The Mezquita in Cordoba

Again, actually being in the dark, cool forest of arches within the Mezquita--a mosque-turned-cathedral--versus the 40 degrees Celsius outside was an experience that cannot be captured in images and text. Here's me, leaning on a column and looking cool! It was surreal being within the forest of arches that I had only seen in textbooks and slideshows. 

Read more

Granada: The Alhambra and more

Words and pictures cannot describe the experience of being in The Alhambra. We only had time for the Nasrid Palaces, but it was mind-blowing. I almost couldn't take it--I was freaking out!

Panorama within the Palaces, in a courtyard

Alex said that the whole project was about water. Historically, water had to be channeled from extremely far away to the Palace grounds, and the ruler wanted to show how powerful he was by building a grand Palace complex that is centered around water. Not only did he have enough water to survive, but he had enough water to show it off in beautiful courtyards and lush gardens with fountains and pools.

I think the project was, partly, a lot about making beautiful art and architecture. And making architecture students swoon (and have minor panic attacks) when they walk into the next room or courtyard.

Close-up shot of intricate detail

I really think this project was about light and shade, though--how to control light to make cool, dark spaces that feel constricted, or spaces that have light peeking through, or brightly lit spaces that feel open. It's about how to control the environment--as well as the user's path--so as to create specific experiences. How to use different degrees of enclosure to make different spaces.

Many times I found myself stepping from one dim room into a tight, cold corridor that twisted about itself--and then seeing the light hitting the wall at the end of the hallway. Then I would step out into an amazing courtyard, flooded with light, but still with enough shade to enjoy being outside. Something new and breathtaking was always around the corner, and it always alternated between light and dark.

It was beautiful.

Light coming in through a shade

Of course, water was everywhere. It was an undeniable force. I could hear it before I saw it, and I could feel it cooling me down. The project takes advantage of gravity to bring water down from the mountains into the Palace. The gutter system is ingenious as well as aesthetically pleasing.

Water flowing through the gutter system

After visiting the Alhambra, I was tired out--emotionally and physically. Good thing Alex treated us to tapas and tinto de verano, which translates to "red wine of the summer"--a mix of one part red wine and one part Fanta. And, of course, ice cubes (which is kind of a luxury in Spain)!

Tinto de verano, so refreshing

Read more

8: Get Used to Siesta

View from the 2nd floor

The famous 3-hour midday break known as siesta is sometimes everything you want it to be, and sometimes not. It really depends.

Studio ends at 14:00 (2PM) and lunch at the Pension is served. Lunch is a one- to two-hour affair, though, depending on the speed of the kitchen.* You get a first course (popular dishes are paella, cold meats with potato salad, vegetable omelette, tomato and grilled cheese, pasta) and a second course (I ate a lot of roast chicken, grilled salmon, Spanish kebab, and pork chops)--not to mention the salad, bread, garlic alioli before the first course. And the dessert or coffee afterwards (or dessert coffee in the form of cafe bombon, which is a shot of espresso poured over condensed milk). Don't eat all of it, though, because you might burst, and you need to save food for dinner! Everyone has Tupperware containers.

So by the time lunch is over, you have anywhere from two full hours to only an hour left to chill because studio resumes at 17:00 (5PM). You have to decide--should I drink this coffee now? Will it get cold in this Spanish midday heat? Do I have enough time to take a nap and not wake up groggy? If I don't take a nap, do I have enough time to do work? Or what? Or what?!

Yeah, that's the big important decision I've been making every day lately.

And it's true. It gets so hot here that it's absolutely exhausting. When I run in the morning at 6:30AM, it's already 25 degrees Celsius, which is 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Back in Berkeley, it hits 77F around midday, and you would not catch me trying to run down College Avenue. In Guardamar, it hits 98F around midday and the heat lasts well past 18:00 (6PM). So that is why the siesta exists here. Most shops close and no one is walking in the streets. It's best to just lie down, don't move, and let the ceiling fan blow air over you for a few hours.

*Edit August 27, 2012: Looking back, we went through so many different ways of ordering food! We went from everyone writing a tick mark next to their desired dishes, to family style (think large pans of 15 roast chicken legs and a huge pan of paella for everyone to share), to trying to number the tables and ordering by table... oh man.


- lunch at the Pension (pacing yourself, what to take to go)
- taking a break
- the heat!

Read more

The Studio

We are finally in the studio! It's not like studio at Berkeley, though it is getting as dirty, which is normal for any space with a high concentration of architecture students. 

The studio space used to be a grocery store, so there are a lot of outlets for our laptops. There's little air circulation so we rely on lots of fans. Our work surfaces are large slabs of plywood on legs and some of our chairs are broken.

It works though. We are two blocks away from the Mercadona, so we will never starve! There's a cafe right across the street to feed our coffee addictions. The beach is also a mere four blocks to the east. 

What are we working on? We've diagrammed the weekly mercadillo, which is a traditional event in Guardamar. Most (older) people get their fresh produce from the market Wednesday mornings. The market sets up starting at 4AM and then is gone by 3PM. Our diagrams aren't infographics or anything that looks familiar--they're more "artsy" and based on our own experience of the mercadillo (keeping in mind personal feelings and historical references). We've also diagrammed our experiences climbing two different castles, one in Guardamar and one in Alicante. 

Our diagrams are on the mylar, which feels smooth to the touch and is a wonder to draw on with pencil. I was a little nerve-wracking the first time to just draw with our intuition, and we are just learning how to create diagrams in this new style, but we are all getting the hang of it. 

Diagrams on the first mylar

Read more

7: Food While Traveling

Tuna in sunflower oil

When traveling, it's not the best idea for your wallet or your health to eat out for every meal. And when you're walking around all day and constantly freaking out about beautiful architecture, three meals a day isn't enough.

I try to stick by what my former fitness teacher used to preach: eat complex carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats at every meal or snack. Unfortunately, it's not that easy. You'll be limited by how much space you'll have in your bag or backpack, as well as lack of refrigeration. And you'll want to try the local cuisine too!

So here's my strategy: keep it cheap, easy, filling, and nutrient dense. Make use of all resources.

Because most hostels will have a kitchen with a stove, water, pots, a microwave, and a fridge, I make a stop at the local grocery store at my destination to buy food for breakfast. I stick to my wheat bran (for fiber) and yogurt with muesli, sometimes hard boiled eggs as well. For snacks, I am addicted to peanuts. For lunch or dinner, it's always cheap to get a loaf of bread or a baguette and eat it with tuna, cheese, or ham.

Where are the vegetables? Yeah, I'd like to know too!

Read more

The Mad City

Alex decided to make this weekend a 3-day weekend to accommodate travel, so Naomi and I spontaneously planned a trip to Madrid!

After climbing to the castle in Alicante, we took a bus to Madrid. We arrived in the evening and took the metro to our hostel, No Name Hostel right on Calle Atocha, one of the main streets in the heart of Madrid. We explored some of the city the first night, but we mostly planned out what to do for the next two days.

Saturday morning, we set out in the morning after a hostel breakfast (cornflakes, milk, and toast). We saw so much and everything was walkable! We saw everything on the Western side of Madrid. The Gran Via is the largest street in the city with multiple lanes; it is lined with shops like H&M, Nike, and McDonald's. Puerta del Sol is a large plaza, a very open public space, with a lot of history. Plaza Mayor is a closed square with many, many restaurants on its border (the photo is the plaza at night). We saw many palaces and churches that had amazing detail on the outside. I had a smoothie for lunch because I ended up not being able to decide which of the countless restaurants to dine at. Mercado San Miguel is an indoor marketplace of gourmet tapas; the building is intricately constructed with glass and steel. We had tapas in the La Latina neighborhood at a restaurant where the bartender did not speak English--but it was delicious! I love little foods with a glass of wine.

After tapas for dinner, we stopped by the supermarket to buy some snacks for Sunday to save some money (and to use the internet!). At night, we went out again. I found a bar that Hemingway used to frequent and had a hefeweizen there! Then we went to a chocolate and churros place--the hot chocolate is super thick so it's perfect to dip the churros into it. I ended up letting a chunk of churros marinate in the chocolate until it was infused with flavor.. yum! We slept well that night.

Sunday was museum day. It was amazing to see famous works of art up close and with succinct explanations. Most of the museums were East of our hostel. Our first stop of the morning, though, was a flea market called El Rastro. It's like the market in Guardamar, but much larger! It was on our way to the Reina Sofia, a huge museum that's free on Sundays in the morning. I got to see Guernica, my favorite painting by Picasso (and probably of all time). It was amazing to see the process and the sheer size of the painting. We were kicked out at 2:30pm so we didn't have time to see the entire museum. We then went to the Caixa Forum, which is another museum, but we mostly marveled at the green wall next to it. Then we went to a huge park near the Prado--it was really hot and there wasn't much shade, but a lot of people were there enjoying the weekend. It reminded me of a more planned version of Golden Gate Park. We went to the Prado Museum when it was free--it's filled with classical paintings with Christian themes. It was interesting to contrast all the modern art in the Reina Sofia with the realist and romantic paintings in the Prado.

For dinner, we went to Plaza Mayor to catch the sunset while eating tapas. We got to people-watch, which is always a treat! Some street performers were just setting up. After dinner, we went off in search of gelato, which I had never had before! I ended up getting the yogurt flavor, and it was super intense. Naomi got lemon and chocolate, and both were also very intense in flavor.

Tomorrow, we have a lot of time before our 3PM bus back home. Madrid has been awesome. We've walked so much in just two days... but it was worth it!

Read more