THE STREETS OF TOLEDO

Toledo, Spain is a physically beautiful city, built on a hill overlooking the Tagus River, the same river that empties into the Atlantic at Lisbon, Portugal.  On our way to our visit of Toledo, we stopped at an overlook on the other side of the river.  Unfortunately, it was still rainy that morning and photo opportunities were distinctly limited.  I did get a few shots, however, through the murky atmosphere.

I liked this second shot for the glimpse of the curving road descending the hill above the river.

Once in the city we had lunch on our own and then met our able Toledo guide, who took us on a walking tour through the old part of the city toward our primary destination, the Gothic Cathedral.

Along the way we had an opportunity to soak in some of the local color.

In the scene below, the Cathedral tower looms above the street.

And the following shot features the Cathedral clock at the end of the street.

It was here that our guide introduced us to the street's resident guard dog.

I took the following photo of a man lounging on a low wall, attracted primarily by his posture and his pipe, and then had to chuckle later when I realized that he was taking my photo as I was taking his.

Then we made our way to the Gothic Cathedral.

John

UBEDA SPAIN

On our last night before Madrid we stayed at the parador in Ubeda (OO-be-da), a former 16th century palace.  We got in fairly late in the evening and left in the morning, so I didn't have much opportunity for photography.  The parador was situated next to one of the town's churches, and I took a couple of shots of it, one before sunset . . .

and another night shot out the window of our room.

I did get up well before sunrise the next morning and took a couple of "mood" shots that I decided to convert to black & whites.

I liked the stairway in the first shot and the deserted look of the second.

Then it was back on the road to Toledo and Madrid.

John

GRANADA: THE ALHAMBRA

Granada's Alhambra is considered by many as the greatest example of Spanish Islamic architecture.  It was originally constructed in the 10th century and then rebuilt and substantially expanded in the mid-11th century.  It was the primary objective of our visit to Granada during our recent tour of Portugal and southern Spain.  Unfortunately, because of the Alhambra's great popularity, tour times are strictly controlled and we only had about 1-1/2 hours for our visit.  I think it was because of my very high expectations and the limited amount of time that I was just a little disappointed in our visit.  However, in looking back at the photographs that I took, it is clear that the Alhambra is a very remarkable place.

First, here is a not very good shot of the Alhambra from a distance, before the rain had stopped.

Our guide for the tour was, as usual, outstanding.  However, because we had to keep moving from space to space, and because I was preoccupied in trying to capture the architecture photographically, I never got a sense for the overall layout.  But, in fact, because the Alhambra was added to over the years, there is not really an overall coordinated plan to its layout.

Here, first, is a detail of a very atypical piece of bas-relief sculpture that is obviously non-Islamic because of its representational subject matter and so must have been added by Christians following the 14th and 15th century Reconquista.  But it did show nicely following the afternoon sun's reappearance.

Our first introduction was to a large circular two-story courtyard ringed by pillars, and I got the following two shots that I thought worked quite effectively.

I particularly liked composition of the black & white featuring one of the other patrons.

Characteristic of Islamic architecture were the many pillars and intricately carved archways, as in the following sunbathed shots.

Because Islam takes seriously the prohibition against representational art, artistic talent was poured instead into geometric designs, which would appeal particularly to anyone with a mathematical bent.  Here is an example that I converted to a black & white to emphasize the lines.

Related to the abstract geometric patterns, one of the features that the Alhambra is especially notable for are the many intricately carved arabesques, highly stylized Arabic writing that has been converted to patterns that seem to be a blend of writing and abstract art.

To give an idea of how intricate this stonework is, here is a closeup of a portion of the prior image.

Note how the "knot" on the left of the closeup consists of one continuous line of "rope" coming in at the top and continuing down following the "knot."  Note, too, the fine carving in the "mottled" portions of the arabesque, which also have a carefully planned structure.  Finally, note how the background had been painted a glossy blue.  Truly amazing workmanship.  When I took these photos, I was impressed by their beauty, but it was only after I later took a close look that I realized just how amazing they were.

The Alhambra is notable also for its honeycombed-stalactite arches and ceilings.  These were amazing to see in three dimensions but proved difficult to capture in two-dimensional photographs.  To illustrate, here is a shot of the ceiling of one of those spaces.

One gets some sense of what's involved but the image simply doesn't do it justice; there's just too much going on.

And here is an archway that reflects the same architectural technique.

A little better perhaps, but again there's just too much to absorb.  Here is a symmetrical shot of the arch in the lower right of the above image. 

Now one can at least get a sense for all of the planning that had to go into the rendering of this wall.  As I did above, I decided to show a closeup of this shot to give a better understanding of how this was created.

Now the honeycombing is more visible.  Note the remnants of blue painting in the honeycombing.

Following are a few more examples, this time of some of the archwork that illustrate these same arabesque and honeycombing techniques.

I particularly liked the composition of this last shot.

Following is a detail shot of one of the pillared arches.

And, again, here is a closeup of that shot, nicely showing the intricate honeycombing-stalactite technique.

Again, I think it was only after I looked at the detail in these images that I understood how just incredible this architecture really is.

The Alhambra also includes a number of beautiful open courtyards, and here are a few of those.

One of the courtyards is built around a reflecting pool, an obvious photo op.  We first passed through one end of the courtyard tempting us to take photos, but our guide advised us that the best opportunities would be at the other end because of the sun's position.  So later we were at the other end, and, taking my turn, I got the following standard shot.  I found that the best angle was from only about 18 inches above the level of the pool.

Note the horde of visitors huddled at the other end trying to get similar symmetrical shots.

My favorite courtyard shot, though, was the one I got in the Court of Lions, named for the fountain in the center supported by a ring of lion sculptures (obviously a later Christian addition to the space).  

Although the fountain is impressive, it is the courtyard's 124 elegant pillars that create the beauty of the space and made the shot.

John

GRANADA: GENERALIFE GARDENS

We stopped in Granada on our way from Ronda to our final parador in Ubeda.  Our objective was the Alhambra and its associated Generalife Gardens.  But we did pause for some panoramic photos of the city.  Here are two of the cityscapes that I took.

I particularly liked the composition of the second shot, especially for the hanging laundry.  Unfortunately, technically it's just not a sharp photo.  In the absence of a tripod, virtually all of my photos on the trip were handheld and this shot suffered from camera shake, even though the shutter speed should have been fast enough to avoid that.  Mea culpa.

We had yet another extremely knowledgeable guide for the visit to the Alhambra and gardens.

However, there was a problem with the visit to the Generalife Gardens--it was raining.  Pretty hard.  Here is a snapshot of the scene.

Not great for a visit to outdoor gardens.  But we made the best of things, and, in fact, the rain stopped shortly after our tour began.  (We were blessed with excellent weather on the tour generally.)

Following are a couple of shots of the gardens generally, which were very well manicured.

I was particularly intrigued by how the shrubbery had been trimmed to appear wall-like, as in the following.

Then it was on to the Alhambra proper.

John

RONDA: CITYSCAPES AND LANDSCAPES

As I mentioned in a previous post, Ronda sits on two hilltops that are separated by a dramatic 400-foot deep gorge.  This geography makes for dramatic photo opportunities.  First, here is a shot, taken from the east hilltop, of our parador, situated on the west hilltop (and just next to the "new bridge" spanning the gorge).  The parador, which was the city's original town hall, is the building in the upper right of the image with the arches.

And here is a view out the window of our room, looking south toward a pavilion overlooking the gorge.

And following, in turn, are a couple of views from that pavilion of the south side of the gorge.

In this last shot I wanted to place the building (a small inn, perhaps) in the lower corner of the image and wanted to make sure I retained the lane leading toward the upper right of the image.

Like nearly all of the towns in Andalusia, a large preponderance of the buildings were painted white, to reflect the hot summer sun.  And that is evident in the following shots.

I liked these shots for their interplay of white walls and red tiled roofs.

Finally, I had seen a line of umbrella pines on the crest of one of the hills to the south of Ronda but they were difficult to distinguish from the background behind them.  However, on our second day an afternoon haze had developed which served to separate the line of trees from the background, and I snapped the following shot, which worked well, I thought.

John