The Alhambra

During the second weekend of April I went to visit Erika in Granada. It´s a city of abounding sights and smells with the Alhambra as its crowning achievement. My words don´t really do justice to the majesty of it so here are some pictures that I took. Enjoy!

This is a view of the Alhambra from a popular look-out in the old neighborhood of Albaicín. The view would have been even more spectacular if there had been no clouds covering the breathtaking Sierra Nevada mountains behind it.

Processiones in Valladolidad & Madrid

¡Hola a todos! I know its been a while, but life in Spain is insane, haha. Anyway, I went to the city of Valladolidad during Holy week, the city where Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand were married in 1469, and where Cervantes began writing Don Quixote. It was a picturesque city, but smaller than Madrid and seemed to lack its vitality. I went with the intention of seeing the Holy Thursday and Good Friday processions, but because of the rain, only one procession came out, so I left early for Madrid. There I saw several intense processions with some very gaudy images. At times it felt wierd to see cloaked figures with pointed hats even though I knew that they were good guys. With that said, let it be clear that they are NOT the KKK! They are catholic brotherhoods which organize the processions. Anyway, I hope you had a Happy Easter! ¡Hasta luego!

Back in Madrid:

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Semana Santa

Semana Santa means holy week in Spanish and it refers to the week-long processions and masses which commemorate the biblical events of the Last Supper and the Passion and death of Jesus Christ, ultimately culminating in the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. Over the centuries, it has become an inseparable part of Spanish culture. And even for those who don´t consider themselves Christian, witnessing the passion of the people and the intense imagery of these processions can be quite impressive as one friend confessed.

All schools and universities have closed the friday before holy week, and until now many businesses have closed as well. Holy week began with Palm Sunday and I went to St. Isidore´s in the La Latina neighborhood. The palms were huge! Anyway, I´m planning on going to Valladolid on Thursday which has some of the most important holy week processions in Spain. Hasta luego!