Hola from Granada!

Jeff, Adrianne and I arrived in Granada Saturday evening and went straight to our hotel. It’s incredibly cool. It’s a restored palace built originally in 1503 (about 100 years older than my entire country!). The rooms are all tucked into nooks and crannies off of a central courtyard. Theoretically it has a view of the Alhambra (the main Granadian tourist attraction), but unfortunately our room only had a view of the courtyard. It was still cool, though. After checking in we went to a restaurant where one of Adrianne’s friends works to have tapas and sangria. This time our tapas were a mixed plate of meats, cheeses, smoked fish and pates, and a plate of grilled vegetables. Quite good, and of course the meats were.....jamon. Adrianne tells us that the major food groups of Spain are jamon (ham), queso (cheese), huevos (eggs), tuna and bread – one or more of those foods will appear in every meal, if not every dish, one eats in Spain. Jeff and Adrianne decided that Adri’s “It´s all good” catchphrase in Spanish would be “Todo es jamon” – It’s all ham. After dinner we had tea in a Morrocan teahouse, Kasbah. Jeff had Mango tea, Adrianne had vanilla tea, and I had Pakistani tea, which is a cinnamon-y tea served with steamed milk. Jeff wouldn’t let Adrianne and me split a pipe (they claim it’s only fruit-y tobacco in it...).

On Sunday we got up and had breakfast; churros con chocolate again, but this time from a place called Cafe Futbol, which serves the BEST churros in all of Spain (in Adrianne’s opinion, anyway). We wandered around the shops on Tea-Street (Adrianne’s name for the street with the tea-houses) for a bit, then headed up to the Alhambra with a picnic lunch in the afternoon. The Alhambra is the best (and possibly last, but we don’t have the guidebook at the moment) example of a Moorish palace in Spain. We ate our picnic in the Gardens of the Generalife (and fed two of the stray cats who live there), then wandered around the entire complex. There are many buildings that make up the complex, including the Generalife, the palace of Carlos V, the Alcazaba (which Adriane and I both want to call the Askaban), and the Palace Naza-something. Much of the Islamic art (sculpture, carvings and tile) are still in place, though in certain places the work is more modern, having been installed by Ferdinand and Isabel after they defeated the Moors and gained control of the Alhambra (and all of Granada). The only blight on the landscape is the palace built by Carlos V, which is of a totally different style, and, according to Granadians, is a scar on the landscape of the Alhambra. After touring the buildings (where we encountered a girl that was the Spanish equivalent of Grace!) we climbed the tower of the Alcazaba, from which we could more or less see our hotel, and could certainly see all of Granada. Adrianne was able to help us find things like the bull ring that we wouldn’t’ve been able to pic out ourselves, and was even able to show us the neighborhood she lives in.

Once we came down from the Alhambra we rested a bit, then went to Adrianne’s house for dinner cooked by her Spanish Mom, Mari Carmen. Unfortunately, her ‘hermanos’ (Spanish brothers) weren´t there, but we had a lovely time with Mari Carmen, and a tremendous meal. We started with shrimp (sin cabezas, para Adri), cheese and the ubiquitous pan (bread), then had a soup made with leeks and celery. The main course was a pork loin with a warm carrot sauce over it, and a salad made of potatoes, tuna, eggs, tomatoes and green peppers (two of the three required foods!). It was all delicious, and sparked a real educational experience for Adrianne as Mari Carmen was explaining what was in each dish and she was trying to translate. We learned that apio is celery, and that puerros are leeks, but in both cases only after Mari Carmen went into the kitchen and brought them out so we could see them! Mari Carmen is a wonderful hostess, and was concerned that Jeff and I got enough to eat – if we didn’t, she was going to go into the kitchen and slice up some......jamon! After dinner we had a dessert of fresh strawberries with yogurt, and then Mari Carmen brought out pastries with our coffee – yum! Needless to say, we ate way too much (even without the jamon), and went home quite sleepy and full.

Mari Carmen speaks virtually no English, so Adrianne was playing translator most of the night, but interestingly Jeff and could both follow their conversation (MC and Adri’s) fairly well. We certainly didn´t catch every word, and we DEFINITELY weren’t contributing, but we got the gist of what was being said. We especially liked the story Adrianne told of talking to Grace about the song she sang in church Sunday morning (“Nuestros Dio es un mas Grande Dio...).

Today (Monday) Adrianne has class, so Jeff and I have been wandering around Granada on our own. We saw the Cathedral (very impressive, very huge) and the Royal Chapel, where Ferdinand and Isabel are interred. If I haven’t already said, Isabel is the Isabel that was the patron of Christoper Columbus. She loved Granada, they loved her, and there are statues of her, streets and plazas named after her all over the city. After the Cathedral we met up again with Adrianne for lunch (paella), and are now sitting in an internet cafe waiting for the stores to open up again after siesta so we can do some shopping. Then tonight it’s shwarma or tapas with Adri before heading off on the overnight train to Barcelona!