que no hay en la vida nada;
como la pena de ser
ciego en Granada" --Francisco A. de Icaza
"Give him [blind beggar] alms, my wife,
For there is nothing in life... nothing
Like the pain of being
Blind in Granada"
We had an amazing weekend in Granada with our program. Nos preocupamos por el tiempo (we were worried about the weather), initially, because the city is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, which translates to COLD. Packing for the trip wasn't too bad, because we only stayed for one night-- Mom, i packed up the Lesportsac messenger bag, glad I brought it!
I'm impressed because we were out of the house by 7:40. Vicki nos preparó dos bocadillos (made us each 2 sandwiches) to take with us for lunch, because our program does not like to feed us, so we packed them away for later. We hit the road about an hour later-- I think the entire trip doesn't take more than 3 hours, but we took close to 3 and a half because paramos para un descanso (we stopped for a break) at some weird rest stop. When we pulled into our destino (destination) in Granada, it was drizzling a bit, and you could tell they had had nasty weather for a little while, now.
We were in kind of a rush because La Capilla Real (The Royal Chapel) of Granada was threatening to close on us, so this was where the bus dropped us off first. This was definitely an interesting site because it is a mausoleo (mausoleum) that has the actual tombs of Los Reyes Católicos (the Catholic monarchs), King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. On display were large monuments created to simulate and honor the tombs-- I think Laura and I were the only two whose ears perked up when the tour guide called our attention to the king's and queen's heads laying on the pillows: Isabella's head sunk deeper into the pillow because her head was full of heavier brains! Tanto monta... And then you could walk downstairs to a basement area and peak through a little ventana (window) and see the real things. We stared at the Gothic architecture for a little while (there were a few tours going on at once), and then we saw a really big alter piece that basically explained the history of Catholicism in Granada. Some of it was harder to appreciate because I'm just not educated enough on this religion, and a lot of the details went over my head. But the fact that everything is depicted in imágenes (images) mitigates it a little bit, especially because some of them are really profound-- they vividly display the suffering of Jesus, with blood and sad faces. We talked about a few different St. Johns, both the Baptist and the Evangelist. One was clearly portrayed as being hervido (boiled) because his ideas went against the norm. The other one was decapitated (you could see specific detail in his exposed neck) because he didn't reciprocate someone's love, and she ordered his head be served to her on a silver platter. They take everything literally. We quickly browsed through a room filled with sculptures, paintings, tapestries, and other reliquias (relics) before calling it quits.
It was definitely un alivio (a relief) to see that the rain had stopped, though it was still chilly and a little cloudy when we boarded the bus again. The bus took us to the top of St. Nicholas' viewpoint, a very high point in the city from which you can get a great panoramic view of the city and the Alhambra palace/citadel. We took some lovely scenic pictures from up top, and then walked all the way down through narrow streets and alley ways. It was kind of weird to be walking right through some people's backyards, but it all seemed really nice and rustic. The bus was waiting for us at the bottom, conveniently 5 minutes away from our lovely hostal, Atenas. We grabbed our stuff and braved the inside... which actually wasn't so bad! Laura and I shared a room with one of the Abby's and her roommate, Ashley (other Abby had already seen Granada con sus padres (with her parents) so she wasn't there). The beds took up most of the room, and the bathroom was pretty clean-- It served its purpose.
After scoping out the room, we grabbed our sandwiches (gracias a Vicki!) and then took advantage of all the tiempo libre (free time) that lay ahead. We walked up and down these little side streets with all kinds of boutiques. It was really helpful navigating the city with Ashley, because she had already been to Granada and has a photographic memory. The city, itself, is much smaller than Sevilla and seems more modern, sobre todo (over all)-- see the pictures. You can definitely feel the difference in the paces of life led by los Sevillanos in comparison with the people of Granada. The only thing that struck me as odd were the perros (dogs). And that's because they were alllll the size of wolves, were running amuck in the streets without leashes (but they somehow knew when it was a good idea to cross the street, as to evitar (avoid) being hit by a car), and all appeared to have their eyes covered with bangs. OK.
After walking our feet off, we ducked into a Moroccan tea place recommended by Ashley. The ambiente (atmosphere) was really relaxed-- hookah laced the entire room, we sat on little couchy things, and the tea came in old fashioned kettles. It was a nice break, and we ended up spending a few hours just talking. By this point, our friend Robin had joined us.
Close to 10PM, we were ready to experience la marcha (the night life) that is Granada! It is definitely heavily populated with college students all over the place, so the streets were definitely packed with students. We were so excited to go tapeando (tapa-hopping) the RIGHT way-- that is, ordering una cerveza (a beer-- or any drink, for that matter) from every restaurant and enjoying the free tapa that came with it! At our first stop, we all had bocadillos, and they served us bread with ham and aceite de oliva (olive oil). Laura and I don't eat ham, so it was kind of a problem, given how prevalent pork is, but we made do with bowls of olives, bread baskets, and boiled potatoes. We actually made it to 3 different tapas places before deciding it was time to get on with our night-- we also may or may not have convinced the camareros (bartenders) to let us come behind the bar and pretend to be cool....So, thanks to Ashley [again], we made it into the center of life and found the notorious Chupiteria, the greatest invention of a shot bar! They had 100 different shots, all 0.50 euros! We tried some good dessert flavored ones-- we are determined to find something comparable in Sevilla.
By 9am la próxima mañana (the next morning), we were all set to board the bus to the short drive over to La Alhambra. And we got SO lucky because the sun was out and everything, which really just makes everything and everyone much more pleasant-- remember the time it rained in Sevilla for 2 consecutive weeks without stopping? Right. So hacía sol (it was sunny), conveniently facilitating the 2 hour walking tour of one of the most incredible places I have ever seen-- construction of this palace/fortress (although the tour guide insisted we refer to it as un ciudadela (citadel)) was begun by the Moors in el siglo catorce (14th century), and lasted for around 250 years. The culture and architecture with La Alhambra reflects the last days of Muslim rule (Nasrid Emirate of Granada), as seen in the careful detail and tiniest arabesque calligraphy that repeats over and over in the arches and ceilings. We toured many of the chambers (I am blanking on specifics because there were just so many). The Christian conquista (conquest) of Granada was especially significant, seeing as this was the last city necessary to conquer in order to officially have united the Iberian peninsula under this rule; taking over the Alhambra sent a LOUD message to the people. Even without the tour guide's side notes, you could tell which portions had been majorly altered by the Christians.
One of my favorite parts was the Corte de Leones (the Court of the Lions). The actual fountain is being renovated, but we saw pictures in class. Our art teacher told us a little about the history, how the Mudejar style is apparent in the geometric and brick designs, embellished with ornamental tiles. The 12 bronze lions are quite the site when they complete the fountain, surrounding the exterior. According to our books, it was a reference to a "Paradise Garden," and also to the Temple of Solomon, which alludes to the wisdom of the monarch that inhabited the Alhambra at the time (Solomon the Wise). The actual courtyard was built before Sevilla's Alcázar, but reconstructed after-- we noted many similarities in designs between the two.
I also liked the section dedicated to Washington Irving, who wrote The Chronicles of the Conquest of Granada, which made him quite the super star. What we saw were the remains of sus muebles (his furniture) from when he actually moved into La Alhambra for literary inspiration for his Tales of La Alhambra. I'll post these pictures online as soon as I get the chance.
The final leg of the tour took us to el Palacio de Generalife, the "Garden of the Architect." Even though it is literally walking distance from La Alhambra, it was known as the summer palace/country estate for the Nasrid sultans when they needed a break from real palace life. At the time of the Muslim conquest, it became their last resort for hiding from the Christians (we got to the angle within Generalife where we could peer through a lookout point at el camino (the path) that the horses took to reach them. We walked through the Water-Garden Courtyard, with a long pool and beautiful fountains, all bordered by flowers. We walked through the Sultan's Garden, filled with Cypress árboles (trees), organized kind of like un laberinto (labyrinth). You could feel what was left of the Muslim influence, although the Christians definitely came in and made it their own. It was breath-taking.
Needless to say, we were muy consadas (very tired) by the end of this tour, but still had the rest of the day to ourselves. For lunch, we went to a Kebab place and I had my first exposure to Shawarma! It came with the big pita sandwich, french fries, and a drink for 5 euros, so we definitely went to town on that. We all got chicken, except for Abby who got falafel so we obviously sampled some of hers. And GO FIGURE we ran into other Cornell people from other programs on the streets of Granada-- only us! We spent the rest of the day shopping around, and we made it to their Corte Inglés, which looks exactly the same as ours in Sevilla. We marveled at the fact that they sell mantequilla de cacahuete (peanut butter), which you simply cannot find anywhere else, but we cringed at the fact that it sells for 6 euros. No thanks.
We slept for most of the bus ride home, and were muertas de hambre (starving) when we walked in. Except Ana and Manolo were nowhere to be found when we opened the door. Instead, we entered into Cristina's 50th birthday party! The room was filled with people smoking, eating, drinking, and laughing but naturally, the world stopped the second we opened our mouths to say "Hola." We recognized none of the faces staring back at us and quickly ran out as fast as we went in. Later on, when Vicki set us up for la cena, she mentioned that there was a muchacho (boy) at the party... he is studying in la Universidad and is from Tennessee. His name happens to be Zach. GO FREAKING FIGURE it was the same kid who pretended to be Spanish at that club and then awkwardly brought it up in class. And then he saw us walk in and make morons of ourselves. Laura jabbed me under the table and we rolled over laughing.
Although we had been non-stop moving since early viernes (Friday), we were ready to go out for the night. So we took our sweet time and did la marcha como si fuéramos sevillanas (night life as if we were from Sevilla). That is to say: go out to la discoteca at 2:30 and salir (leave) at 6. Well, we actually ended up staying out a little past 6, after contemplating the ever so popular dessert, churros con chocolate, and trying to figure out the bus system. Oh yeah, it was raining, too. By the time we walked in, it was about 7am, and we slept and slept until we heard la campana de la comida (the comida bell!)
So, it is now Tuesday night... we successfully booked our Madrid/Toledo trip for this weekend-- get there by bus, stay in a hostel. Laura and I will be traveling with our friends Abby and Robin-- qué divertido! (how fun!) I had my first examencito (quiz) experience... It pains me to even use the word, considering it was more like the teacher giving us the quiz and encouraging us to ask her to read over our answers before handing it in. Hey, I'm not complaining!
In other news, our favorite expression, "MIRA MIRA MIRA" (Deborah, you know the voice) was taken to the extreme this evening, when Vicki literally stormed into el comedor (dining room) with a huge magnifying glass, chanting, "NOW! MIRA MIRA MIRA!" We died. Once again.
All right, enough for now. Enjoy my pictures!
ADIOSSSS!
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