Andalusia - Alhambra Palace

The hotel in Alhambra (named, of course, Alhambra Palace) was a big surprise. In the morning, when we woke up, the view took our breath away, even in the lack of sunshine. It was situated up on the hill, and in the hill itself. 

The moorish architecture and the rich decorations impressed us more than anywhere else but, really, the view from our room's terace and windows was the cherry on top of our cake.

I won't write anything more, because Bogdan is already set in the bed so, about Granada and flamenco and all the rest, some other time.

Have a happy Thursday!

Andalusia - Baeza

Heading Granada, we stopped in a small town, named Baeza. It was already night, but the city have shown us its beauty, so we wandered around on the streets for an hour or so.

Baeza is known today as having many of the best-preserved examples of Italian Renaissance architecture in Spain and is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.

I was sitting in front of Santa Maria fountain, close to Cathedral of Baeza. The temperature outside went down more than I could bear, so I used all my available clothes.

The famous fountain in a different light :).

A vue of the cathedral from a narrow picturesque street. The atmosphere was so sweet, we felt sorry we had to leave so quickly.

Santa Maria's cathedral facade, designed by Andres de Vandelvira.

I'm sorry I cannot name the places, the only recognisable sites for me are the Cathedral, the beautiful Santa Maria fountain and the University, for all the other places I don't know their names.

The University was established in 1538, and now is a summer school for the University of Granada.

The impressive arches are architecturally illuminated, so even during the night the view is so fantastic.

That evening we arrived in Granada, very late at night, and we made our tryumphal entrance at Alhambra Palace, a gorgeous hotel located just outside the Alhambra's ancient walls. 

But about the nice surprises we faced in the morning, tomorrow.

Andalusia - Cordoba

During our trip from Andalusia, we decided to dedicate do Cordoba only one day. Last week, doing some research for this post about Cordoba, I realised we saw only a little bit of this ciy, maybe the most significant, but only a very little bit. 

Cordoba's history is over 2.000 years old. Both the Romans and Muslims contributed to the city's status as a capital city. Every culture that has set foot on this city has left its mark, and they remain evident up to this point in time.

The Moors conquered Cordoba in 711. During the time of Islamic Rule, Cordoba shined as the biggest city and was home to the most sophisticated culture and most developed officialdom in Europe. When Damascus disposed the Umayyad Caliphs in 750, the dynasty relocated to Cordoba, ruling there until 929. 

The most significant monument in the city is the former Mosque known as Mezquita (the third largest Mosque in the world).

The building was begun around the year 600 as the Christian Visigothic church of St. Vincent. After the Islamic conquest of the Visigothic kingdom, the church was divided between the Muslims and Christians. 

The Mezquita's outer walls are built in marble with some typical moorish decorations.

The architectural design of this bastion is a mixture of Roman, Gothic, Byzantine, Syrian, and Persian fundamentals. La Mezquita was sanctified as a cathedral when the Christians took over the Moorish empire in Cordoba in 1236. 

The building is most notable for its giant arches, with 856 columns of jasper, onyx, marble and granite. These were made from pieces of the Roman temple which had occupied the site previously, as well as other destroyed Roman buildings. The double arches, pictured above, were a new introduction to architecture, and helped support the tremendous weight of the higher ceilings. 

The mosque also features richly gilded prayer niches. A centrally located honey-combed dome has blue tiles decorated with stars.

The mihrab is a masterpiece of architectural art, with geometric and flowing designs of plants. Traditionally, the mihrab of a mosque faces in the direction of Mecca; by facing the mihrab, worshipers pray towards Mecca. Mecca is east-southeast of the mosque, but the mihrab points south.

The open court of Mezquita is also surrounded by arcades, screens of wood, minarets, colourful mosaics, and windows of coloured glass. The walls of the mosque had Quranic inscriptions written on them.

The houses around Mezquita have beautiful features, like this one with multiple laced blue arcades and thin columns on the windows.

If you want a tour of the city by horse, you have what to choose from.

Across the river Guadalaquivis is Torre de la Calahorra, a tower erected by the Moors in order to prevent the city from being attacked.

We walked on the narrow streets, heading to the Cordoba's Alcazar.

Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos or The Palace of the Christian Kings was re-erected in the year 1328 by King Alfonso XI, the Spanish King of Castile and Leon. The entire castle covers over 4,000 square meters and in its interiors are impressive Arabian baths, Roman mosaics and even a sarcophagus of marble from the 3rd century.

Even if this structure was built during the Christian period, its gardens are characteristically Moorish in design comprising of ponds, water cascades and sweet ambrosial plants.

During the summer season, several musical concerts are held in this site, most notable of which is the Cordoba Guitar Festival.

The best known personality born in Cordoba was the Roman stoic philosopher Seneca. And from our days I should tell you the name of the famous flamenco dancer Joaquin Cortes.

Good-bye, Weekend!

It was a restfull weekend, Bogdan was sick, so we took it easy. Yesterday Runa wanted to go skating, Mara wanted to go at a children playground. 

It was still cold outside, so we took both girls to a mall with playground, so we could let Mara play there and Runa skate as long as she wanted.

Mara tried the Galaxy Explorer... 

... then she rode the swan (or should I say drove?).

Today she was the captain on the playground, she gathered lots of kids around her, making new friends and running everywhere.

 Radu was so happy having Runa around him all the time in the park, she helped him with the gliders, and rockers, and all the swings and other stuff around.

Runa was really something today, she followed Radu everywhere, while I was watching Mara, playing foolish games with him and helping him to climb all the toys around.

 Here is the proof! She glided with both her brothers, not only once, but all the times they requested so.

Mara had this evening a neighbour visiting her, a little girl bit older than her. They played together in the playroom, unusually quiet for her. And, when I went upstairs, I saw both of them sitting on small chairs, with books in their hands, Mara reading Wall-E for Elena, the other girl. I was really very happy, even I know she didn't read for real, because she saw the movie so many times, now she can recite the book only watching the pictures. And of course, because she doesn't know to read yet. Although she knows all the letters and she is able spell some words easily.

When we came back from the park I took Radu to sleep, and the girls went to their grandmother "suite". Mara was really very knotty and rebellious, as usually, and she told her to grandmother: "Why do you ask me to do that? You are not my boss, you know...?"

So, this being told, I'm wishing you a great week ahead! 

This Moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. {from www.soulemama.com}

A Little Flavour of Provence

Since I read here (in Romanian) about a dream of escaping in Provence, I coudn't take it out of my mind. In the morning, I thought about Provence. In the evening, you guessed, Provence. So, I will pause today my series about Andalusia with a small preview of next week's post about Provence.

Walking on the streets, in Beaux-de-Provence, a beautifuly restored village. It was a ruine in 1974, with almost all the buildings down, now it has a perfect, romantic atmosphere. 

On the cliffs, near La Ciotat. 

In Saint Tropez, watching the boats. Is such a colorful small resort, with all those luxury vessels and cars, with happy people around!

The light in Provence is different from everything we saw: soft, gentle, sweet...

I would like to go back there sometimes... you can't blame me!

7 Secrets You Didn't Know About Me

I received an award from Andrea at Rural Revival and I am very proud of it!

I'm supposed to answer by telling you 7 things you may not know about me.

Well, here they are:

1. I like ironing, while I hate washing dishes. I'm better on ironing than almost everybody I know.

2. I had more than 10 jobs until now, and to count some of them: electronics and computer's assembler, tailor, shopping counselor, secretary, purchasing director, cashier, account manager, PR manager. I did some of them in the same time: purchasing director and computer assembler, secretary and books layouter, tailor and electronics assembler.

3. I have one extra bone at my left hand. And, yes, is on THAT finger.

4. Until being 30 I didn't even consider having kids. Now I have 3.

5. I don't like eating fruits (shshshs, don't tell my kids!).

6. When I was a kid, I read all day and cleaned the mess in the house only 30 minutes before I knew my mom would come home. I used to put my clock to ring at the due time, so I never missed the moment.

7. I practiced crazy sports like climbing, parachute jumping, but I don't know skiing or skating.

And now I have to pass the award to some 5 bloggers I kind of recently discovered, and here they are:

Jurnal de zana. Zana buna rau

Vorbe-n vant

Sandra Juto

Farmgirl Paints

Zana Eficientei

And there is another blogger I would like to pass this award, because there is a place I learned a lot, he's really out of the above range, but he's definitely worth it:

Dragos Roua - Brilliantly Better

Runa in the Kitchen

With a good example from her grandmother, Runa started to cook. 

Is a great accomplishment, because I don't cook too much, even if I like it. 

Trust me, with 2 jobs and 3 kids, if somebody cooks for me, I am really grateful!

She made some cookies for Mara's birthday, and I promised her we will make some muffins tomorrow.

 We used a recipe book from Reader's Digest, gorgeously illustrated, but we had to pay more attention to details, since we found out some of the ingredients are missing from the final recipe.

The final product, hand shaped and round cookies, decorated by Runa, met Mara's expectations. She gave them to all the kids from her birthday party, and told them her sister made and decorated all the cookies. Even they are fighting on daily basis, I think they love each other and I hope they will live in great understanding later. Ta-taaam!