February 24-25, 2022
“The truth is, that I’m beginning to wonder if there is any greater pleasure in life than visiting Granada. …and it is going back and visiting it again.”
- Alejandro Dumas.
We needed to do some laundry.
Both of us travel light with only one carry on bag to hold us for the several weeks we are on the road. It has worked well keeping us nimble as we move from place to place.
But, you do run out of clean things to wear and you have to stop touring and take care of mundane chores. These days are often among the best ones while traveling because it forces you to live in your community. You have to find toothpaste or other basic items. For a time, you are part of the local culture. The immersion has its benefits.
For one thing you have to leave the guidebook behind and go walking around the city. These walks, where you occasionally get lost, lead to the best discoveries. Walking around is my favorite part of traveling.
No, that is not true.
It’s the food. Yes, definitely the food. We avoid American fast food places if at all possible. It is amazing how many Starbucks are around! I wish America embraced the Tapa tradition. you go to a small eatery and order a drink. They bring you a small plate of fried fish, or seasoned tomatoes, or a myriad of other choices. You can sit and taste endless choices for hours.
How does anything get done here?
Lunch here is usually around 2-3pm and dinner is not until 8pm or later. Many restaurants do not even open until that time. And dinner, particularly, is an event.
Last night we had dinner in a rainy alleyway next to a table with two large families. There were 5 children all less than 10 years old. They played and talked at the table for over 2 hours. When we left, they were just now getting to their main courses.
We tried to imagine when in our boys were little if they would ever be able to stay so long at a table.
Here are a couple of short videos showing the area where we are staying. You can see the ancient Roman wall running through the neighborhoods and the Alhambra sitting on its high throne.
They were shot from the San Nicolas viewpoint. This is a popular spot with locals and you can always find local gypsies here busking for Euro’s. It would seem playing the guitar is required in this neighborhood. We passed so many hipsters all carrying guitars.
We went for a walk in the Albayzin neighborhood just above us. This area is the old Moorish quarter. It is filled with twisty lanes and it is easy to get lost. There are some blooms developing in the 70 degree temperatures even in February. it is easy to imagine how glorious all the flowers are in the summer here.
This is the Church of San Gregorio. It is the home of a group of Franciscan sisters. As you enter the quiet sanctuary you see at the altar dressed in glorious white a sister at prayer.
There is one here 24 hours a day.
Everyday.
Yesterday we went out to find a place to eat. We only had a vague idea of were to go. On the way we accidentally discovered the Basilica of Augustias.
This explosion of Baroque art was not in any guidebook I could find, which made it all the more awesome.
An older Spanish man noticed us and seemed to sense we were in awe of what we were seeing. He did not speak English. We waved us over and signaled us to follow him. He led us behind the altar to the room below.
Inside the niche was a huge statue of the Virgin Mary holding the crucified Christ. I suspect the monument is mobile and brought out on high holy days for parades. He wanted to take our picture.
We went shopping for some pants and it started to rain.
We had dinner and went home.
The laundry needed to be folded.
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