granada, jewel of spain

we are so glad we saved the best for last.  granada's alhambra is the jewel of spain.  there is so much history and presence.

the alhambra is an oasis...a very busy oasis that requires tickets to be purchased months in advance OR pay triple the price and go with a 3 hour tour group.  tickets were sold out when we looked so we went with a tour that had us follow a guy, wear stickers like a cruise excursion and listen through crackly whispers.  we ended up in a group with several americans.  it was nice to hear american accents again.

it's stunning.  the grounds and architecture are really stunning.  the stalactites and carvings were a labor of love by the artists.  the gardens were meant for reflection.  definitely check out the alhambra's website for more history and pictures.

i must admit i found it funny how things get romanticized.  like how queens and the harem were privileged to stay in the beautiful buildings.  yes, they were definitely privileged...but they were also locked in.  or how spain was neutral in WWII.  technically, yes, spain did not directly participate.  but the dictator allowed hitler to test weapons on spanish civilians, resulting in a well-known massacre thanks to picasso's heart-wrenching depiction.

back to the alhambra...when charles v won it from the moors, he obviously had a bone to pick or something to prove in his enormous alhambra museum.

since our hotel was on the alhambra grounds, we were lucky to enjoy a night view of the alcazaba and alhambra museum overlooking the city. that night air and warm lighting on the buildings is something gladly stuck in memory.

aside from the alhambra, we walked through parts of granada as it was just a 10 min walk down the hill.  we enjoyed lunch in the albayzin then a beer in plaza neuva soaking in the sun.  we hunted for a wine shop, cheese shop and one last bit of cured ham and a side salad because we just couldn't eat another full meal.  jason did really well conversing with the locals to get directions and recommendations.  it was actually surprisingly difficult to find the shops!  but we're glad we did it and had a little picnic for dinner at the paradores listening to the trickle of a fountain.

side note: the grenadines did NOT invent grenadine the alcohol.   shame.  that would've been really cool.  the french word grenade means pomegranate...which also helped to name the grenade weapon.  but i think granada may have gotten it's name from another source, it's all a bit confusing.  wikipedia is in contrast to what the tour guide said so i'm just going to stop here.

PARADOR DE GRANADA SAN FRANCISCO
we were referred to the paradores by a colleague who has stayed at several of the refurbished monasteries/forts/palaces throughout spain.  the paradores are owned by the state and while the rates are on the high-end, we found that it was well worth it.  -we can rest assured that the funds will go toward maintaining the historic building AND we'll get a spa-like stay.  our particular paradores was located in the heart of the alhambra, a moorish palace which then became a franciscan monastery which then became the hotel.  it was the original resting place for ferdinand and isabel, the catholic monarchs.

the hotel was very quiet, respecting the history of the place as well as few number of guests.  the room was very modern with all the amenities and service was impeccable.  there is a small parking lot located in front of the paradores...it was certainly interesting driving through the crowds of people walking to/from and in the alhambra.  the hotel is open to the public.  stop by, visit the original tomb of ferdinand and isabel, have a cup of tea and listen to the birds.

andalucia's white hill towns

the 2.5 hour drive from sevilla to ronda was the first time we felt like we were back in california (with the exception of the times we've actually been back to california since moving to london).  the gentle hills, green with grass or produce and vines, blue skies and open road gave us a sense of calm after the previous 2 days of sleep deprivation.

from the highway, we saw several white hills towns or pueblos blancos marking strategic points during the wars of religious intolerance.

ronda is the birthplace of modern bullfighting...which i think is now illegal.  there's still the massive bullring built a few hundred years ago.  unsurprisingly, we chose to spend our time relaxing with a glass of wine overlooking the gorge and taking in the scenery.

we walked across the "new bridge," built in the 16th century to the old bridge which dates back to the romans.  there are simple sights in town but we don't bother to pay for admission to any sights or museums unless it's an absolute must-do or we'll regret it type.  instead, we walked down the gorge to get another view and chatted with a fellow tourist.

dinner was a memory.  we went to casa santa pola, a quaint moorish building tucked on a sloping cobblestone in old town overlooking the valley.  the almond puree was refreshing.  the suckling goat was tender and mouthwatering.  the food was memorable (service less so without felisa there) and the chef and assistant were entertaining to watch, and who clearly enjoyed being watched, as they moved about the kitchen.  it was also interesting to watch the ingredients fly by...heavily asian influenced (soy sauce, wasabi, etc) but the menu doesn't mention it...

what is simply lovely about this little town is that it is so little.  most tourists come in the for the day so by late afternoon, the city is quiet, a peace that is hard sought in london and dearly missed.

orange blossoms and flamenco

we arrived in seville after dinner, having spent 5 hours on the road and managing to miss spain's very strict meal times.  we could have been in better spirits - hungry from no food and cranky from the poorly marked city street signs.  i think we got a traffic infraction here, too...unsure because we got a charge but no ticket in the mail.  (freeways are great...except when it comes to malaga airport...but street signs were built for pedestrians.)  we jammed over to what we thought was the 8p flamenco show which we had to hit that night because of our driving schedule.

the greeter was so lovely, handed us our tickets and said, "see you at 9."  we got the time wrong.  better early than late.

so we parked ourselves at a nearby bar and filled up on some beer and bread, watched the holy week processions in the epicenter of holy week processions as it reached climax the night before easter.  unlike madrid with the barricades, seville's people gathered on the sidewalks, moved freely and spat sunflower seeds while children played their games.

we chose this particular flamenco establishment, alvarez quintero, through rick steves' guide as a no-nonsense type dance performance.  traditional as it gets.  it's actually a good thing they didn't serve food or drinks because that would simply distract from the rhythms and expressions.  the singer, guitarist and 2 dancers enraptured us and easily played with our undivided attention for one hour.  -we had to include this one picture of the male dancer since his look reminds us of beetlejuice.

as with our fly by trip, we took a jogging tour of seville in the morning.  looked at old buildings, took pictures of private gardens (below), purchased some pottery.  we completely lucked out with the bluebird sky, moderate temperature and orange blossoms lasting a couple weeks longer than usual.

side note: it's a really easy city to tour.  old town is very small.  the tram connects the old town to other parts so we didn't feel obligated to stay in the heart of old town and pay exorbitant prices.

the old capital - toledo

it's such a pleasure to travel europe and see the "originals."  oh, spain has the original sierra nevada.  and the original toledo - the actual namesake for the phrase "holy toledo."  the list goes on (york, jersey...paris, france v paris, texas...).

the old spanish capital of toledo may be a namesake but we're glad city planning was NOT fashioned after this intimate labyrinth.



we absolutely lucked out with weather.  we arrived mid-morning from madrid parked just outside the city, before the huge parking lot that's recommended for day tourists.  who wants to get caught in a line going into the parking lot AND coming out of the parking lot?  it's a bit too disneyland for us.

so we parked outside and walked along the old roman walls and buildings, through the impressive habsburg gate and up the narrow alleys.  since the city is built on a hill and all the sights are at the top of the hill, we ditched the map and pursued an aerobic exercise to the top of the hill.

given the unique nature of the city, age and architecture, historical center of religious tolerance, and considering spainards keep late hours, we were able to meander the alleys in relative quiet and ponder its significance.  we can only imagine how different it is at night when the city is empty of tourists and all the old buildings are lit up.  it's really a city to walk around and get lost.  appreciate the laws to freeze the city in its gothic point in time, appreciate the little touches carved into the exterior, appreciate the level of effort to construct a city of that scale.

the busiest spot in the city was the mcdonald's on main square.  it was simply madness.

with our trip so short, we weren't able to enter into any museums or linger too long.  our old camera couldn't capture the breadth and intricacy of the cathedral.  it was the most impressive cathedral we've seen in all of europe to date.  yup, that means we like it more than notre dame...waaay more and even the hip le segrada familia.  we vowed to go back one day and properly tour the cathedral.  it may be a long time from now when we walk a little slower but hopefully, the city will still be just as charming as its old self.

good friday in madrid

oktoberfest is to munich what easter (and the week leading up to it) is to spain...but we'll get to that later.

we arrived at our hotel, the westin palace madrid, just as it started to rain during our walk from the airport express drop off.  the PALACE HOTEL unlit rooftop sign was a welcomed sight and smelled beautiful when we entered the lobby (we love the westin...but not so much this one).

given our packed 5-day itinerary (madrid to seville to ronda to granada to malaga), we promptly dropped off our bags and headed out to the palacio real (royal palace).

of all the palaces we have visited in europe, this was the most impressionable.  each room was immaculately (and excessively) designed, each very different from the preceding.  the chandeliers were incredible.  it was the first time the both of us fully appreciated the artistic quality and unique designs of chandeliers.  -i think it's because we just see the cheap/stuffy kinds in the US. the palace takes about 1.5 hours to tour and it's worth checking out the armory, primarily horse and knight-focused, at the end of the tour.

from the palace we ventured off to find the tasty pastries baked by the nuns. unfortunately, the nuns spend the holy week in observance so we were not able to get the delectable sweets.  we were totally bummed.  wouldn't it be cool to buy baked goods from a nun?

fortunately, there was an incredible food market, mercado de san miguel, half a block away from the convent and we were able to satiate our starving bellies...from incredible spanish cheeses (with bread) to coffee and incredible almond cakes, we were in heaven.  we love queso!  i think we surprised passerbyers and onlookers with astonishment at how fast we ate all the saturated fat and carbs.  it was delicious and worth the caloric intake.

the spanish really do know how to do tapas and this a was our kind of fun.  we could have stayed there all day if it wasn't for our limited time in madrid...and would've washed down the cheese with olives and wine if we hadn't procrastinated on our work out of the day.

we won't bore you with the sightseeing stuff because you can read a guidebook for yourself.  however, not everyone gets to spend easter in spain.  and honestly, we would try to avoid it in the future...

on our way back to our hotel we truly learned what it meant to be in spain during "holy week" - i.e absolute madness.  it was about 5pm and we were in the main square of madrid - actually, the very center of the country.  on our short walk back to our hotel we noticed tv crews, news channel stations, and metal barricades on every sidewalk.  we weren't sure what was going on...and our hotel turned out to be ground zero, "the street of jesus" and the start of the processions.

from our direction, it was impossible to reach our hotel doors and we side-stepped, skipped, excused, apologized, and then eventually shoved our way through the barricaded crowds to try and divert ourselves a few blocks away to find an alternate route to our hotel.  we were yelled at for blocking a lady's view for a few seconds.  it was good friday.  i couldn't help but wag my finger in her face and say, "you remember what good friday is about.  you remember what christ died for."  to which to defiantly replied in spanish, nothing i could understand but i think i got the gist.  it was MADNESS!!

to be honest, we were actually touched by some of the displays.  it put before us how our jesus was treated...if only just an inkling of what it was.

jesus on a float

the procession was intermittent beginnings of walks - people walking barefoot with thick chains around their ankles, marching bands with really loud horns (i think that's where the dirge came from), groups of priests, groups of penitents (people dressed in purple kkk-type outfits), women mourners dressed in black with tall crown-like veils, jesus with flowing, naturally wavy hair on a float.  we saw more of it in seville where the intensity increased to people carrying crosses until collapse.  the music and processions walk through all the neighborhoods until the wee hours of the morning...then start up again at 8a with the horns.


thank you, westin madrid, for NOT giving us a heads up about the processions because we likely would have chosen to stay elsewhere and gotten a full night's sleep...and missed out on an unforgettable experience.