the colors of paella

My Dave, he loves paella. He loves to eat it, he loves to make it. So it's no surprise that we ate a LOT of paella while we were in Spain. We ate paella in nearly every city we visited (none in Granada, twice in Madrid), so that we could taste the different regional variants. I present to you "the Colors of Paella" (to be sung to the tune of Pocahontas' "Colors of the Wind"):

Granada

After an intense few days in Barcelona, we hopped a short flight to Granada. I remember learning about the Alhambra in high school, but I just assumed I would never see it – after all, when would I ever make it to Granada?? 16 June 2013, it turns out!

We rented a car, dropped off our bags at a "basic" hostel, and immediately headed to a viewpoint to see the Alhambra bathed in the sunset.

The site itself was even more stunning. The Generalife Gardens were amazing! The greenery, fountains, and blooming flowers were so soothing on even a mild afternoon – I can only imagine the relief they provided in a pre-air-conditioning-era summer.

 

My skills as a photographer are insufficient to capture the wonders of the Nasrid Palaces. But I tried my best:

Every inch of the walls in the public reception rooms were covered with these beautiful decorations.

A domed ceiling with stucco "stalactite" decoration

I've never seen Moorish architecture like this before, and I loved it! The intricacy of the decoration, the use of light, the demarcation of public and private – wonderful. I only wish I knew more history of that area and era to help me appreciate it more.

Granada also has some impressive Christian sites as well. Did you know that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are buried there? No pictures allowed, unfortunately. I know this is silly, but I had almost forgotten that they were real people. An unforeseen consequence of reading too many children's books about the discovery of America?

The city also has quite the impressive cathedral.

Check out that organ!

It's a shame we only had one night and one day in Granada – there was plenty more to explore! But I'm glad we saw what we did.

Spain adventures

Hola from Madrid! Our honeymoon started a week ago, when Dave and I met up at our gate at JFK. A kindly woman switched seats so that we could sit together – all the way to Barcelona! We went on a sightseeing tear, really packing it in over just a few days. Here are a few highlights:

 

JAMON. DELICIOUS. At La Boqueria market.

 Barcelona's cathedral

The salamander fountain at Gaudi's Park Güell

 

The amazing ceiling of Gaudi's cathedral, La Sagrada Familia. I love how the columns imitate the spreading branches of trees. We learned a ton about Modernisme architecture – I really liked its obsession with sunlight and imitating natural forms. Its aversion to straight lines, though, was disconcerting at times.

 Happy newlyweds on the roof of Gaudi's Casa Battlo

Interior of La Palau de la Musica Catalunya

Sardana dance – a spontaneous, traditional Catalonian dance in the square on some Sundays! It was outlawed under Franco, but it's made a comeback!

View of the harbor from the cable car to Montjuic

mini-honeymoon in Cape May

Before we leave for our next trip, I want to post some pictures of our time in Cape May!

It's a bit of a blur to me now – just coming down off of the wedding high, catching up on rest, and getting used to being together, just the two of us. What I do remember is that it was cold, windy, and raining. Not exactly beachy weather! So we had to find some other ways to have fun:

We took a trolley tour of the historic area of Cape May, which is dominated by old Victorian houses.

The trolley dropped us off at Dr. Emlen Physick's house, where we took a tour of the interior. No pictures allowed!

 The rain somehow made the flowers more vibrant.

This is a defensive tower built during World War II, part of a system of towers guarding the East Coast.

And the lighthouse. We arrived by bicycle, ten minutes after it had closed. Maybe I should have pedaled faster...we'll just have to go back again some other time!

Shakespeare in the Arb

Somehow, the pace of life has not yet returned to normal! This week we've been frantically unpacking and settling into our place together, frantically making all the arrangements for the honeymoon, and frantically trying to write my conference paper for the end of the month. But last night we took a break to see a performance of "Much Ado about Nothing" in Nichols Arboretum, a huge and beautiful nature preserve running alongside the Huron River in Ann Arbor. I've been wanting to see a performance of "Shakespeare in the Arb" for years now, but I always seem to be out of town in June. This is presumably my last summer in Ann Arbor, and moreover, my good friend Brianne was part of the cast!

It was a cool and cloudy evening, but still pleasant for enjoying the show. The performance was mobile – at the close of certain scenes and acts, we all got up, picked up our chairs and blankets, and followed a woman bearing a flag to the next stop. Unusual, but also novel and lively!

Sarah and John joined us. Relaxing on our picnic blanket at the start of the show:

My conference paper remains unfinished (and I depart for NYC tomorrow), but I'm glad we went. I've become so accustomed to worrying constantly about my to-do list and my productivity level, and I want to get out of that habit. Life is short, let's enjoy some moments together, right?

movin' on up!

On Saturday, I turned in the keys to my apartment and finished moving my things into Dave's place. Excuse me, OUR place! I'm usually very sentimental about these sorts of things – I like to take a video tour of the old place, celebrate the "last meal" or "last night," etc. But this time, I had no excess emotional energy for nostalgia. I completely forgot to take pictures of what it looked like before I started to move, so here are some old pictures:

Because this is the first place where I lived by myself, without roommates (or my parents), I consider it my first "grown-up apartment." I was so happy to move into my own place after spending a year in Athens in a dorm. I'll miss my cozy little studio downtown, but I'm very excited about one thing in particular at Dave's place: DOORS. Maybe now my bedding won't always smell like stirfry! Here's how the place looked by Friday night:

Goodbye, exposed brick wall! I never knew why you were so special, but I'm glad you earned me compliments. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some boxes to unpack...

WE DID IT!

On Sunday, 26 May 2013, Dave and I got married! I'm writing now from Cape May, New Jersey, where we have retreated to relax, decompress, and try to wrap our minds around what just happened. More to come later – we're off for an historic trolley tour now!

the Wilds

On our way to the east coast to prepare for the wedding, Dave and I made a stop in Ohio, at the Wilds! It's a 10,000 acre conservation/wildlife area, reclaimed from an old strip mining site in rural eastern Ohio. They specialize in facilitating captive breeding of species that are extinct in the wild. Exciting and important stuff. Dave and I love the zoo, so this was a perfect place to celebrate Dave's, how shall we say, "milestone" birthday!

Upon our arrival, we took a 2.5-hour safari bus tour. Our guide, Lee, was either really bored of giving this tour, or maybe high.

Our favorite animal that we saw was the Szechuan Takin:

What a ridiculous-looking animal! Lee said that he looks like a creature out of a Dr. Seuss book. I think that he looks more like Acheloos, the river god defeated by Heracles in a contest over Deianeira. He is often depicted as a large-horned bull with the face of a man:

Heracles broke off one of his horns in the fight, which became the horn of plenty symbol. Okay, end of mythological excursus. We spent the night in a yurt! It was our first experience with "glamping" – glamorous camping, of course! I've stayed in a yurt before, but it wasn't very glamorous. In fact, it was at a national park in Uganda, and there was neither electricity nor running water on the site. So this was a big upgrade:

The view was really stunning. I don't know how much money it took to go from strip mine to this, but I think it was worth it:

Those of us who were spending the night at the park ate dinner in the same dining room. The couple next to us were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary! And next to them was another couple, celebrating their 54th anniversary. Dave asked them for advice, which I dutifully share here:

• "If it's not really bad, don't say anything."
• "Yeah, keep your mouth shut!"
• "It's easier to leave than to stay and work it out. But it's worth it."

The next morning, we took the Wildside Tour. It ended up being a private tour of the site by pickup truck with an animal management expert. Since we didn't have to stick to the main roads, we were able to get much closer to the animals. We fed Mickey the Giraffe:

And pet Gobi the Bactrian Camel:

And drew near to cheetahs and Przewalski's horses and rhinos:

It wasn't cheap, but compared to, I don't know, dropping 12 grand on a real safari in Tanzania, I'd say it was pretty affordable! We'd love to go back sometime and see what new things are going on there. Maybe an anniversary trip?? ;)

local "landmarks"

Since I returned from New York/Philly on Sunday night, I've been occupied with moving from my apartment into Dave's place. It's just across town, and I have a car, so I've been able to make many trips with my trusty Camry. But once I live in Dave's (our!) place, I won't be running on the same paths anymore. Here are two of my favorite "landmarks" on my route to the Huron River:

 

I've never understood what this sign means: "Hippies Use Backdoor: No Exceptions." Is this supposed to be insulting to hippies? Or is it positive, that some secret exchange can occur at the backdoor that only hippies have access to?

I will also miss being close to this banana stand (if that is, indeed, what it is). It's out there year-round, but I've never seen anyone manning it. This seems as good a time as any for an Arrested Development gif: