Getting to know them: Granada Day 1 (25 Aug 2013)

We met our tour group on the evening before we set off for Granada and were relieved – not that we really expected anything different – to find ourselves with a congenial group comprising four couples from Australia (including one, similarly aged to us, from Canberra), and four single women (two Australian, one Kiwi and one Canadian). There’s a good age range too. Our tour leader, Cyra, grew up in Sydney, and is of of mixed parentage – including some Spanish and Italian – so has a European passport. She’s perfect for a group like us – she knows where we come from but is very comfortable with the locals.

After an hour’s orientation meeting, Cyra suggested dinner in central Madrid (in Puerta del Sol). This, like essentially all meals on the tour, was not included but we were all in. Who wouldn’t be, after all, when given the opportunity to go to a place a local thinks is good value. And it was. We had a wonderful spread of meats, vegetables, olives, wine and bread for €20 each. And, we started to get to know each other. We are nurses, mining engineers, lawyers, public servants, retirees …

Bussing to Granada

Our trip to Granada involved: meeting in our foyer at 9.15am, getting the Metro to the bus station where we could have a simple Spanish style breakfast (coffee, fresh orange juice and pastry or bread – don’t ask how I’m managing!), then hopping on the bus at 10.30am. It was a very comfortable 5-hour trip (including a half-hour stop for lunch — of, yes, more bread options). The countryside was great. Before lunch we were mostly in Castille La Mancha (of which Toledo is the capital). The landscape was generally flat and dry-yellow with occasional plantations of olives and vines. After lunch, the landscape changed dramatically to that of Andalucia. There were lots of hills, isolated cottages, small villages … and olive plantations on pretty much every bit of arable land. Olives are to Spain what dates are to Dubai – and yet we only had one date in our whole 48 hours there, but have had olives every day in Spain. And they’re great. Mostly green so far …. We are being weaned off kalamata!

Our Granada orientation

Having arrived at our pleasant Hostal* Atenas – with its teeny-tiny Japanese-sized rooms (but free WiFi) – and had half an hour to freshen up, Cyra took those interested – all of us – on a one-hour walking tour of central Granada, then left us to go into the Catedral which is, luckily for us, free on Sundays. The Catedral was built over a few centuries and exhibits Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque features. We all wandered around at our own pace but somehow all exited around the same time so headed en masse to the main square where we had a drink (or two) and got to know each all a little more – particularly those important things such as who likes wine, who likes beer, and who does or doesn’t like olives!

The day ended perfectly with Cyra leading us up the steps to Mirador San Nicolas which offers an excellent view of the Alhambra as the sun goes down. Seeing it like this is the only real way, she said, to get an idea of its size. You can’t get that perspective when you are in it. While up there, we were treated to a gorgeous picnic of wines, cheeses (including local sheep’s cheese), marinated vegetables, tomatoes, cold meats (including jambon, lomo and chorizo). It was truly yum and a very special way to see the Alhambra … in our next post, we’ll tell you what it’s like when you are up close and personal.

1492 … a very important date

We all know what happened in 1492 but did you know that it was in Granada that Columbus received his patronage from Queen Isabella to do his trip (or so the Granadans say). Colombus’ finding the New World marked the beginning of the long era of Spanish and European colonisation.

However, 1492 was also the year of the Reconquest of Spain of the Catholics from the Moors/Muslims – and it was sealed by the fall of Granada. The Expulsion of Jews from Spain occurred in 1492, as did the appointment of a Spanish Pope.

Climate Change and Spain

We were fascinated to read in our travel guide that Spain is taking Climate Change seriously. Given predictions that it will be “desertified” by 2050, Spain is taking active steps to prepare – including, apparently, the biggest tree planting scheme in Europe, establishment of desalination plants and wind farms (which, the guide said, provided 20% of Spain’s energy in 2011). What IS wrong with us in Australia?

The Matrimonial Pillow

We have been amused to find in Spain … at least we haven’t found it before … that not only do matrimonias share a bed but also a long single pillow. We are getting used to it!

Three-words-of-the-day

LEN: Bus, Olives, Moors
SUE: Cobblestones, Alleys, Camaraderie

* Cyra explained that a Hostal and a Hotel are much the same, except that a hotel must occupy an entire building.

and the stills…

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and the movies…

Panorama of Alhambra from the Mirador de San Nicolas