Azulejos

Azulejos are the ornate & colorful tiles that adorn many of the facades and interiors buildings throughout Lisbon & are a cornerstone of Portuguese architecture. The tiles were introduced by the Moors in the 15th Century & the name Azulejo is derived from the arabic word Zelije meaning "polished stone."

This is just a sampling of the stunning array of tiles I saw while wandering the streets of Lisbon. Que bonito!

Here's a really nice website with history, styles & influences of the Azuluejos in Portugal http://cvc.instituto-camoes.pt/azulejos/eng/index.html

Portugal Part 1: The Algarve & stalking the locals in Portimao

Fleeing the semana santa procession gridlock in Granada, we (Maika, Jenny (canadian), Carrie) hopped in our wee rental car packed to the brim with beach gear and snacks. Our first stop was Faro - in the Algarve region of Portugal - where we picked up Jenny (english jenny) who was arriving by plane from the UK.

We drove by Faro's main church no less than 25 times while searching for our hotel in the labyrinthine network of one way streets. Inside this church is the Capela de Ossos - a chapel lined with the bones of monks. The chapel was built around 1816 & it's construction displaced a cemetery where hundreds of their earlier brethren lay buried, so the bones were salvaged and recycled into this somewhat bizarre reminder of mortality

Faro seemed very depressed (lots of abandoned buildings) & was very quiet, but the old town had few nice spots & also and some colorful murals!

After Faro, we headed to Portimao, further to the west in the Algarve. Portimao is a big resort town full of huge blocks of touristic apartments, resort hotels and beach houses. During the summer high season, the resorts & beaches are reputedly packed but luckily we were there in off-season and things were relatively serene.

We stayed in the 'Estrela do Vau' apartments,above, which had the feel of faded/outdated grandeur & was painted an appropriately easter colored pale pink. It was clean, comfortable & cheap and served as a good base to explore from.

Below, Portimao's harbour at the entrance to the City.

Our first night in Portimao we went in search of a quiet local bar - away from the main boardwalk (a clear overpriced tourist trap & discoteca haven). We once again found ourselves driving in circles in old-town portimao. There was hardly soul to be seen, nor any sign of a bar. When we were about to give up, we saw two young, hipster-looking guys walking down the Street. They said they were going to a bar, so we followed them & discovered the "true" Portimao hang-outs (ie we were the only non-portuguese in the bar).

here we are stalking the Portimao locals in our mini-car

Jenny (canadian) and Carrie w/weird portuguese man loitering in background

This guy was a harley enthusiast & world traveler. He told us many amusing tales of his adventures after quitting his job in the banking industry while continuously downing shots of some unidentified potent alcohol.

The next day, we had a wonderful time on the beach outside of Portimao - we went running, played frisbee & did yoga in the sand. The beaches outside of Portimao had really stunning rock formations and caves.

Me & Jenny hanging out on the beach.

One of the many beautiful beaches

The next night, as recommended by our new friends from the bar, we went to the restaurant Pote Cheio and enjoyed a desert platter with traditional Portuguese sweets and a local bottle of wine. The Portuguese really know how to make sweets - in the Algarve they're famous for their marzipan sweets. yum.

Apparently the restaurant is a favorite among the locals & we ran into the same guys who pointed us in the direction of the bar the previous night. At this point, they seemed to think we were stalking them around Portimao & appeared very determined to ignore our presence completely (pesky american tourists!).

Afterwards, once again on recommendation from our friend the waiter, we headed to a live music bar that had a fun funk/cover band. I think we found the best spots in the not terribly exciting city of Portimao!

Jenny, Jenny & Carrie had to head back to Granada the next day, but I decided to take a bus up to Lisbon & explore Portugal a bit more. It was a good choice....

to....be....continued

@ 11,413 - feet

Whew, this weekend was an adventure! I succesfully made it up to the highest point on the Iberian Peninsula (though not all that high) ~ the summit of Mulhacen (11,413-feet).

I will admit, the weekend wasn't all fun....there were a few hiccups.

First, I got food poison on Thursday night & was throwing up all night...the climb was scheduled to depart Saturday morning so I debated just going back to Granada and skipping the whole thing. However, by Friday night I was feeling a bit better and managed to keep some food down, so decided to go for it!

The other hikers were three canadians from Victoria BC. Really nice folk- one of them is apparently a well known lawyer in Canada (he defended the Orca that recently killed a woman who fell into it's tank) and his son and another friend were with him. He had an interesting story - he had been in a bad ski accident 7 years ago and severed an artery in his neck. They though it had healed, but about 6 months later he sneezed and dislodged a blood clot which went to his brain and caused a stroke. He got bored with rehab and started climbing in a climbing gym where he met Dan (the other hiker). Since Chris' recover, they have climbed a mountain together about once every year!

On saturday AM we hiked up to Refugio Poquiera, a hikers hut on the south face of Mulhacen.

Hiccup #2 was that somehow the guide didn't book beds in the hostel (he thought he had, but the hut caretakers had actually told him there were no beds available). With nowhere to get a decent night's rest, we decided to snooze for an hour or two of on the benches and then do a night ascent!

At about 3am early on sunday morning, we set out for the 3.5 hr +/- trek to the summit. It's a pretty straightforward mountain (not technical), just a steady up-hill to the summit. We summited just before sunrise. It was quite beautiful, and eerie o climb at night - so quiet, with the only sound a chk-chk of crampons on ice.

We headed back down pretty quickly cus it was windy and cold at the top, stopped for breakfast at the hut and then booked for another 3 hours of hiking back to the car. Whew! An exhausting but also exhilarating weekend in the Sierra Nevada.

Full group of photos here! http://picasaweb.google.com/maikanicholson/LanjaronMulhacen?feat=directlink

Arquitectura of Francisco J. del Corral del Campo & Parque de las Ciencias

Nate (my SvR colleague) and Francisco met at a conference in Rio de Janeiro. Nate put us in touch and Francisco has gone above and beyond, welcoming me to the design community in Granada.

He teaches at the University and invited me to a collaborative workshop on scenography between the architecture & art department. The class was in the process of creating models relating to a work of Federico Garcia Lorque, the famous Granada poet. It was quite interesting, though to be honest I couldn't understand much of their explanations & commentary due to my emaciated Spanish skills (Thanks to Tom all I know how to say is traiga tu culo sucio a mi oficina, ahora mismo!).

Last Friday, he invited me and some of his students to tour the 'Public Spaces for Events Forum de Negocios.' The public spaces were created to augment a preexisting office building in southeast Granada. Photos below.

From the project description: "On the boundary of the urban city, next to the fertile low-land (Vega), just where urban geometries are replaced by rural ones, we propose a new landscape for events and celebrations placed close to an office building"


Above, Roof space # 1 - herb gardens & traditional plants from Alhambra and Generalife, red carpet highlights the interplay between urban and rural settings.

"Our landscape carpet tries to create a new reality to dialogue with the existing one instead of using other camouflage strategy."
The second roof space used an installation of recycled glass bottles. Francisco noted that they were very unhappy with the final installation of the bottles...

Francisco also expressed his dissatisfaction that the water feature was not being actively used by the building owners - That a place that intended to be lush with waterlilies and flowing water was still and inactive.

"Water is one of the main instruments used for shaping the different spaces. Its sound and presence modifies our feelings. It springs calmly some times, others its sonorous and rhythmic, it follows our steps on a water stair and propose our rest ending in a pond thanks to a channel guided by one of the designed strength lines."

The interplay between different materials & textures were accentuated by oxidized steel, which Francisco called "strength lines."

It was wonderful to hear Francisco speak about his work, and meet several of his students (though our conversations were once again limited to halting Spanish).

After the tour, I headed to Parque de Las Ciencias (the science museum) - across the street.

Entrance to the museum

museum landscape included many interactive features including playgrounds, fountains, water courses, solar panels, etc.

One of the exhibits was about taxidermy - means, methods & uses in museums and science.

I also went to an exhibits about Darwin, a journey through the human body & Ecology in Spain.

Interactive water feature

One of the museum buildings - jointly owned by the university...and the first building Francisco designed in Granada!

Bird & Cat profile (they're both real)

on spanish time

They have an interesting schedule here...I'm slowly adjusting to it, though I haven't mastered the Siesta just yet.

Late morning wake-up

late lunch@ 2pm

Quiet afternoons for Siesta time around 3pm

Stores are closed from about 2pm-5pm

5pm - Coffee!

10pm (or later) dinner

Everybody stays up late here - teenagers, children, babies, grannies, granddads and all!