GRANADA II

The following day we were off to visit the Capilla Real and the Cathedral. After breakfast we headed to the Capilla. This was a church commissioned by Ferdinand and Isabel during the sixteenth century. Ferdinand and Isabel are also buried in this church. Their tombs are located in the center of church. Along with their tombs, one of their daughters and one of their sons is also buried there too. As history goes Granada was the last Muslim hold on Spain and when Ferdinand and Isabel defeated the Muslims in 1492 it united Spain politically. Granada also happens to be where Christopher Columbus received permission from Isabel, not Ferdinand he was too cheap, to find a sea route to" India".

After the Capilla we visited the neighboring Cathedral. The Cathedral was freezing so we did not spend to much time there. Jesus gave us a tour of the both Capilla and the cathedral. We got to see several of Ferd’s and Isabel’s relics, like their scepter and crowns. After Jesus’ tour we were given free time for the rest of the day until dinner. My parents wanted to spend more time in cathedral so we stayed a bit longer than the rest of the group. Outside of the cathedral we ran into the coolest spice shop ever. There were hundreds of different spices and herbs displayed in baskets on the side of the street. There were herbs that were suppose to ease headaches and others that were suppose to improve memory. There were also fresh spices to make teas, It smelled absolutely wonderful.

Once we were back on the main street we went to go find the cool shops we had passed the day before when Jesus took us to the look out. We wandered around the Arabic area for a while and found an ancient looking walk way that led into the twisty winding streets we had walked through the night before. After twisting and turning through several streets, we ended up at the look out. My parents and I decided we would get a drink and enjoy the view at a near by café. My mom, the light weight, got a little tipsy off one beer probably because we had not really eaten anything since breakfast. We walked back down through the twisty streets and found the cool hippie shops I had been dying to visit. I ended up buying a dress, two scarves, and two head bands for 20 euros. It was nice not having to spend my own money for a change. Thank you dietas! At the bottom of the street there was an Arabic pastry shop, so in my parents quest to try every pastry we stopped in and got a couple pastries to sample. I actually liked these pastries better than Spanish pastries.

Next we jumped on a bus and headed out to a monastery that I had read about it the tour book. It was called the Monasterio de las Cartujas. We walked around the monastery for a while enjoying the gardens and the chapel. We also walked through several rooms filed with paintings of the Monks being brutally killed. There were two galleries filled with these gruesome paintings. There were monks with swords in their hearts and axes in their heads. There were ones with monks having their legs cut off, being hung, and even paintings of the monks being drawn and quartered. We got the impression from all these painting that the Cartuja Monks had not had the easiest life.

We took a bus back to the center of town, and slowly made our way back to the hotel stopping at an ice cream shop along the way. This was actually pretty funny. The whole way back my mom and I had been eyeing all the ice cream places. We asked the man with the money, dad, if we could get ice cream. Dad said, “Yes if you really need ice cream you can get it, but I am not hungry.” Of course we really needed ice cream, so we walked up to counter. As soon as my dad saw that they had pistachio, he totally changed his mind. I knew my dad could not resist.

That evening we were having a group dinner and watching a flamenco show. The dinner show was in the really cool Arabic neighborhood set on hill by a river looking out at Alhambra. We actually found out that the restaurant was really carved out of the hill, so were really in a cave. Once inside the cave we found our humongous table for all 40 of us. The waiters started bring out the food once we were all settled. First they brought out these sliced tomatoes in olive oil and a plate of some kind of gross looking ham product. The tomatoes were good, but I avoid the dreaded ham. My parents actually really liked the ham and my mom kept going back for more. Next they brought out the Spanish tortilla followed by a series of weird tasting fried fish. Our main dish was not the greatest, but I was not very hungry after all the tapas they had given us. My parents seemed to love the food though probably because they have not been forced to eat the stuff for the past two months like me. Dessert of course was flan, those Spaniards just love their flan.

As the main dish was set in front of us the show started. The band, which consisted of a flutist, a bongo player, guitarist, and a two singers came on the stage first. They serenade us for a while and before the Flamenco dancers came on stage. There were four Flamenco dancers in all, three women and on man. They started the show performing in a group. Then they each did their own dance. The women were all different ages. The first women was the oldest, king of like the grandma Flamenco mama. She was followed by my favorite, the dancer in the purple Flamenco dress. Then the youngest girl in the red dress performed. Lastly the man did his gig. It was Fla-MAN-co!!

I had never scene a Flamenco performance before, so I was really blown away by the passion and energy all the dancers conveyed on their faces. There movements were also incredible unique compared to any other form of dance I have seen. Every thing was very staccato with abrupt turns and stopping. The best part about Flamenco is suppose to be the foot work of the dancers, but I was sitting in the back so I could not see their feet. Although I did hear the intense stomping and see the dramatic facial expressions of all the dancers.

After the show everyone thought we would be returning to the hotel, but we were in for a special treat. Two random Spaniards jumped on own bus that we thought was headed back to the hotel. Lucio, our faithful bus driver, told us they were his friends, but I did not believe him. Instead of our buses going back to the hotel, they stopped at a random street in the Arabic quarter. Jesus told everyone to get off the bus. In all of our confusion we followed his orders, skeptically getting off the bus and following the two random Spaniards. It turned out that the Spaniards were actually tour guides that were going to take us to see a view of the Alhambra from the lookout at night. The area that the lookout point is located is very dangerous at night, so Jesus called in some extra guides to help us out, how nice of him. As the guides were taking us up to the look out, we ran into some miscreant gypsy children. These children were absolutely horrible. They flicked all of us off and threw tuna and lettuce at us.

Eventually we made our way back to the lookout avoiding any more gypsy children. Alhambra at night was gorgeous. The castles were light up and they almost seemed to gleam in the night. I was really excited that we would visiting Alhambra in the morning.