Hace exactamente un año llegué a un lugar que mi alma ansiaba ver. El largo peregrinaje que hice junto a mi hermano desde Alemania hasta la tierra donde Europa se encuentra con África todavía resuena muy dentro mío. Es por eso que hoy quiero compartir el sentimiento que surgió a partir de mi visita a la bella Granada, el corazón de Andalucía y su Alhambra, el palacio de los reyes nazaríes.
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| La hermosa Granada, Andalucía, España, vista desde la Alcazaba de la Alhambra |
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Exactly a year ago I arrived at a place my soul was longing to see. The long pilgrimage that my brother and I did from Germany to the land where Africa and Europe meet, still echoes inside of me. Therefore, I want to share the feeling that awoke in me when I visited the beautiful Granada, the heart of Andalusia, and the Alhambra, the palace of the Nasrid kings.
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| The Albayzín, as seen from the Alhambra's Alcazaba (fortress) |
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Die Sehnsucht nach einem der schonsten Orte der Welt hat mich vor genau einem Jahr nach Andalusien gebracht. Die lange Reise von Deutschland bis zum Land wo Afrika und Europa zusammenkommen, die ich mit meinem Bruder gemacht habe, hat immer noch ihren Nachklang. Aus diesem Grunde, möchte ich heute über meine Begegnung mit der schönen Stadt Granada, dem Herz von Andalusien, und der Alhambra, dem Palast der Nasriden Könige, berichten.
17th December, 2012: a day in Paradise
We didn't get up on time, nor we ate breakfast. The cold and dry air was filling my lungs, but only one thought was going on inside my head: in short moments I would see the Alhambra, a place I had only visited in dreams. We walked up the Cuesta de Gomerez, as Washington Irving did, the first time he went up the Sabikah hill himself. As we approached the Gate of Justice, I observed the astonishing red color of the walls that give the Alhambra its name: Al-Qalat Al Hamra, The red castle.
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| The Gate of Justice, whose legend says that when the key of the inner arch (in the picture) and the hand of the outer arch meet, that day Granada would fall and the Alhambra would cease to exist. |
As I carefully looked at all the arabesques in the chambers and walls of the Mexuar, I felt a bliss that I can't compare to anything I have ever experienced before.
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| Arabesques inside one of the chambers of the Alhambra |
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| Star-shaped ceiling of the Hall of the Abencerrajes |
The most amazing moment by far was when my eyes saw the Courtyard of the Myrtles!
My jaw dropped and the Alhambra's spell tied me forever to this place, this hour, this moment. Legends of moorish kings and princesses started to come alive with every breath I took.
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| Courtyard of the Myrtles |
For a moment the world stopped spinning. And it was only me in this spellbound place. The most exquisite aspect of the Alhambra is how intimate it is, how its delicate details speak about the nobleness of its creators, a place where the most simple pleasures turn into the main point of human condition...
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| Me at the Courtyard of the Lions |
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| "Choose your companions, then the path". My brother Adriano and me at the gardens of El Partal, Alhambra. |
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| Me at the Alhambra of Granada, the heart of Andalusia |
"Für den
Reisenden, der Sinn für Kunst, Poesie und Geschichte hat, der die Natur liebt
und die Menschen in ihrer Ursprünglichkeit, dem ist die „Rote Burg“, die
Alhambra Granadas, ebenso ein Gegenstand der Verehrung wie die Kaaba von Mekka". Washington
Irving, Erzählungen von der Alhambra
"For the traveler that has a sense for art, poetry and history, who loves nature and people in their simplicity, for him is the "red castle", The Alhambra of Granada, an object of worship as the Kaaba from Mecca". Washington Irving, Tales of the Alhambra
"Para el viajero con sentido por el arte, la poesía y la historia, que ama la naturaleza y a las personas en su simplicidad, para aquel es "el castillo rojo", la Alhambra de Granada, un objeto de adoración asi como lo es la Kaaba de la Meca". Washington Irving, Cuentos de la Alhambra
"Anda
quien quiera que seas, ven, si quieres entenderme, a contemplar el sentido. Los
momentos no articulan, sino lo que permanece".
Al-Shustarí
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| "Los momentos no articulan, sino lo que permanece" |
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