Alhambra

Alhambra is one of the most beautiful and surprising places that I have ever seen. I think the surprising part has to do with the fact that I had absolutely no expectations when I went there. In fact, before my roommate, Carmen, told me about it I had never heard of it. Well, we can all admit to some ignorance from time to time.

 Alhambra is basically just a palace. Except there is nothing basic about it. The architecture is absolutely amazing. Most of the buildings were constructed by the Moorish rulers in the 14th century, and it one of the best preserved examples of Islamic architecture. (If you want to learn more, check out the bringer of all knowledge, Wikipedia.)

Apart from all the style of the buildings, almost every inch of the walls are covered in Arabic script that has been carved into the stone. The effect is very impressive, from both an aesthetic and craftsman standpoint.

Gardens are extraordinary too. I was walking through the hedges and I noticed that the path was constructed out to these specifically placed stones. No detail has been ignored. I will be eternally grateful to Carmen for taking me to this amazing place.

Camel

I remember the day Leigh and I went riding on a camel in Egypt. A pretty standard tourist activity in Giza – because you have not experienced the REAL EGYPT until you have had your picture taken on a camel next to the pyramids. So we saddled up some camels and went on a short jaunt out to the prime picture location. A man generously offered to take our photo, but he decided that we needed to look more excited, so he kept yelling at us to raise up our arms up in jubilation. The resulting photo makes us look confused and not really that pleased to be sitting on camels in the middle of the desert.

I will spare you the tourist photo and humbly offer this picture of a sassy looking camel. All camels are sassy – not unlike myself.

The Road Ahead

I'm back on the road to graduate school after a two day hiatus where I mostly watched the United States of Tara (awesome show!) and wondered where my motivation ran off to. Today has been reasonably productive so far. Only six applications and one life-determining standardized test to go!

This picture is from Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Hot Oil

Visiting temples was one of my favorite activities in Thailand. Although this activity is not just limited to Thailand. I love to visit churches, synagogues, and mosques in all countries. If I ever make it to India (cross my fingers!), I will definitely visit as many Hindu temples as I can.

Houses of worship have this quiet to them that is hard to describe. It's like there is a hush that falls over the whole place and you can't help but feel at peace. Temples are also one of the best places to see art. I never saw any art museums in Thailand, but you will not feel bereft as long as you visit one of the thousands of temples around every corner.

This photo was taken at Doi Sutep in Chiang Mai. There are many spectacular temples in Thailand, but Doi Sutep was one of my favorites.

Skyline

Chicago does actually have a really nice skyline. One of the major perks of working on a boat is that you get to be there when the sun goes down and splits the clouds open. Everyone else is marveling and you're thinking, "Yep... just an ordinary Wednesday."

Sign post

Here are some more pictures from the Lake District. We went on a hike up into the hills following a path under the assumption that what goes up must come down. Well, somewhere along the way we lost the path and then had to trail blaze our own way down. Just when we reached the bottom we found this sign – and the path that we should have been on the whole time. Oops.

I can't decide which of these pictures I like better. I'm leaning towards the top one. I like the position of the hand on the sign and the fact that you can see the child's chin. On the other hand, I like the angle of the signs on the lower picture better. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?

Happy November

Hope you're enjoying the first day of November! Have some holly from Kew Gardens in England. I was playing around with saturation in Photoshop. My pictures usually need some help in the color department, since my old point-and-shoot does not have the world's greatest sensor... oh, how I would love a digital SLR... Anyways! I was playing around with the saturation and it turns out I can manipulate the colors of a photograph separately. For my first experiment (above) I desaturated all of the colors except the red berries. I think it gives the picture more texture. Plus it really makes the berries pop. What do you think?

Rocks

Some more reprints from Ireland. The only explanation I can give this time is that I absolutely love these photos and Photoshop does a much better job of cleaning them up than iPhoto. Hope you enjoy!