Sketch from the Alhambra

Jet lagged from our flight across the country and Atlantic, we overslept and almost missed our ticket time to see the Alhambra.  We rushed to get there in time to walk through the exquisite Palace.  I think you need to go through two times.  Once to just see it and once to sketch it.  This was the only sketch I had time to do at the end of the day after leaving the Palacio de Generalife. This is the view from the back side of the Palace.  Protected by the shade of the trees I found a spot to do this sketch.

 I will have to return to really sketch the main Palace.

Dusk Along Carrera Del Darro

While sitting at Cafe La Taberna De Tiacheta having a wonderful salad for dinner, I did this sketch.  It was dusk and the sun was setting so much was in shadow except the little bit of sunlight hitting the tops of the buildings.  A street musician was playing the accordian.  Wonderful musical entertainment with our dinner. 

Granada Spain

After 26 hours of travel to our first destination we arrived in Granada Spain at around 1:00 in the afternoon.  We were picked up by a shuttle and taken to our hotel which was located in the Albaycin neighborhood at the base of the Alhambra and just off of Placa Nuevo.  To get to our hotel we walk along one of the most scenic streets in Granada, Carrera del Darro which follows the river Darro.  The streets and buildings date back to the 16th and 17th century.  Our hotel was renovated from a 16th century building. 

Here is a view from Monte De Piedad looking up toward the Alhambra.  I didn't quite get the proportions correct in this sketch and realized it while I was sketching it.  The Alhambra should appear much higher up in the sky.  It was looming above.  I was able to capture that feel in a later sketch.  This was my first one in Spain and I had to get use to getting the verticality of the streets and start doing 3 point perspectives.  Because of the tight streets you find yourself always looking up.

Madrid Airport

Our first introduction to Spain was the Madrid Airport.  What an amazing piece of Architecture,  the most beautiful and elegant airport I have ever seen.  To top it off as we waited for our next plane to Granada, we were treated to Classical Spanish Guitar music performed by this young man.  Through out our trip in Spain we would hear people playing guitar on the streets, in the parks, in the subway and at the cafe's.  They were all really good!

Ceiling of Madrid Airport

9 hour flight to Madrid

After a four hour flight to Dallas,  we caught a 9 hour flight to Madrid Spain.  Middle section view.

First stop Dallas Airport

First stop on our long journey was the Dallas Airport.  Here is a sketch from the plane looking out the window as we fly over the country.

Sketches from our Journey to Spain

I will start posting the sketches I did while on our trip to Spain.  We start at the
Seattle airport leaving for Spain on July 4th.  We flew to Dallas Airport and then immediately took a plane to Madrid.  From Madrid we took another small Iberia plane to Granada Spain.