Yes, back to Ireland yet again, initially for 1 week but I know better when the program manager tells me, "Just book for one week but be ready for a second week just in case..." Just in case, I took the camera along.
After the first week in Dublin, it was decided that I needed to stay for a second week. So, I met up with three of my colleages in Madrid for the weekend--a mere 2 and 1/2 hour flight from Dublin. The truth is that I know incredibly little about Spain though I was excited to put my three illustrious years of high school spanish to use. Actually, they weren't really illustrious. In reality I pretty much scraped by. In fact, in my second year, I once won an award for "Most Improved Grade" on one of the exams. My instructor, whom I'm sure was trying to be supportive, made a big deal of it in front of the class.
Our company has an internal website where you are supposed to book your travel. Thanks to this site, we ended up at a funky hotel called the Silken Puerta America--a very modern high rise where the rooms on each floor are decorated by different interior designers. When you check in, they present you with a book that includes photographs from each floor and allow you to pick your favorite. Photographs are deceiving. I ended up in what I shall term, "The Green Backlight" floor. Think translucent green backlit plexiglass walls with a glass enclosed bathroom tiled with massive pieces of rough granite. All of the furniture had sharp, sharp corners. And the 18 electronic controls by the door for the lights, window, awning, shaving cream heater, etc. were simply maddening. Ok, there really wasn't a shaving cream heater and there were really only about 6 controls. For those that know me, you will laugh to picture me staying in a green-plexiglass-backlit hotel room. I'm not exactly the high fashion, modern design type. But, I am very grateful for the opportunity to find out for sure.
On our first day, we opted to have a half-day tour of Toledo, the former capital of Spain and arguably an art center.
Toledo (pronounced "tow-lay-dough" for non-spanish speakers) is essentially built on top of a steep hill. The buildings are all situated closely together with narrow streets winding their way between in a rather charming way. You can hear cars coming behind you because the noise of their engines echoes dramatically off of the buildings. I gather that the top of a hill was a good place for a capital city because it was easier to defend. The fact that the river sourrounds the city on three sides also probably helped.
Toledo has evidently been one of the few citys where Muslims, Jews, and Christians have co-existed peaceably for many years. The Christian cathedrals and their adjoining mausoleums are always a great place for a photographer.
Most modern-day churches take a more practical approach to building houses of worship, I assume because their budgets are a lot tighter. I suppose things were quite different from a monetary perspective when the church-state put up the cash (where church and state were almost the same in many cases). Regardless, this old cathedral is simply incredible. Actually, awesome.
Weapons and armor are pretty common in the tourist shops around Toledo. I've never seen so many swords and plate-mail suits of armor in a single day. There were also some very fancy inlaid medalions in many of the shops. Not really my cup of tea, as they say, but impressive nonetheless.
While touring a little gallery that highlighted several local artists, including El Greco, we stepped out on the patio to this vista. Wow.
This Jewish synagogue, evidently the second oldest in Europe, was used primarily for things like quarters for soldiers rather than just worship. I particularly appreciated how the light played on the arches and details.
And now the inside of one of the Christian cathedrals. I don't believe I've ever been inside a building this ornate and open. It's no wonder that many of these buildings took hundreds of years to complete and feature various styles that represent the periods during construction. I would love to hear some acoustical tests in this space.
Details above the altar. One challenging thing with a guided tour for a photographer is that you miss many of the explanations from the tour guide because you're busy capturing the images while they're talkng. One thing I do happen to remember about this cathedral is that there are fetters hanging from the wall on the outside. They were given as a gift to the queen from many of the prisoners that were freed by her. I don't know which queen nor which prisoners but the fetters were a sight I won't forget. While fetters hanging on a churh are not particularly photogenic, the inside of the cathedral could have kept me enthralled for hours, perhaps even years.
This is a shot from another mausoleum. I marvel at the detail in the stonework. Very few buildings aside from old cathedrals can get away with such ornate detail so gracefully.
Back in Madrid, we stopped off for a little lunch in one of the squares near the royal palace and then made our way around town to see the sights. I have to thank my colleague MB for pointing out this scene to me. We were waiting to cross the street and saw this woman standing out on the balcony of her flat, waving to people that waved to her. If I had more time, I probably would have composed the shot a little differently but I like how this captures the details of the woman, her building, and the shadow cast from the building across the street. The afternoon sun also provides an almost other-worldly touch.
Once across the street we made our way over the the Palacio Real (royal palace). The building is so massive that I was stumped with how to photograph it. The adjoining cathedral, with the sun just behind one of the bell towers, however, was spectacular.
And that was just part of the first day. I'll be sure to get back with another installment next week. I'd like to thank my other two colleagues for humoring MB and I while we filled probably 6GB worth of memory cards. Gracias, amigas.
