FRIDAY 11.08.02 – Day 7

Day 7 – Granada

The next morning we headed out to discover the area, look for Chotchkie's, and grab a bite before meeting our Guide for the Alhambra tour.

Granada is actually a small town, [amazing considering its influence on Spanish History] and it is easy to walk from one end to the other in half a day. Of course… with the Cuban Lady and her perpetual search for Chotchkie’s…. I think we did just that and it was only the morning!

We arrived back at the hotel in time to meet our Guide. [Taa-daaaa… we actually were ahead of time for a tour!!!] Elisa who announced she was a tad early and allowed us to rush our shopping find upstairs, grab the Camera Case and film and head out to catch the Mini-bus to the Alhambra and Gardens of the Generalife. It was a good thing we had a reservation and tickets waiting. Elisa explains that over 8000 touristas visit the La Alhambra per day so it is necessary to control the crowds. We are told that the ticket office only opens ½ hour before allowing entrance, and often the lines are so long that after standing in line for quite awhile, many are turned away after the park has meet the allowed quota for the given period. Additionally the roads are so narrow up through the forest and Ancient Narrow stone entrances that this is why the only busses allowed up the winding road to the park are the mini-busses. The big tour busses had nicked the ancient stone portals one too many times.

Granada is one of the most beautiful cities in "Al Andalus" [the name for Islamic Spain]. Andalusia was the most prosperous, refined and advanced regions in the world during the Muslim domination of Spain from 711AD until the expulsion of the last Moorish king, Boabdil by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand & Isabella in the late 14th Century. The Caliphate of Córdoba [remember… CÓR-doba] the Capital of Islamic Spain, radiated riches and knowledge. This legacy still pervades the 8 Andalusian provinces.

If you visit any one "Monument" in Spain it must be La Alhambra. It, and the Gardens of the Generalife’ will give you a really true perspective in the blending of different influences from the Arabs [who originally built it and occupied Al Andalus for almost 8 centuries] and the Spaniards who later inhabited it and added their own “Grand Palace” [which was never finished or inhabited]… Napoleon in one of his invasions of Spain also tried to burn it down and blow up the bridge into the main palace, but a local foiled the explosion and saved the entrance. They did however destroy most of the workers homes along the way into the palace grounds. The gardens are really incredible, and the Alzcazar, with its extraordinary sculptures and stuccowork must be seen to be believed. I have tried to capture as much on film but don’t think I really did it justice.

Our tour was purposely scheduled for the afternoon to avoid the tour busses and large crowds that are prevalent in the mornings and it still took over 5 hours to complete. Of course, Chuckie had to stop and Photo EVERYTHING [or so it seemed] and this may have consumed more time that anticipated. [Suffice it to say that by now he has long exceeded the original film quota and we figure the film bill alone will take some time to amortize.]

We caught the Mini-Bus back to the area near the hotel and invited Elisa for some wine and Tapas. She introduced us to her favorite little bodega and we enjoyed some fine Rioja and Vino Tinto from La Mancha along with some excellent cheeses and Jamon Serrano. She needed to meet her boyfriend and her family soon or would have accepted our invitation to join us for dinner. So far… this and the Tour of Toledo have had the best guides. Since this was the last of the privately guided tours, we have advised OLE in Madrid of our complete satisfaction with Fernando in Toledo and Elisa in Granada, as well as comments on the tours in Seville and Córdoba. One Panoramic Tour [bus tour of Barcelona] is the only formal tour left, the rest is on our own… Illy just loves getting lost in the Chotchkie shops as well as making the many pirulas on foot as we try to follow directions from our local friends.

Dinner was at a little Spot [El Laguna] around the corner from the Hotel. It was pretty nondescript and in fact, since I am writing this in Barcelona I had to break out the charge slip to recall the name. The clerk at the hotel had recommended it; we advised them to take it off their recommend list.

We had heard about a Gypsy Flamenco show, way up the hill in the Albyzin [predominantly Muslim] section of Granada and rather than hike up there we grabbed a cab, who knew exactly where we wanted to go… not that he approved. We made it just after the show started and were ushered to seats near the rear of a cave like room [much of the Albayzincaves higher on the hill] but his one was obviously manufactured. Two drinks included in the show price were promptly delivered, and Chuckie proceeded to have wine dribbled on him. He secured a bottle of Gypsy Club soda and a napkin and with the humble apologies of the host, we were ushered to better seats. Not sure what that had to do with anything.

The show was fiery and the women very emotional. Chuckie tried to capture the right expression and poses and probably took too may shots, but…Hey…. once upon a time, he had a chance to study this stuff with the world renowned Jose Greco and like a fool, for some reason turned it down…so he was on a mission!

In contrast to the Classical Flamenco we are accustomed to in America with the large hair combs, castanets, and bolero suited men with tight pants accompanied by a classical guitar, the Gypsy style is coarser, with much alternate beat clapping to simulate castanets and hide the missed heel stomps. The Guitar work is a little more flamboyant and the main harmony is from the plaintiff wailing of two very talented and emotional gentlemen.
When the show ended, another group of guests were being ushered into another room for a repeat of the show we had just seen and the host still feeling a little guilty about the spilled wine, invited is to join the new group to catch the first part of the show we had missed earlier. We joined the new group… and took a few more [read that too many more] photos. [The oldest women of the troop had the best hands and facials….well what did you expect...more practice]. We slipped out when we had had enough stomping and wailing. We decided to walk back down the hill [not a great idea but Hey… ya get more flavor of the town this way, and passed several great parties in progress. Not really in the mood for all the smoke, we found the hotel with out incident and crashed.

The next morning was uneventful. We had a long trip to Valencia ahead with a stop in Murcia for lunch so we had a quick breakfast at the hotel, grabbed some cash at an ATM at the Caja España [Bank of Spain], retrieved the car without a problem from the VERY TIGHT SPOT, and found our way out of Granada much easier that we came in. [Chuckie had a better map and had figured his way around by now]. Not of course without the obligatory Oooffffing and Eeeeking and Madre whatever’s from the white knuckled Illy [who was not as sure as Chuckie about their whereabouts]

We found Murcia easily enough and after only a few well placed pirula’s, we searched for a good lunch spot. This was accomplished with little repeat of the routes through town. Finding parking without incident we walked down to a little Cafeteria near the center of town, had a nice lunch and headed on to the Parador at El Saler, just south of Valencia.

More about our brief but enjoyable stay at one of Spain’s top Golf Clubs in the next NOWAT along with our encounter with: 2 Irishman, some great Scotch… even better brandy, and the 1st tee of the Golf Club at El Saler.

Ciao 4 Now
Chuck and the very drowsy... but at least not hungry for the moment... Cuban Lady