A few more favorite photos

Click on the photos to see them big! Enjoy
People gathered to see the sunset on the Alhambra

Beautiful doorway in the Alhambra
sculpture on a grave
Mural on a building
Mural on a building
Main gate to the Alhambra
Pillar in a doorway
The beautiful and intricate work of islamic artists
Albaicin from the Nazari Palace
Hammam
Light coming in from the door to the Alhambra
Light from inside of the Nazari Palace

The Palacio de Carlos V (Charles V) and La Virgen de la Alhambra

El Palacio de Carlos V was built within the Alhambra in Granada. The first photo is of the Alhambra with the Sierra Nevadas behind it. If you click on the photos they become larger. Carlos V was the King during which the Habsburgs reigned over Central, some of Western and Southern Europe as well as just taken claim of the Aztec and Inca civilizations and land in the "New Spain". This includes, Hungary, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, some of France, Switzerland, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, Mexico, Chile and much more. He was king of what is known as modern day Spain but he was born in Ghent, which is a town an hour away from us in Belgium. When you start to read about the kings and queens you realize that they were all married amongst each other and it gets quite confusing. For instance his aunt Catherine of Aragon was the first wife of Henry VIII. Carlos V was a perfect example of the inbreeding that went on and actually suffered from a oversized jaw which got worse as time went on in the Habsburg family. The Palace of Carlos V was built by Pedro Machuca who was a disciple of Michelangelo and apparently was "avant garde" for the time in which is was built during the Renaissance. The style fits Carlos V because he was considered called the Holy Roman Emperor and the architecture reflects knowledge of Roman style with the round courtyard in the middle.

La Virgen de la Alhambra is a perfect example of the important statues of Maria/Mary in various stages of her anguish/angustias. Mary is revered of course and many women in Spain actually are given the name Maria and then another like Maria Encarna, Maria Triana, Maria Trini, Maria Teresa. Instead of writing Maria they put a Ma in front of their other name since during the past most women were Maria and something else. As Encarna told me once in explaining this naming system to me, since women suffer like Maria did in the bible we also share her name.

On the head of Maria you will see a crown. These crowns that many of the important Maria statues wear are made of Gold, silver and contain precious stones. Still today the members of the churches donate millions of dollars to crown their Virgen. Often the statues will be taken to Rome to be blessed by the Pope.

The Alpujarras in Granada, Spain

The Alpujarras are located behind the Sierra Nevadas above the city of Granada. They are a mountainous region marked by the berber style houses that you see in the photos left from a muslim legacy that existed in Spain so many centuries ago. It was one of the last places to accept Islam and the last place to accept Catholicism. You can see from the photos that the region is fairly mountainous so with a few key forts one could fight off whoever was trying to conquer them at the time. But it was the one of the last places to covert in 1493 to Catholicism as Boabdil, the last Sultan of Al-Andalus, was forced out of Spain by Los Reyes Catolicos, Ferdinand and Isabel. There are many shepards that herd sheep and the region was for a long time very poor and a bit rough socially. There is a book called "South of Granada" by Gerald Brennan that describes the lives of the people from the Alpujarras. Now, there is a growing tourist industry and the region is famous for Jamon (ham) where some of the best cured ham legs are dried. You can also find spanis goat cheese, wine and other sausage type products from the region and hike from village to village with over 300km of trails. When I lived there in 1999/2000 I hiked up to the snowy peaks that you see in the photos. There is a refuge in the mid mountain range where they prepare meals and provide bedding and a warm fire where travelers gather in the evening to meet and talk. When I was there I could see a mountain range in Morocco! You can then continue on to the highest peak in Spain and the second highest in Europe, Mulhacen, or hike around Veleta (another peak in the mountains) to then continue to Prado Llano and catch a bus back to Granada. I highly recommend it.

Spain photos...more later

I lived in Spain about 9 years ago and visited a few times after. I hadn't been back for 5 years when I returned to visit last week. The family I lived with are shown there with me. They are wonderful people. Paco is a flamenco cantaor of the old style flamenco. You don't hear the fine style that the old Flamenco cantaors upheld in the past much anymore but there are a few left. His special talent in flamenco was singing Saetas, which is one style of flamenco sung during Semana Santa. Saetas were sung in the past spontaneously as the statues of Jesus and Mary from various churches passed through the streets. The songs are quite beautiful. Of course he sang other styles but he was particularly good at Saetas. He is a wealth of knowledge of flamenco and I have learned from him a lot about many of the facets of that art.

Encarna is one of the most honest and dignified women I know. Of course, being a woman of her age and her class in Spain has not been easy on her and she has a story that many women around the world share with her. She never was able to go to school because she had to watch her little siblings while her mother and sisters went to work picking olives in Andalucia. She loves to read and learn about history and geography and taught herself how to read by sitting with a book and copying the words onto paper gradually becoming literate. At 14 she went to work in a upper class household for a fascist family during the dictatorship of Franco which lasted 40+ years in Spain. Of course, because of her class she was treated rather poorly and forced to go to mass every day very early upholding the mandate of a Catholic Fascist society and also to not loose time for all her duties as a maid. She lost her mother only a few years later who was abused by her husband and never spoke to her father again because she blamed him for the fatal ulcer and stress that eventually killed her mom. Despite her circumstances and now only living off of only a few hundred euros per month with her husband, she is dignified and honest. She has the biggest heart and generous spirit.

I love them and their open hearts have been a true blessing in life.

As for the rest of the photos they are of special places that I remember and love of Spain. The Alhambra, the Alpujarras, me in the Albaicin...I will post more as I process the images and retouch them a little.

Heading to Spain!

Steve and I are heading to Spain to visit Granada, Spain where I lived in 1999/2000. The people I lived with are the salt of the earth type people and wonderful friends. I'm so excited! I'm going to take my camera and try to get photos of the place because I really don't have that many of Granada. It was one of those places where I would stand and look and say right then and there I was committing to memory what was in front of me because to me not even a photograph could stand up to wonderful memories I had there. I didn't want a photo as proof and just wanted it to remain in my heart. That memory to me is stronger and can't be forgotten. And you can bet that I remember those places. After all, I have a photographic memory...je je je!

Mary and Steve's Cover for their album

I love the cover for their album!

Mary and Steve

Mary and Steve were my last wedding in Ohio before I left to come live with my husband permanently in Belgium. It was a lot of fun like I've said before in other blogs. We spent a whole hour doing a lot of photos in an alley way in Covington, KY and the photos turned out great! Here are some of my favorites!