enter through the small front entrance or attempt to scale the cliffs.

Although the Alcázar was originally built as a fortress but has served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy since then.

A shot of the main entrance, including its small arch bridge.And a close up of the turrets.
Of course no castle would be complete without an armory, and no armory would be complete without a full-fledged horseback knight.

I tried challenging him to a duel, but he ignored me.There were all kinds of rooms on the inside including a chapel, living quarters, waiting rooms, dining rooms, etc. My favorite was the "Hall of Monarchs" which included porcelain replicas of various kings seated around the entire room. You can see them below the ceiling.As mentioned, the building at one point housed an artillery school. They had an entire wing with early teaching materials, much of which was engineering-related. This picture for instance should look instantly recognizable for anyone who has taken intro Physics ("a cannon shoots a ball at x angle and x velocity...where does it land and what is its angle of impact"?)After that, the only part of the castle left was the tower, with a sole small spiral staircase in and out. It was actually quite tricky to have one person coming up with another going down; lets just say we had to get friendly.Fortunately the view was well worth the awkward rubbing with strangers. As a point of reference, the cathedral is the tall structure on the left-hand side.And this is the view of the valley which surrounds the Alcázar.

This was taken after exiting the building and a few minutes walk away. I liked it because it shows how steep and extensive the outer retaining walls are. Again, the cathedral is to the left.And this was taken from the same spot, looking back the other way over the valley. The Alcázar's turrets are visible on the right.
While I was enjoying the view from the top of the tower, I noticed there were walking paths in the valley below, and since there was time I figured I'd go find them.

This actually turned out to be my favorite part of the trip. It was the tail end of Fall at the time, so the leaves were still turning color and falling. This was the path on the way down from town.And the walking path which looped around the outer ring of the city.Along the way, there were views like this.

And this.As I mentioned before, the Alcázar sits on a cliff, which is really visible from the valley. A great shot of the entire castle.
I liked this area so much I wound up spending my last few hours wandering around the outer ring. And there was almost no one down there; I literally saw less than 5 people total.

This last shot was taken right around sunset while I was waiting to catch the bus.

In short, Segovia turned out to be one of my favorite experiences at the time and was a real surprise, especially the part about wandering outside the city. It was the first time I had more fun being lost than sticking to the major sites, which I feel is a good lesson to remember during my future travels.

As usual, more photos have been uploaded here.