24.Febrero.2009.
I know, I know! I have been very busy running around Spain and doing work and have not been able to write. Anyway, let me tell you about my weekend in Granada. We went with the group from our program which was nice because they charter a private bus and we stayed in a *nice* hotel. I roomed in a triple with Andrea and Carolyn. We had gone out the night before (bad idea) to a discoteca and so slept most of the three hour ride to Granada.
Granada is east of Sevilla and just a little bit more South. It sits in the shadows of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. The tops of the mountains stay capped with snow until the summer. They were so massive, it was hard to comprehend. Think of Wintergreen and then put another mountain on top of it, all shiny and covered with white snow. I felt like I was in a movie. We got to our hotel near 1:30. Ironically, it was called Hotel Los Angeles. Everyone was exhausted from the night before so we decided to siesta but not before taking nice long HOT showers. The shower was amazing! We all fell asleep in our towels. We were that tired. The idea was to wake up at 4:30 ish to go out for tapas. In Granada, tapas are free with a beer, so you can go from place to place and try the different dishes for very little money. We actually slept until 5:30 and had to rush to get ready. By then, everyone else from the group had scattered around Granada and we spent the next hour trying to find some of them at a teteria (tea house). Because of the Arabic influence there, tea is very popular and there are cute little teterias everywhere where you can go and sample any type of tea you can think of. We finally found them and sat for awhile, just chatting. Dinner was served at 9 at the hotel (early for Spanish standards) and we decided to head back to the hotel.
I really loved the vibe of Granada. It is a little smaller than Sevilla but it has such a heavy Moorish influence, it is completely different than Sevilla. There are a lot of people selling things in the streets, including tea. On the way back from our walk, we stopped and listened to a street band complete with a big bass and clarinet. I have a video of them playing. They were really good. For dinner, we had soup as an appetizer and fried fish and french fries. For some reason, either Spaniards think Americans love fried food or they actually love it themselves, but they seem to serve it to us all the time. It was not too bad.
After dinner, we took a long hike up the mountain to an overlook where you can see the Alhambra lit up at night. Alhambra is a military fortress/palace of the Moorish reign. Granada was reconquered in 1492 by los Reyes Catolicos (the Catholic Kings) which is what the Spaniards call Isabella and Ferdinand. The view from the overlook was absolutely incredible. Alhambra is enormous and sits on top of a hill overlooking the city. Below, the city was lit up and you can see for miles. Unfortunately, my camera does not take very good pictures at night. However, I was able to get one or two good shots. After taking in the view, we split off from the group and went back to a teteria to get some beers and hang out. We decided not to go out to the discotecas because we had to be up at 8:45 the next morning for our marathon of tours.
Like clockwork, our wake-up call came at 8:45 and we all trudged upstairs to get breakfast. The breakfast was buffet-style and amazing. Normally, I only get toast with breakfast so it was nice to have some fruit, cheese, and a pastry. At 10, we started out on our tours for the day. First off, the Capilla Real or Royal Chapel where the remains of Isabella, Ferdinand, and their daughter(Juana who married Felipe II) are entombed. The Chapel has two giant monuments sitting over their tombs done by sculptors from Italy and from Spain. The first is of Isabella and Ferdinand, laid out on a bed. Isabella's pillow is depressed more to indicate she held the most political weight in the union. Their matrimony united the Kingdoms of Aragon and Castille. The second monument depicts Juana (whose nickname was la Loca, the Crazy) and her husband Felipe II (whose nickname was el Amoroso, the Lover). Obviously, they had martial problems and when Felipe died, Juana went a little nuts and took his body to all the major cities in Spain. The sculptor etched them with their eyes pointing in different directions to indicate there were problems in the marriage. Below the monuments, you descend a set of stairs and in a small room there are the coffins of the Catholic Kings, Juana, and a grandchild, Miguel. We weren't supposed to take pictures in the Capilla Real but we were able to sneak a few. In another room, they keep some artifacts such as one of the crowns of the queen, a set of their clothes, paintings, books, and other personal effects.
After the Royal Chapel, we took a stroll and made our way to the Cathedral of Granada. As soon as Granada was conquered by "Christianity", the first task was to convert this Moorish city into a Christian city. Of course, a cathedral was essential. The Cathedral was started at the beginning of the Renaissance period in Granada. You can definitely tell the differences in the architecture of the gothic Cathedral of Sevilla and the Renaissance Cathedral of Granada. Inside, the walls are white and there is much more light. The arches are still high and grandiose so as to belittle the people who enter. You are still supposed to feel humbled before God. The altar in this Cathedral is round instead of flat like the Cathedrals in Sevilla and Cordoba. The altar rises up into a dome that represents to way to heaven. The ceiling is covered in stars to represent heaven. Below are stained glass windows of the crucifixion and depictions of the life of Christ. Below that, are more windows of the Virgin Mary. Finally, underneath all of that are paintings of Saints. There are four enormous Baroque organs above the pews. We took a quick peak at the Cathedral's treasury where they keep chalices and other stuff of that sort.
Once we finished with the Cathedral, we were given some free time and took full advantage of the free tapas. After lunch, Anna told me about a great gelato place where we went and got this incredible gelato. It was fairly inexpensive as well. We still had time before starting the tour of Alhambra and walked around checking out the shops. I got my friend Ricky (who is fluent in Spanish) to help me haggle and bought a fake Prada purse. I call it my Frada.
We caught the bus at 3 to go on our 3 hour tour of Alhambra. They call it a palace but it is more like a city. The place is enormous. First, we walked through some of the gardens and went to see los banos arabes (The Arabic Baths). The Arabs had to wash before entering the mosque and so were much more hygienic than the Spaniards. Fernando, one of the teachers from our program, told us it was normal to bathe ONCE a year. Phew. They took us up to a watch tower next where we could go and see all of Granada laid out below. In the distance you could see the Sierra Nevada mountains. The view was amazing. I really wish I had a camera to do panoramic pictures. Next on the list was going to see el Palacio de Carlos V, the Palace of Carlos V, who never actually used the palace for what it was built for. Originally, the emperor of Spain had wanted to convert Granada into the capital of Spain, so he built a palace but it was never finished in time and Granada was never the capital of Spain. It is a square building with a central patio. In the patio, the acoustics are so incredible that if you go to one side, you can hear someone speaking in a normal voice on the other side perfectly. So, naturally, we stood in the middle of it and sang the UNC Alma Mater. Go to Heel, Duke! It was fun. After that, we were taken through the very extensive palace of the Moorish King before Granada was conquered by the Catholic Kings.
So finally, after a whole day of touring, we went back to catch the bus for our hotel...and it wasn't there. Twenty cold minutes later, it finally arrived. We weren't supposed to have other people in our rooms who weren't sleeping there but we went in another room and watched a movie to unwind before dinner. Again, fried fish. I don't understand why Spaniards are obsessed with frying things. It was good though. A lot of people went out on Saturday night, but by then I was so exhausted I decided I would sleep instead. Andrea and Carolyn went out but they came back early and were asleep by 2:30.
Sunday, we woke up early again, got breakfast, and hopped back on the bus to Sevilla. I have not really done much since then, just been going to class and getting my little bit of homework done. I officially bought the 6-day trip to Morocco yesterday. We leave April 24th for that. I also leave the 12th of March for Ireland to go visit Meredith, which should be very fun. We bought train tickets to Cadiz for this Saturday because their festival Carnaval is going on right now. It's a mixture between Halloween and Marti Gras. We have to find some sort of costume to dress up in. It should be fun. Otherwise, not much is going on here.
Anna is doing well. She still cannot eat solid food so Cristina just puts everything in the blender. It's fine except when she purees salad, which is a bit strange. I think Anna will be very happy when she can have solid normal food again. Her jaw does not hurt her but it still does not close correctly. She will need surgery again when she returns to the States.
Love you and miss you all
Elle
|
