Nothing Worse in Life than to be Blind in Granada

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!

Mom & Daughter Reunited in Madrid

DAY 6 of Spring Break; DAY 1 of Southern Spain Tour with Mom:


Early Wednesday, March 31 I reunited with my Mom in the Madrid airport! I was so excited to see her! Then we navigated our way through the metro system to the correct stop. However, when we got off at the stop we were not sure which direction to go. After walking in the wrong direction for a little while and turning around, we finally found our hotel! It was a little early to check in so we dropped off our bags and found some breakfast, where I introduced Mom to nepolitana chocolate, chocolate filled croissant, cafe con leche, espresso shot with steamed milk, and zumo de naranja, freshly squeezed orange juice. My favorite breakfast! 


After finally getting some food in our system, we went on Rick Steve's self-guided walking tour, which are perfect for introducing yourself to a city! Fortunately, the weather was a lot nicer this day than the last time I visited Madrid. We walked around Puerta del Sol, Plaza Nueva, Mercado de San Miguel, City Hall, Cathedral of Almudena, and the Royal Palace. We decided not to tour the Royal Palace because the line was ridiculously long. 


We returned to our hotel to check-in when we were told that they didn't have our reservation down, oh no. Fortunately we got lucky and they had room for us and for the other day that we needed it. Phew!


For lunch, we found a great Menu del Dia right around the corner from our hotel at Cruz Blanca. Our waiter was super friendly and even spoke some English, he said he learned in New York City years ago. Also, he shared that he was a poet and we were fortunate enough to get a sample of his poetry, signed.

MI TEMPO

Yo quisiera tener tiempo

Para decirte lo siento,

Para mirarte a los ojos

Para besarte en la boca

Para respirar tu aliento,

Para decirte te quiero

Para decirte lo siento.

Pero yo no tengo tiempo.

Se que un dia tendre tiempo

Para pasear conitgo

Cogerte de la mano

Y decirte que te quiero.

Que el timpo sea de los dos,

Y la llama no se apague,

Le llama del amor

ABRIL DE 2004

Autor: Placido Aragoneses

MI TEMPO (English Translation)

I wish I had the time,

To tell you how I feel,

To look into your eyes,

To kiss your mouth,

To smell your scent,

To tell you I love you,

To tell you what I feel

But I don’t have time

I know one day I will have the time,

To be with you

Holding your hand

And telling you “I love you”

That time will be ours,

And the flame will never die,

The Flame of Love

After a nice siesta to recover from getting up at 3am, Mom and I went over to Retiro Park where we saw many people paddle boating on the lake. It is a great place for people watching on a bench! Then we wandered around for a bit and stumbled upon a greenhouse thing. The sign outside said it was part of the Reina Sofia Museum, but it was a glass building with only a small circle of plants in the middle of it. This circle had an array of vegetation from a palm tree to hydrangeas to a huge pumpkin to a pine tree and none of it was looking too healthy. The space around it was very open, Mom and I said it would be the perfect place to hold a party! Other than that, I have no idea what its purpose is! 

Green House like building

The palm tree in the middle.

After that we walked over to the Prado Museum because you get into free after 4pm. Mom was able to see all the famous Spanish paintings by Goya, Murillo, and Velazquez. We hit up a light dinner afterwards and then just headed back to the hotel. Mom said it was a good first day to get acclimated to Spain and Spanish culture especially after not sleeping on a 7 hour flight. Needless to say we both passed out pretty early that night. 

A Visit to the City of Love: Paris

DAY 2 of Spring Break, DAY 1 of the City of Paris: March 27th


First day in Paris, we met up with some more of Val's friends from U of I, Nancy and Sarah, who are studying in south of France so we had someone who could speak French with us. That is one thing that Val and I quickly got frustrated with, not knowing the language at all. All I had was, "Bonjour," "Merci," "L'adition si vouz ple." I just felt like an ignorant American by knowing very little of the language. Also, everyone says that everyone in Paris speaks English, but that is just not true. 


First thing we did was head over to the Musee Orsay, which was my favorite museum, smaller than the Louvre with more impressionist artists like Van Gogh, Monet, Degas and Renior. I really enjoyed this museum because its the type of art that I like and it was of artist I knew and not just hundreds of 16th century interpretations of Jesus' birth. 


Next, we headed to the Montmartre district of Paris to see the Sacre Coeur, "Sacred Heart," which looks like a version of the Taj Mahal. It sits up on the highest point in the city, so it is a gorgeous view! We also had the pleasure of seeing some street performers. 

Sacre Couer

Street performer

Nice break dancing

View of the city from Sacre Couer

View of Sacre Couer from the bottom

And since we were in the neighborhood, we walked over to the Moulin Rouge, the area full of sex shops. It looks like all the pictures I've seen of it, just a place to see, get a photo, then move on.

The Moulin Rouge

Then it was time to see the biggest sight of all of Paris, the Eiffel Tower, which is full of gypsies ("Do you speak english?") and men trying to sell you cheap, metal replicas of the tower. They get quite annoying after a while. I must say that the Eiffel Tower truely is a big tower of metal. I don't know but I guess I was expecting something prettier. It was extremely windy and combined with my fear of heights, I decided not to pay 13 euros to go to the top. Instead, Nancy, Sarah, and I found some macaroons, which were delicious, and waited at the bottom for everyone else. 

Famous Eiffel Tower

Yummy Macaroons!

That night we got a true European dinner, not until 10pm. We fortunately found this place that had a menu deal for 12 euros, appetizer, entree, dessert, drink, and bread! For the appetizer, I had salmon tartare, smoked salmon bits on a garlic toast bread and a light salad; entree was beef bourguignon, which was very, very tender and melted in my mouth! As for dessert, I had a light chocolate mousse. It was the perfect French dinner!

The group at dinner.

DAY 3 of Spring Break, DAY 2 of the City of Paris: March 28th

So Val and I realized that we kinda did Paris backwards, you are suppose to do the free walking tour the first day and then Versailles is suppose to be the last day, but it was all good. Sunday morning we met up with a free walking tour which started at St. Michel fountain. Our tour guide, Jackie from Melbourne, Australia, was energetic, quirky, hilarious, but knew her stuff. I loved her! Unfortunately our whole 3 hour tour was accompanied by a cold, misty drizzle. This tour was great though because we saw everything in the main part of Paris, Notre Dame, Pont Neuf, Palais Justice, Siene River, Henry IV statue, Louvre, Jardines Tuileries, Concorde Plaza, Champs Elysees to finish at Petit Palais. It was exhausting, but totally worth it!

St. Michel

Notre Dame

Pont Neuf

Such a misty day

Jardines Tuileries

Plaza de Concorde. That was a "gift" from the Egyptians when Napoleon invaded.

Fountain that Anne Hathaway throws her phone in at the end of The Devil Wears Prada.

Champs Elysees

Petit Palais

Val and I by the Siene River

After that we headed over to the Louvre, which we also got into for free with our student visas! I was really tired and had only one true mission, to see the Mona Lisa. Val and I gave ourselves and hour and a half then we were going to head back to our hostel. So I saw the Mona Lisa, which is really tiny and there were so many people around to just see her! Then I also saw the Last Supper by Da Vinci which is beautiful. Then I walked around, sat as much as I could, and looked at some Spanish renaissance paintings. The Louvre is just so overwhelming and very easy to get lost in, but the building itself is gorgeous because it was the royal palace before Versailles was built. 

Inside the Louvre

The Mona Lisa, so tiny

All the people around the Mona Lisa

Da Vinci painting, last supper

Inside the Louvre

The Louvre

DAY 4 of Spring Break, DAY 3 of the City of Paris: March 29th

In the morning, I headed to a flea market that a friend had told me about which is supposedly really famous. Well, it actually wasn't that cool and way out on the north end of Paris. I thought i was going to have some really cool jewelry finds and stuff but it basically just had random clothing, shoes, and cheap looking jewelry. I was a little disappointed, but determined to find some cool paintings so I headed back to the Montmarte district. I found a beautiful, original water color up by Sacre Couer, then grabbed a sandwhich and ate lunch in this little park which looked over the entire city. It was just beautiful and a much prettier day than the day before.

After that I went back and hit up some of the places we had gone by on our walking tour. I actually went inside the Notre Dame which was stunning. At one point there are all these wood carvings of stories of the bible, so back in the day illiterate people could understand. However, I did not feel like climbing the 500 stairs up a spiral staircase to the top. I also walked across the pedestrian bridge over the Siene River, the bridge where on the series finale of Sex and the City Big tells Carrie that he loves her! But he is not the only one, many couples share their love by signing and attaching a lock to the wires of the bridge. Oh and one other movie reference, at the end of the Pont Neuf bridge there is a building with "Samaritaine" on it. Matt Damon in Bourne Supremacy hid behind the "M" when he tells the guy to meet him on Pont Neuf, take off his jacket and turn around!

Notre Dame

Inside the Cathedral

Carvings of Bible stories

Stain glass of Notre Dame

Locks on the bridge

See the Samaritaine in the background?

Afterwards, I grabbed a crepe with nutella from a street vendor and relaxed in the Luxembourg gardens. The French do know how to relax they have chairs everywhere by fountains and in gardens for people to sit down. Also, they are the country that gives their employees the most holidays off. I should work here! haha

Luxembourg gardens and the only skyscraper in Paris city limits.

Luxembourg Palace

From my tour guide, I had heard that the Comedie Theater saves about 60 seats every show that you can buy for 5 euros about an hour before the show starts. I had nothing better to do that night, so I stood in line and got my ticket for 5 euros, grabbed a quick dinner, and then went to the French Theatre. The show was the L'Illusion Comique so I understood it was about an comic illusion. I was hoping that it was going to be with a lot of action so I could possible have an idea, but it was mostly monologues and dialouge that I did not undeerstand at all! It was supposedly really funny though and the acting appreared really good. The theatre was also gorgeous! However after about 2 hours of watching a show in a language that I didn't know, I was ready to go. But it was an excellent cultural experience!

Theatre

Stage

DAY 5 of Spring Break, DAY 4 of the City of Paris: March 30th

This was my last day in Paris. I woke up and headed straight for the Petit Palais where they were holding a Yves Saint Laurent, YSL, exhibit for the late fashion designer. An hour and a half wait in line and 11 euros later, I finally made it into the exhibit! It was spectacular, the highlight of my visit to Paris!!! There were hundreds of haute couture dresses that he designed from his days at Dior in the 60s to his final fashion show in 2002. The exhibit was just perfectly designed! I spent about 2 hours in there and even though pictures were prohibited, I couldn't help but sneak some in. 

From the Dior years

Mock up of his work space

Window in the exhibit

Inspired by Spain

Final room with a hundred couture dresses!

Petit Palais is located at the end of Champs Elysees, so after the exhibit I walked up it to the Arc de Triomphe which has 12 streets that enter the traffic circle. According to statistics an accident on this circle happens every 30 minutes! But don't worry pedestrians don't have to worry about crossing it, there is a tunnel underground. Under the arc is where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located in France. I bought a ticket to travel to the top but I was not aware of the hundred stairs you have to climb to get there. It was totally worth it though! Before you get to the very top there is a part with a screen that looks down below, so you can see everyone walking under the arc. The view from the top was spectacular though! 

Arc de Triomphe

underneath the arc

Tomb of Unknown Soldier

Screen to see below you

Intersecting roads

Sacre Couer in the distance

View of the city

That pretty much consists of my trip to Paris. I went to bed early that night, because I woke up at 2:30am to catch the shuttle I reserved to pick me up around 3:30am. Of course we picked up some other people to take, but they ended up having to go to Orly Airport and I was going to Charles D'Gualle. My driver seemed a little upset about this but he said it would be ok, if we went to Orly first then Charles. Of course, we hit a bad car accident on the way to Orly, I was worried that my bad travel kharma had returned! I only wanted to see my mom! But we made it through and then made it to Charles D'Gualle with plenty of time! I landed safe and sound in Madrid a few hours later and found my mom easily!