exercise to charge your device

just a quick post - at some of the stations here in france they have places for you to charge your devices for free. the only catch is that you have to power the outlet using a stationary bike!

la madeleine

la madeleine is an enormous temple of pillars that oversees 8th district of paris. i learned that it has a history of being built and destroyed and rebuilt since the 18th century. in the end, good ole' napoleon is responsible for her construction; la modern madeleine was built as a temple to his great army. after his fall came the catholic restoration, which saw this temple repurposed as a church dedicated to mary magdalene. its blended history is represented by its mixed appearance. from the outside we see a pantheon and inside we are in a cathedral. always moved by the mixed history here in france.

institut du monde arabe and le grand voyage

the arab world institute is an impressive site from outside.

inside there is a temporary exhibit about hajj, the pilgrimage to mecca. out of respect for the somber tone of the museum i did not take photos, however the exhibit is described in detail by clicking here.

the exhibit is awe-inspiring, and words will fall short. i have a new understanding of the movie le grand voyage (click here for imdb site). the movie is especially successful at making hajj understandable for my generation and people of different faiths. here is the trailer:

place de la concorde, tuileries, musée de l'orangerie

the musée de l'orangerie is a perfect stop in paris. it is just next to place de la concorde at the end of the tuilerie gardens. the gardens stretch from the louvre to place de la concorde and from here you can see palaces, the obelisk of place de la concorde, the eiffel tower, the louvre and the arc de triumph.

at end of the gardens there are two identical museums, jeu de paume and l'orangerie. i visited the former two years ago, so we decided to go to l'orangerie. there is a collection from paul guillaume including matisse, picasso, renoir, and others. stunning pieces by these renowned artists would normally captivate me, but oddly enough they were white noise - wallpaper. 

that's because upstairs the gallery is dedicated to the water lilies, les nymphéas, by claude monet. there are eight wall-sized sections of nymphéas split between two rooms constructed to house them. 

the gallery is relatively silent in these rooms, as people like me stop and get a sense of where they are and what they are looking at.

picnic on the seine in paris

paris can get really expensive really quickly. trying to save some money and to do as the parisians do, we have been making picnics by the seine.

there's notre dame in the background!

la alhambra - in pictures

la alhambra is a castle in granada that represents a historical mix of cultures. it contains walls built by the jews, a majority of the structure built by muslims and changes and additions made by the catholics. it was the last stronghold of the muslims as the catholic kings made their way from north to south during the reconquest. it still stands intact because the muslims agreed to leave peacefully if the catholics did not destroy it. instead, they moved in. the mirador san nicolas post shows what la alhambra looks like from outside. here are some highlights from inside:

beaches of southern spain

we hit up some of my favorite beaches in southern spain this year. from motril we drove to agua dulce, which was interesting because i am not the most confident standard driver and we had to wind through autovía del mediterráneo.

it was worth it for a beautiful beach with great seafood tapas.

torrenueva was another beach stop we made to visit with my friend jorge and his family. this was much closer to motril and much less perilous to reach.

we also visited salobreña, which is a more popular vacation spot for spaniards from the south.

teteria ábaco té en granada

in granada there is a hidden gem called ábaco té. it is a teteria but not in the sense of hookahs and dark dingy lounges filled with sofas. it has teas, fresh juices, and my favorite on a hot day, real fruit slushies (granizados).

 above all, you go for the view. it's hard to find, so check the web. when you are there, go up two flights of stairs and duck through the attic to sit on the tiny terrace.

mirador san nicolas

if you wind through the albaicin, the old moorish quarter of granada, you may find yourself at the mirador de san nicolas. this small plaza sits at the base of the san nicolas church and is buzzing with  mix of artists, jewelry designers and other craftspeople, tourists, spaniards and gitano singers and guitarists. 

the reason these people congregate here, up insurmountable hills of obscenely large cobblestone, is the view of the alhambra - a castle that is kind of a big deal in these parts.

real churros

as we made our way through spain we saw "churros" in display cases and through the windows of cafés, but i refused to eat them. to me, real churros are flash fried in the moment that you order them, not grabbed from a case after a few hours of sitting. there is one place that means churros to me: café fútbol in granada. they have a large wok of hot oil and when you order churros they squeeze the dough in giant rings into the oil. the dough flash fries on the outside staying airy and moist on the inside. they scoop the rings out and cut them with giant pastry scissors to form a half dozen strips of golden beauty.

i order churros con chocolate, which is served with hot chocolate. by hot chocolate i do not mean swiss miss. i mean thick milk chocolate pudding served steaming hot and ready for the dipping. the first dip is the best, because the skin that forms on the top of the churros during the walk from the counter to the table, which at café fútbol includes crossing a fairly busy one way street, adheres to the churro making an even thicker layer of chocolate.

do not be fooled by the pre-made glass case churro posers. accept no substitutes. oh, did i mention this is a breakfast food? a breakfast after which you need a nap.

parque del buen retiro madrid

we went for a walk at the parque del buen retiro in madrid. the park is huge and is made up of gardens, a big manmade pond, a few beautiful monuments and several small restaurants.