The Alhambra, Granada

The Alhambra in Granada is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish monarchs of southern Spain (current day Andalusia). Rising above the modern lower town, the Alhambra and the Albaycín, situated on two adjacent hills, form the medieval part of Granada. To the east of the Alhambra fortress and residence are the magnificent gardens of the Generalife, the former rural residence of the emirs who ruled this part of Spain in the 13th and 14th centuries. The residential district of the Albaycín is a rich repository of Moorish vernacular architecture, into which the traditional Andalusian architecture blends harmoniously.

In 1984 The Alhambra became a listed UNESCO protected site.

Once the residence of the Muslim kings of Granada and their court, the Alhambra is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions exhibiting the country's most famous islamic architecture, together with Christian 16th century and later interventions in buildings and gardens that marked its image as it can be seen today. Within the Alhambra, the Palace of Charles V was erected in 1527.

The Alhambra is a reflection of the culture of the last days of the Nasrid Kingdom. It is a place where artists and intellectuals had taken refuge as Christian Spain won victories over Al Andalus. The Alhambra mixes natural elements with man-made ones, and is a testament the skill of Muslim craftsmen of that time.

Everywhere there are fantastic examples of intricate carving in marble as well as arches and columns. After the Christian conquest of the city in 1492, the conquerors began to alter the Alhambra. The open work was filled up with whitewash, the painting and gilding effaced, and the furniture soiled, torn, or removed. Charles V rebuilt portions in the Renaissance style of the period and destroyed the greater part of the winter palace to make room for a Renaissance-style structure which has never been completed. Philip V (early 18th C) Italianised the rooms and completed his palace in the middle of what had been the Moorish building; he had partitions constructed which blocked up whole apartments.

The old town of Granada from La Alhambra

Hogueras de San Juan in Alicante

Alicante has been the site of the Hogueras de San Juan (bonfires of Saint John) for the past 80 years. It began with people erecting bonfires made from old furniture to now the making of incredibly elaborate and large depictions which ultimately get torched.

The festival goes over 4 days - with the 'set-up' where the 'monuments' are erected, a couple of days of parades at 8 pm of people in traditional costume, and then the final night where the monuments are set alight.

The port city of Alicante. For some reason they choose a month where the temperature was about 40 degrees to set fire to the monuments...

There are several days of street parades, each lasting over 3 hours of people walking down the main street in traditional costume. They finally reach the cathedral where they build a giant flower display (Flower Offering Parade to the Remedy's Virgin).

The parade appears very casual with mother's interrupting the whole parade to adjust her daughter's costume.

Each street takes great pride in the monument that they have built and at a moment's notice, a band can strike up and a mini-parade appears out of nowhere, stopping traffic. Streets all have their own fenced off area and a stage and huge huge speakers and DJ. The people party all night, every night, for 4 consecutive nights. It's like Schoolies for adults.

There are fireworks competitions and cracker competitions. It is not unusual to hear huge explosions going off throughout the four days at random moments - some make you feel that you are in downtown Baghdad. It's not unusual to see 5 or 6 year old children given crackers to go and play with in the park. The local beer company handed out free giveaways including lighters (although considering most of Spain appears to smoke, it might have a dual reason!).

Most of the 30 odd monuments are huge - as tall as 3 or 4 storey buildings. After a few days of looking at them you can't help judging their potential for flammability in your own mind. I often thought "hmmm that's going to burn well" as I passed a particularly well-built structure.

The above monument was in the main square, closely surrounded by the City Hall and other important buildings. I was in the front of a huge group of people when they opened the gate to this square and I was carried almost to the front of the viewing area - prime position. The bomberos (fire brigade) are on hand to hose down buildings and trees that happen to be close to the action. When the monument (below) went up, I was 35 metres from it and the heat was tremendous.

Once there is no sign of possible ignition of the city, the crowd taunt the bomberos (it's a tradition!). They then all yell out "agua, agua". Even with my little spanish I know what that means and made a not-too-hasty retreat. The bomberos then turn the hoses on the crowd, until those in the first few rows are soaked.

Then there is one last night of fiesta!

Spain into the Final of Euro 2008!

Sunday Night 22nd June

Tonight Spain played Italy in the quarter final of Euro 2008 in Vienna. I watched the game in a bar and outside was a crowd of people who decided the football was more important than the second night of the parade of people preparing for the Bonfire of St. Juan on Tuesday night.

Spain has a pretty ordinary record in big matches - always promising to do great things but often crashing in the finals. I think the spanish are quite used to this and don't seem to get their hopes up too high. Also, June 22 is their hoodoo day for soccer!

Record

Before tonight Spain had lost three quarter-final penalty shoot-outs on 22 June but they stopped the rot tonight, prevailing 4-2 on spot-kicks after 120 minutes had failed to produce a goal. It was the battle of the two great goal keepers, Gianluigi Buffon from Italy and Iker Casillas from Spain. In truth, the Spanish team team had enjoyed the better of the play on a humid night in Vienna, Marcos Senna coming closest when he was denied by the post in the closing stages of normal time. They continued to press in the additional half-hour, finishing plays on goal poorly before Casillas's heroics saw them through to a rematch with a Russia side (coached by 'our' Gus Hiddink) they defeated 4-1 in the group stage - this game is set for Thursday night.

Thursday 26th June
Spain plays Russia and dominates to win 3 - 0. This is the first time that Spain has made the final of a UEFA tournament since 1984 (they lost to France) and then you need to go back to 1964 for their last win of a major tournament.

I was in Granada when they beat Russia - everyone went to the Christopher Colombus fountain and threw themselves in and went generally beserk. I am in Seville for the final.

Barcelona

I revisited Barcelona - having been twice before. I really like Barcelona, the people are friendly and its a laid back kind of city. The city is well planned out - at least the area north of Las Ramblas is, with its grid formation of one-way streets, making a pedestrian feel safe (one of the few places in Europe!).

At the top of Las Ramblas is Plaza Catalunya - a large plaza where people meet, sit and watch the day go by, or watch the police chase the fake hand bag sales-man. Spanish life seems to centre around plazas - people pass the time away and it is always quite relaxing to just watch.

Barcelona has the largest concentration of Anotnio Gaudi's works. You can see them in random places around Barcelona as bank buildings, parks or cathedrals.

The grid system of buildings and roads has produced a lovely collection of similar buildings providing uniformity - some have differences, as above, but each block is an octagonal shaped building.

The spanish love their ham (jamon serrano) and you can find it hanging up in stores devoted to the stuff.

Where Las Ranblas meets the Mediterranean is Port Vell. This is the port where the ferrys leave for the Balearic Islands (Ibiza and Mallorca). There is a statue of Christopher Colombus here, with Mount Juic looking down on the port. THere are several cities around the mediterranean, all claiming Colombus as their own. In Sevilla's giant cathedral you can find his final resting place (apparently!).

More of the beatiful port in Barcelona. There are thousands of yachts and boats here, plus some nice beaches (though not as good as Australia's!).

A quiet moment in Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is a green vein running through Barcelona. Down the pedestrian section are people in the most amazing costumes touting for a spare euro for a photograph. You can buy flowers, birds, souvenirs along the way - even have your portrait drawn.

Street theatre (I didn't pay my euro!).

At the beach! The weather was not quite as good as other places I went to but for the last day or so. I was meaning to stay in Barcelona for a week but I think the constant moving and walking caught up with me - so it ended up 10 days. It would have been longer but I had to leave my hotel as it was full. Off to Alicante and the Hogueras de San Juan!

In the Shadow of Vesuvius

A view of the Forum with Vesuvius looming in the background

Pompeii was founded about 600 BC, and sat at the foot of Vesuvius, a volcano. At the west is the Bay of Naples and south are the mountains that one can find the town of Sorrento. It is a very beautiful setting, and life would have been very pleasant, with rich fertile soils and abundant seafood in the bay.

In AD 79 the city held about 22,000 people. It was at this stage that Vesuvius erupted, destroying both Pompeii and Herculaneum (another town close by). All but 2,000 managed to escape before the volcano erupted. Those that remained were incinerated in hot gases and ash. A layer of about 3 m of ash fell on Pompeii, burying it and sealing it for almost 2,000 years.

Our Guide in the Forum

It is amazing how much of the city was preserved. Mostly, only the roofs of the buildings had been destroyed by the weight of ash and pumice. The archaeological site is vast, with h hundreds of houses, bars and restaurants, temples, ampitheatres all being recovered.

The Temple of Diana and Apollo

Many temples have been recovered, some with the original bronze statues of their gods. The one above was to the two gods, Apollo and Diana.

Stepping Stones and Roads

An intricate pattern of roads can be found, formed from basalt from earlier eruptions of the volcano. Drainage was not good in Pompeii, so stepping stones existed on roads to allow people to avoid the water welling in the roads. The stones are small enough for chariot and cart wheels to pass either side. Notice in the above photograph that the wheel marks can be seen grooved into the stones making the road. I guess several hundred years of wear will do that.

One Way Sign

Also, the people of Pompeii had road signs. The above depicting a one-way road - for traffic to proceed in the direction of the donkey.

Restaurant and Bar

Many bars and restaurants have been uncovered. The above shows the wells for water and wine used by locals. Out the back would be room for food and a place to sit.

Casa del la Fontana

Several houses of the well-to-do have been found, containing courtyards and many rooms, with frescoes and mosaics. The colours of the frescoes are as vibrant as the day they were painted. The one above depicts a scene of the Bay of Naples and also has a fountain with a mosaic motif.

An elaborate mosaic

A saucy fresco

A town the size of Pompeii naturally had many bars and restaurants, bakeries and other shops. It also had a brothel, and the above fresco is a saucy picture used to decorate the establishment.

One of the Victims

Approximately 2,000 people were killed by the eruption. Many of their bodies left casts by the ash and have since been poured with plaster and images made. They show what a terrorising event it must have been, with people huddled in corners trying to escape the suffocating gases and hot ash.

Vesuvius erupted without significant consequence in 1944. About 3 million people live around Vesuvius today - it is the most dense crowding of people around a volcano for anywhere in the world today.

Florence - The birthplace of the Italian Renaissance

Florence is the capital of the Tuscany region and said to be the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. It is marked by the great domed roof of the Duomo. The roof was modelled on that of the Pantheon in Rome, but built of bricks instead of concrete. Brunelleschi designed and built the dome between 1420 and 1436. The dome is actually one dome on top of another, meaning no scaffolding was used in the outer dome's construction. It is an engineering marvel.

The roof of the Duomo

The Gates to Paradise

The Bapistery sits in front of the green, pink and white marbelled exterior of the Duomo. The doors leading into the Bapistery were designed by Pisano and built in 1425. These are on the east side (he earlier won a competition to build the north doors - which are not quite as remarkable). Michelangelo called the east doors the Gates to Paradise, for which they are still called.

David by Michelangelo

A copy of Michelangelo's David - where the original used to stand in the Piazza della Signoria. A groupd of statues sits next to David - including The Rape of the Sabine by Giambologna - which, I think, is every bit as good as David. The originals are stunning and can be found in the Galleria dell'Accademia. The original David was supposed to sit on top of the Duomo and hence the head looks a bit out of proportion, as Michelangelo wanted it to look in proportion from street level. Nevertheless, it is a fantastic carving. Apparently it was done without guidelines etc. from a single, otherwise unwanted, piece of marble.

The Rape of the Sabine by Giambologna

Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio spans the Arno river. I didn't think much of it, but apparently the Germans thought it was too good to destroy as they retreated from the allies coming up from the south of Italy. I wouldn't have given it a moment's thought...

Piazza della Signoria

The famous piazza where the Medici's Palace can be found and the Uffizi Gallery. In 1497, it was the location of the Bonfire of the Vanities instigated by the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola. Savonarola ended up being burnt here himself when it was believed he had gone a tad too far with his persecution of protestants.

The Orsanmichele

A little visited church was a redesigned granary, the Orsanmichele. It is surrounded by great sculptures, mainly from Donatello. It is incredible to believe that you can walk the same steps as Michelangelo as he studied these sculptures in preparation for designing and chiselling away David. The alter in this church is equally fantastic.

Galileo's Telescopes from 1610

With these telescopes Galileo turned astronomy (and religion) on its head. He studied the Moon and Venus to find that they weren't perfect bodies as Aristotle had suggested - created as perfect celestial objects by God himself. Galileo was then put under house arrest in his villa just on the outskirts of Florence by the Catholic Church.

Galileo's Middle Finger

Why this was put in a jar is anyone's guess. I think it's his right hand.