The Alhambra is a wonder - Henri Matisse

If there’s one thing I love, it’s free stuff. If there are TWO things I love its three day weekends. So when I can something free to do here in Granada, it’s pretty freakin’ sweet!

So the way my classes are set up, I only have school three days a week, which is excellent for sightseeing and sleeping late! Lauren and I are spending the weekend here in Granada, just relaxing before next week. 

My friend, Antonio, and I decided to check out the Henri Matisse exhibit that's celebrating the 100th anniversary of his visit and works in Granada and Spain. If you’re like me, and know nothing about art here’s a quick lesson:

About a hundred years ago, Matisse traveled around Spain and was super inspired by all the cool places here, especially the Alhambra. From what I remember reading he was into fauvism which is a or of impressionsism, but I have no idea what any of that means. 

We spent about an hour up there looking at the works and taking pictures around the area of the Alhambra that you don't have to pay for. I really liked what I saw. I don't know a lot about art by any means, but Matisse uses colors quite nicely, which is what I like to see. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the exhibit so this is one of the poster I found on the blog Easy Granada http://easygranada.blogspot.com/2010/10/matisse-y-la-alhambra-viaje-de-ida-y.html.

I think it's something that everyone should see and experience. It's like in the movie Mona Lisa Smile, when Julia Roberts takes them to see the unwrapping of the Jackson Pollock painting:

"You don't have to like it, you just have to consider it."  

It's just amazing to see the legacy that took place here. This is the last place occupied by the moors. This is the place where Isabella commissioned Columbus' voyage to the New World and obviously the inspiration for some of Matisse's work. It's a good reminder that there's bigger things happening in this world, past and present.

At the end of the exhibit, there was a comment book where you can write what you thought. This reminded me of the Gilmore Girls episode when they stay at that fluffy B&B and go to Harvard. Anyway, in the episode there's a comment book and Lorelai writes "Satan is forever at work here." and Rory changes it to "Sat and forever at work here."  

Well I thought I would try to be mysterious and witty so next to my name I wrote "Sat and forever at work here." Of course that won't make sense to anyone who reads that, but I thought it was cool ;-)

Lauren and I were pretty tired from our adventures the night before so we decided to rent a movie and go to sleep early. We rented Volver which was entirely in Spanish. They didn't have English subtitles but we put Spanish ones on so it made it easier to understand. We were able to follow most of it. I would explain it but it's quite complicated, so you should rent it yourself. 

Palabra del día: Last night I wrote down words in the movie that I didn't understand. One of those was porro, which means Joint or Reefer for all you pot-heads out there...