It started harmlessly enough. First my wondowbox plant went missing. Then the pot. We bought another plant, that went missing too. Then I found her, cleaning some sort of faeces from her son´s shoes onto my doorstep.
Everytime we walk by her, she lowers her voice and gives us the evil eye.
Now, although I haven´t seen her do it, I am sure the following series of events that have taken place at our old house are due to her.
The mail gets burned, the post man sets it in the small space between the door and the step, and its all burned, the door is a little singed too. A drowned frog was placed on the window sitting in water in a tuperwear box. A pile of toilet paper was thrown on the sill as well. A few dazs later the frog was dumped out on the sill, and the paper was buned...
I can not beleive we have mad such a ferocious enemy in such a short time. I am also really happy we moved and she hasn´t realised it yet.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Al Hambra
Harry has wanted to go to Al-Hambra for ages, but never managed to make it. Why? Becuase you have to book in advance, that goes against his spontaneous nature. We did manage though to get some tickets, in the usually over full castle and grounds and had even more luck because we had good weather. Cold but clear.
The original castle was built in the 11th century by Samuel Ha-Nagid, a Jewish grand vizier of one of Granadas sultans. It was turned into a fortress in the 13th century as the Moors took over, and the castle came into the possession of the Nasrid dynasty. After the Reconquista, when the Christians basically drove the arabs out, or tried in any case, the palace that the Nasrid emirs had built was restored and partially demolised to make way for a new palace for Carlos I, and the mosque was turned into a church. In the 18th century no one was interested in Al-Hambra and it was abandonded, left to go to ruin and only thieves and beggars lived in its grand walls and palace rooms.
When Napolean invaded, he used the palace for barracks and in the ensuing battles the palace was very nearly destroyed. In 1870, the government finaly re-discovered its worth and it was declared a national monument, and the authors of the romantic period all flocked there to live in it, despite its decrepid state. Can you imagine the sort of bohemean artist colony that must have wandered around there gathering wood to burn in monunetal fireplaces??? It was basically ignored by Franco,, and after he died, the Al-hambra was declared a world heritage site and rightly so.
Is there any other place that has such a checkered history?
The original castle was built in the 11th century by Samuel Ha-Nagid, a Jewish grand vizier of one of Granadas sultans. It was turned into a fortress in the 13th century as the Moors took over, and the castle came into the possession of the Nasrid dynasty. After the Reconquista, when the Christians basically drove the arabs out, or tried in any case, the palace that the Nasrid emirs had built was restored and partially demolised to make way for a new palace for Carlos I, and the mosque was turned into a church. In the 18th century no one was interested in Al-Hambra and it was abandonded, left to go to ruin and only thieves and beggars lived in its grand walls and palace rooms.
When Napolean invaded, he used the palace for barracks and in the ensuing battles the palace was very nearly destroyed. In 1870, the government finaly re-discovered its worth and it was declared a national monument, and the authors of the romantic period all flocked there to live in it, despite its decrepid state. Can you imagine the sort of bohemean artist colony that must have wandered around there gathering wood to burn in monunetal fireplaces??? It was basically ignored by Franco,, and after he died, the Al-hambra was declared a world heritage site and rightly so.
Is there any other place that has such a checkered history?
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| Al Hambra |
Saturday, January 3, 2009
mpm=Malaga Picasso Museum
The next stop on the daily ausflug trail was Malaga. I was pleasantly surprised. What has been missing from my Spanish life was a good shopping experience, and there is one to be found in Malaga. I didn't have high hopes for this ugly city, but discovered that it is actually not so ugly. The inner city was renovated by Fernando and Isabella in the 15th century and it still stands much as it was. They had good taste! The shopping street is something to behold. I didn't buy anything. The men were patient however while I scoured the shoe stores looking either for a black back to match my back boots or brown boots to match my bag. They royal pair, Ferdinand and Isabella, not Harry and his dad, also started a big renovation of the cathedral of Malaga, however it ran short of cash, or in any case someone decided that they didn't want to invest any more in the completion of the church and from one day to the next it seemed, stopped. The cathedral looks strange because although the work stopped after 200 years (can you imagine 200 years on the same project)there are still lose bricks sitting around, parts of the original mosque (yes I said Mosque, Malaga like most of Andalusia spent a lot of time under Arabic rule) are still clearly visible and the second bell tower consists of a few incomplete pillars, yet no one has worked there since 1782.
The cathedral and the old town were not why we were there though, we went to see Malagas newest and most expensive tourist attraction, the Picasso Museum, of course there are Picasso museums all over the place but how many are in his home town? It was good, but Harry and his father were more impressed with the Max Ernst temporary exhibition also on display. German patriotism perhaps?
All that said, I didn't take any pictures, sorry mom, maybe I was looking for an excuse to go back.
The cathedral and the old town were not why we were there though, we went to see Malagas newest and most expensive tourist attraction, the Picasso Museum, of course there are Picasso museums all over the place but how many are in his home town? It was good, but Harry and his father were more impressed with the Max Ernst temporary exhibition also on display. German patriotism perhaps?
All that said, I didn't take any pictures, sorry mom, maybe I was looking for an excuse to go back.
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