DAY 7 of Spring Break; DAY 2 on Southern Spain Tour with Mom:
There is an old saying: "Give him a coin, woman, for there is nothing worse in this life than to be blind in Granada."
Mom and I took off on a 5 hour train ride from Madrid to Granada on the morning of April 1st. Trains are so much easier than airplanes and we had so much more leg room! So it was not an uncomfortable train ride, they also show a movie, and there is a small cafeteria if we got hungry. The Southern Spain countryside was so beautiful and Mom and I were shocked by the amount of olive trees! The fields were never ending! The train ride allowed for Mom and I to get caught up on everything, but by the time 5 hours hit we were ready to be there.
Southern Spain countryside, the fields of olive trees
Our hotel was much easier to find in Granada, Hotel Ancapri, and was very nice! Our room was on the top floor and when we got up there, we realized we had a whole courtyard to ourselves! It was a nice little bonus, if we had more people with us Mom and I joked how we would have had a party up there.
Our private courtyard.
Lunch was our first stop on Plaza Nueva and then we followed another Rick Steve's self-guided walking tour. Well Mom and I ended up making a detour or ended up on the wrong street or something. We stumbled upon these gardens that were made for some queen. Then we walked up the steepest hill and happened upon Mirador San Nicolas, St. Nicholas Viewpoint, which was hippie central. But the view was spectacular, we could see the whole city of Granada and the Alhambra with snow capped mountains in the background. Then we continued on trying to navigate back down to Plaza Nueva through the Albayzin which is the old Moorish quarter.
Me on Plaza Nueva
The random garden we stumbled upon
View of the Alhambra and snow capped mountains from St. Nicholas Viewpoint
View of the city of Granada
Mom and I up at St. Nicholas Viewpoint
Once we made it back down to Plaza Nueva we went and actually started the walking tour from the beginning by seeing Corral del Carbon, a place for merchants to rest their camels, the Alcaiceria, a really neat Spanish market that was originally a Moorish silk market, then to Plaza de Bib-Rambia, once the main point for Moorish culture but then the Christians reasserted their power by building the square that stands there now. Our tour continued over to the Cathedral which had grand stands set up in front of it for all the Semana Santa, Holy Week, processions. Our last stop on the walking tour was Plaza Isabel La Catolica. The statue in the middle of the plaza shows Columbus unfurling a long contract with Isabel.
Me in the Alcaiceria
Plaza de Bib-Rambla
Cathedral with the stands in front.
Plaza Isabel La Catolica
Around 7pm people were already lining up along the streets for the Jeuves Santo, Holy Thursday, processions that weren't coming through til 9pm. Mom and I thought it would be the perfect time to hit up a bar for some tapas. Mom had found this one place, Bodegas Castaneda, where with a glass of wine you get some free tapas. The free tapas were only a piece of break, tortilla de patata, and olives for each of us. We decided to order some queso de manchego, manchego cheese, and salmon con aquacate, smoked salmon on a piece of bread topped with avocado, caviler, and shredded cheese. It was to die for! And we had gotten there just in time before it got busy.
Mom and I just hopped over to Plaza Nueva after our good eats to catch a glimpse of the famous Semana Santa processions. We actually got pretty lucky and were only 4 people back from the street. The processions go like this:
- Cruz de guia (guided cross) leads the procession of Nazarenos, members of the church, who dress in a robe and cone shaped hood better described as the people who look like Ku Klux Klan members. There are also monaguillos who are children dressed as priests who pass out candy or cards about the procession.
- They are followed by the first Imagen which is the "float" or structure that is carried throughout the procession, most typically of Christ or the Virgin Mary but also including other figures in the paso which represent scenes from the bible. Every imagen is accompanied by a marching band.
- Next is the group of women in their mantillas, the huge tortoise shell combs covered in black lace, that are usually passed down from generation to generation because they are so expensive. They also carry candles.
- Then another imagen comes by, this time of the Virgin Mary, which is covered by a manto, flowing, intricately embroidered gown covering the back of the image of the Virgin Mary. Also, followed by a marching band. After she passes, the procession for that a church is over.
The most amazing thing about these processions is they usually last for about 6 to 8 hours. And these imagenes weigh about a ton or more, and it is a group of men carrying them underneath. The processions take so long because they pause about every 100 to 200 feet to pause, put down the imagen, and switch out some of the guys. Then the leader hits on the float three times and then all lift it up at once for which the whole crowd erupts in applause Mom and I had a few imagenes dropped right in front of us, which was really cool. The detailing on theses "floats" is spectacular, some all carved out of wood.
The huge crowd of people
Cruz de Guia
Nazarenos
Imagen of Christ
Marching Band accompanying the Imagen
Imagen of the Virgin Mary
Lady in her mantilla and the kids collecting wax
That night we were able to watch 3 processions, from 3 different churches. Mom and I were surprised that the crowd was not silent or more solemn, they were loud and a little rowdy. Also, when the procession would pause, the little kids had these balls of wax and they would run up to a nazareno or lady with her mantilla that were holding candles and collect more wax on their ball. We found out later it is just a way for the kids not to get bored during the procession and also, can be a competition between siblings to say, "look how many processions I have been to." It was pretty spectacular to see these processions!
DAY 8 of Spring Break; DAY 3 on Southern Spain Tour with Mom:
The next day the plan was to tour the Cathedral and Royal Chapel in the morning, grab some lunch, and then head to the Alhambra because we had a 4pm reservation. Well are plan didn't work out. When we arrived to the Cathedral and Royal Chapel we found they were closed to tourists since it was Good Friday. Instead we found the old Moorish Baths and then went back to the Alcaiceria and did some souvenir shopping! However, as we were walking by later we noticed that tourists were still entering the Cathedral because it was open for services. We were respectful and quietly walked and took a look.
Entrance to the baths
Holes in ceiling use to have stained glass louvers which could open and close with sticks to regulate the heat and steaminess in the baths.
The warm room where services like massages were offered.
Inside the Cathedral
After a wonderful lunch, Mom and I headed up to the Alhambra, the last, great Moorish palace. We were going to take a minibus up the hill but part of the route was blocked off for an afternoon Good Friday procession, therefore we walked straight up the mountain. It was quite beautiful actually with trees, and a stream along the wall of the Alhambra. Although, a little difficult we made it! Mom and I were pretty proud of ourselves. Fortunately, we had made reservations ahead of time because when we got there, tickets were sold out. Now the tickets for the Alhambra have a specific time that you must enter the Palacios Nazaries, main palace, which is about a 20 minute walk from the ticket booths. However, the Alhambra is an extensive place with the Generalife Gardens with the Sultan's summer palace, the Alcazar, a cathedral, and Charles V's Palace.
The extensive Alhambra
We arrived early with enough time to start by touring the Generalife Gardens, the home of the sultan's summer palace and the vegetable and fruit garden which fed the 2,000 residents of the Alhambra. The gardens were amazing and you could overlook the whole city. The three room, 600 year old sultan's summer palace too was pretty impressive.
Generalife Gardens
Sultan's Summer Palace
Mom & I!
We walked through the cathedral on the premises too which still had their procession imagenes out. By that time it was our hour to head into the Palacios Nazaries. The Palacios Nazaries are the main palace where the sultan lived which consists of three basic sections: royal offices, ceremonial rooms, and private quarters. Rooms are decorated with carved wooded ceilings, stucco "stalactites" ceramic tiles, and molded-plaster walls. Consists of open air courtyards and hallways with spectacular views of the city. While walking through this palace you must imagine it in its prime, 14th century when kings and rulers lived here with thousands of residents, it decorated with Persian carpets and ivory-studded wooden furniture and the tiles had color. The whole palace is a huge piece of art that is breathtaking.
wood carved ceilings
tiled walls
Open aired courtyards
Beautiful carved archways
Grand Hall of the Ambassadors functioned as the throne room
Finely carved Arabic script carved into the wall. "Allah" is the cursive looking W with a nose on its left side.
Stucco "stalactite" ceiling based off the eight-sided Muslim star
Mom and I in the Palacios Nazaries
Once we finished with the Palacios Nazaries, we took a bathroom and ice cream break, very refreshing. Then it was our final stop, the Alcazaba, the fort which is the original Alhambra. This is the oldest and most ruined of the grounds. Now it just basically consists of towers you can climb up and get amazing views of the city.
Ruins of the Alcazaba
Spectacular view
Tower of the Alcazaba
After hours of wandering through the Alhambra, Mom and I made the long trek down back to Granada. We were exhausted by the time we made it to the bottom, we just grabbed a bottle of wine, coca-cola, and some kababs for dinner to enjoy on our courtyard. I had Mom try Kalimotxo, coke and red wine, but she said she'd rather just stick to red wine. I understood, it is an acquired taste. The rest of that night consisted of some great games of gin rummy. We needed to rest up because the next day we were off to Cordoba!
