The Look of Love: El Palacete Rodríguez Quegles

The 25th Canarian Jazz Festival came to an end on 24th July, stretching over more than 2 weeks, entertaining thousands throughout the archipelago, bringing jazz, in its widest sense, to the masses. 25 years! I vaguely remember its early humble beginnings and I couldn't believe that it's been around for two and a half decades already.

The Jazz Festival overlaps with the 20th edition of the month-long TEMUDAS, which again, brings various art forms onto the streets of Las Palmas. The TE stands for teatro (theatre), the MU for música (music) and the DAS for danza (dance). TEMUDAS can also be seen as a play on words; te mudas means you move, and the festival basically moves from street to street, square to square, over the Vegueta district.

It's heartening to see the growth of important cultural and sporting events in the Canaries over the years, attempting to show the world that this archipelago has more to offer than just "cheap" beach holidays. Its Music Festival is held every winter, the next edition being the 33rd. Yes, the 33rd!

The 16th Film Festival was held last March and the Opera Festival will be entering its 50th edition in 2017.

Then, on the sporting front, there's the Marathon, the Transgrancanaria ultra trail, the Iron Man, etc.

Anyway, the purpose of this post wasn't really to talk about these events but rather to share a few photos I took and to expose this gem, hidden behind Triana.

One of my favourite buildings in Las Palmas (and it's many other people's fave too) is El Palacete Rodríguez Quegles. A gorgeous building such as this has to have a gorgeous story to go with it, and this one certainly has.

There was this señor, affluent and influential, no doubt, named Juan Rodríguez Quegles. He fell in love with a lady, María Teresa González Díaz. So, his proposal to her was no beating about the bush: "If you marry me, I'll build you the most beautiful house on this island".

An offer she found difficult to refuse so she took him up on it. And he wasn't lying.

He contracted a prominent architect from Madrid, Mariano Belmás to fulfil his promise. Building work started in 1900. The story then becomes a bit hazy. It isn't clear how much work Belmás did but he didn't finish the work; it was Fernando Navarro y Navarro who did but exactly when the building was completed is unknown.

Through the years, however, love alone wasn't enough to maintain a building of this stature. The cost was too great and its inheritors couldn't keep it going. The Ayuntamiento of Las Palmas acquired it in 1972.

The Conservatorio Superior de Música used the building for about 16 years but eventually found that the premises were too big for the number of students they had.

Since then, several organizations have had the fortune to use El Palacete (Little Palace) and fairly recently, it received a facelift, and took on a fresh coat of paint. The original colour of the exterior walls is unknown although it had been green for many years. Now, it's blue, and against the blue skies of Las Palmas, I think it's perfect. The evergreen flame trees with its bright red flowers provide a graceful contrast.

The fruit of love

From 28th May to 24th July, the organization occupying this mansion had been Heineken, who called it The House, and they used it to hold various cultural activities where access to them was by invitation only.

Their penultimate event before their tenure expired was a short concert as part of the 25th Canarian Jazz Festival mentioned right at the beginning of this post. The performing band was Patax. Led by master percussionist Jorge Pérez, they play a blend of jazz fused with funk, Afrocuban, flamenco, folk and whatever else that takes their fancy. If you've never heard of them, I'd recommend that you looked them up.

I was thrilled when I managed to conjure up a couple of last-minute invites and dragged Matthew Hirtes, also known as Mr Gran Canaria Local, along with me. On the early evening of Friday 22nd July, a stripped-down quartet, comprising of Jorge Pérez, Alana Sinkëy, Carlos Sánchez and Daniel García, treated us to an "unplugged" version of Patax. A fuller band would appear later that night at Plaza Santa Ana.

Patax, unplugged

Once in a while, I come up with a photograph (of mine) that I really like. This doesn't happen often but when it does, I like to share it with the world. Of course, not everyone may agree with me. When I mentioned at the beginning that the purpose of this post was to share some photos, the following are what I was referring to. The gentle, demure, sultry Alana Sinkëy simply lit up my camera. Even though I had to crop a lot to get what I had in mind, I am chuffed to have had the opportunity to capture these few seconds of her:

Alana Sinkëy

I hope you like them as much as I do!

Credit:

Villegas, Vicente. "EL PALACETE RODRÍGUEZ QUEGLES." ULPGC, 2012. Web. 

Also thanks to Matthew Hirtes for his assistance in the research.

Alhondiga

Continued from Morning walkabout, Casco Viejo

From Casco Viejo, we crossed the bridge, carried on walking, looking at shops, restaurants and cafes, until we reached Alhóndiga.

Now, what can I say about Alhóndiga?

The first thing that strikes you when you enter is the space and the darkness. A modern cavern. It's so huge that even with 1,000 people there, it will look empty. And there were, I'm sure, fewer than a thousand. Short, squat pillars, each of them different, support this former wine warehouse. One shudders to think of the amount of wine stored here! In one corner, some aliens, face glowing, sit on lighted boxes, alone with their mobile devices (there's free wi-fi); nearby, potential business partners discuss possible projects; illicit lovers speak in hushed tones... Occasionally, a kid screams, a security guard silently walks by...

Free wi-fi

As you trudge among the fat pillars, you might hear indiscernible voices coming from hidden corners; you might catch shadows moving in a liquid sky above you...

Artistic pillars

Climb up the stairs and you may find a large library all to yourself, or find yourself alone in a spacious exhibition hall... All very surrealistic.

An exhibition of space

Right at the top, there is a fitness centre and a restaurant; somewhere in between, there are also cinemas... You may perhaps find something to buy in one of these empty shops...

Empty shops

After our surrealistic experience, we stretched our legs again, walking towards and around La Catedral, and I'm not referring to the church but to the new San Mamés football stadium. They're putting the finishing touches to it, and when totally completed, it will have a capacity of just over 53,000.

The new San Mamés football stadium

This is a prime example of how photographic skills can make something more attractive than what it looks like in real life ;)

From the stadium, we walked past what looked like a nice park, El Jardín de Misericordia (Misericordia has got nothing to do with misery as I'd originally thought but means compassion, mercy, clemency). If my legs had had more energy and there had been more time, I'd have gone in. Check it out, if you're around that area. Apparently, here lies the reason why Athletic de Bilbao football players are called the Lions. Read about it here.

From there, we sauntered across town, breathed some oxygen in the small Jardines de Albia, and sussed out the restaurants along Colón de Larreátegui Kalea. Of course, everyone knows about Café Iruña, but the others beside it stocked some really delicious-looking pintxos.

We knew where we'd be for dinner!

Guggenheim as you've never seen before!

Continued from Ribera Market

Before long, I found myself back at Guggenheim's. The sky didn't look very promising. And so it was to be. Overcast and remained so until dark. Chilly even, and me with just a T-shirt. Any hopes of catching the warm glow of sunset were futile. Still, I ended up with scores of shots, too many to show, really. However, some of you may have interest in seeing them. Here's a slide show I've put up and, don't forget, you can also see all these and more at your own time, in my Flickr page (see left column).

Feedback and constructive criticisms are welcomed.

Created with flickr slideshow.

Note that the slideshow uses Shockwave Flash, so you'll find that you won't be able to watch it on most of your mobile devices. Some may say that the software is not supported. iPad just displays a blank screen, which isn't very friendly. If you can't watch it, then here's the direct link to the set on Flickr.

Guggenheim, Bilbao, Part Two

Continued from Guggenheim, Bilbao, Part One

I might not have gone for a close-up, but I did take a few more shots of Anish Kapoor's 'Reflectorama' from various angles. Here are a couple.

 Anish Kapoor's 'Reflectorama', full length

This following shot almost got dumped into the bin because I thought it was too cluttered and Guggenheim just overshadowed the silver orbs. However, I set out to work on it and I quite like the finished product. Rather than being overshadowed by Guggenheim, it now seems to forge with it, giving a shape of something not unlike the old statues of protective animals.

The Steel Puppy

We walked around the museum, looking up, down and around, looking beyond... now, how on earth did they dare construct such a hideous monster beside something like Guggenheim??? Doesn't it make you wonder? Even The Flower Puppy looks at it disapprovingly.

The Flower Puppy isn't happy

And here's the Puppy, in its full flowery glory, guarding the Guggenheim.

The Flower Puppy

I remember, too, that it was a hot day, and kids could be seen playing among the sporadic jets of water shooting out from the invisible fountain, on the west of the museum.

Sporadic jets from hidden fountain

When I said before that we didn't enter the museum, I meant entered to see the exhibits. I did enter the shop and had a quick walk around. With places such as museums and art galleries, I like to take my time and time was a bit short on this particular visit.

Guggenheim, Bilbao, Part One

Continued from Zubizuri Bridge

Treading on the soft walkway of the Zubizuri Bridge, we crossed River Nervion, and walked along its banks until the huge silvery monster looms before us. Guggenheim.

Sun on titanium

Well, as I'd mentioned before (in First Impressions), I thought I might hate it; no, it's an awesome monstrosity. What I'd forgotten to mention in that post is that if you're coming into town by the airport bus, choose a seat on the right hand side. That way, the impact is greater when this titanium masterpiece looks down on your shoulder as you ride past.

I was lucky to have arrived as the sun was just setting and the early evening glow on the titanium plates was just wow! Sadly, I was never able to witness the same effect again in my short time in Bilbao. I found the building rather difficult to photograph. Depending on where and how the sun is, you may very well find it surprisingly quite dark. Honestly, it's another of those places you'd need to see at different times of day, under different weather conditions. If the conditions aren't right, working in monochrome offers an interesting alternative.

Guggenheim in monochrome

Having just 3 nights in Bilbao means only 2 days to look around so I decided not to go in the museum, preferring instead to walk around the town. Even though I don't get to see the exhibits inside, there are other sights to behold in the vicinity. Walking the full circle around Guggenheim is a must, but this time around, I only completed part of it.

Here's half a shot of Anish Kapoor's 'Reflectorama'; I can't understand why I never went up close for a shot. Perhaps, the lighting wasn't good enough. I honestly can't remember, but I do remember that I never got the right lighting conditions for Guggenheim each time I was there.

 Anish Kapoor's 'Reflectorama'

What about you? Have you been there? What were your impressions?

Zubizuri Bridge

Continued from First Lunch

Four syllables needed to say "white". Basque is a difficult language!

In the previous post, I referred to this pedestrian bridge as sexy. Well, as Plato says, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. This bridge has raised quite some controversy in the past, and not everyone likes it. Remember, I said about walking on foam? Well, the original material used for the deck was glass, and, well, walking on glass in Bilbao can be, mmm, rather treacherous!

They say it's a very rare event if you spend 3 days in Bilbao and not witness rain. This was personally confirmed in my 3 days there. Rained on the 3rd. No kidding. Apparently, a lot of people slipped while crossing the bridge during wet weather, so the local council decided to carpet it. Now, I'm left wondering how the bridge originally looked!

Read more about the bridge in Wiki.

Here are more shots of Santiago Calatrava's creation.

Under the bridge

Puente Zubizuri in the daylight

In monochrome

Twilight time

Reflections

From a distance

And since I like this one so much, I'll reproduce it here again.

The sexy one

Which of these shots do you like best? Why? I'd love to hear your opinions!