Granada

Sorry we've been slow to write in the blog - just too busy!

Lenny and I flew through London, spending an evening with our friends Guy, David and Julia.  Our flight was late, which cut into our time, but still had a lovely dinner.

Up the next morning -- way too early -- to fly from City Airport in London to Granada, Spain.  We met Ann and Jere at the airport, then Joan and Karl, Keith and Debbie at the hotel.  So we 8 are all ready to roll.

Our tour guide Susanna started yesterday with some of the highlights in town: the Cathedral  and a chapel.  I think I understand roughly 20% of what she says, so I'm afraid I can't share very much!  My summary of Granada history is this:  first there were the Muslims.  Then the Christians came and kicked out the Muslims and the Jews (they either had to leave or get converted).  After that, eventually, you got Franco. Now Spain is modern.  That about sums it up.

One of my favorite things are the rock mosaics everywhere on the ground.  Some are simple and others elaborate, but they make some pretty cool patterns in stone.

We also went to a terrace with a view of the Alhambra, the "red fortress" that is the most famous site in Granada. (Granada, by the way, was named for pomegranates - you see them as symbols throughout). 

It is going to be hard to get used to meal times and pace.  We went to a restaurant that Susanne recommended last night at 8pm, which is when they opened, and they were really not ready yet.  We ate a great meal, but it was well after 10pm when we left, and the entry was then crowded with people waiting for the tables.  I don't understand how people eat so late and then get up for work!  Also, the pace is VERY SLOW.  We basically have to get up from the table and start to leave in order to get a waiter's attention for our bill.

I was awakened at 4am by some noisy Spaniards whose car was parked right next to the window of our room.  I guess that's when the bars close.

Today we went the Alhambra.  It was Muslim (remember, they came first), and then later Catholic (you get the theme).  It is full of gorgeous Islamic carvings, mostly geometrics but also lettering from the Koran.  Some carvings are in plaster, some in marble, and some in wood, but all really beautiful.  I like the Islamic art, which has no figures, much better than the later Christian stuff.

 

 

The gardens are particularly magnificent, although are a later addition.  The Alhambra was a complete city, with lots of housing, factories, a military garrison, and so on.  Now there is one family living there, and otherwise it is a tourist area sitting above the newer town.  We went through room after room of beautiful Islamic ceilings, walls, floors.  It also had an impressive water system that irrigated plants as well as keeping rooms cool.

We walked back and had a nice lunch along the river.  Lunch started  around 2pm, and because of the pace, we didn't get up from the table until after 4pm!

After our tour, we saw a few festivities.  First, a wedding just ending, with all sorts of very dressy people gathering on front of the church - the mother of the groom was in a red dress with a long black veil.  Then we also saw a bunch of gals feting one of their friends by dressing her up and putting her on a burro.  

It was like a bridal shower, since the friend was due to be married in a few weeks.  We asked if we gals could pose with them, and of course snapped a nice photo of the occasion.

Donna