Helpful background info – Spain was taken over by the
Muslims by 732 (remember the Battle of Tours?), in 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella
launched the Reconquista (remember the famous picture about the keys to the
city of Granada?), okay, background remembering accomplished.
So our flights worked out quite nicely. We flew from
Orlando to Miami to Madrid to Granada. For the transcontinental flight we
were originally scattered across the plane, but we talked to the ticket counter
in Miami and were moved to much better seats, together, which was
awesome! The flights were nice and smooth, Iberia Airlines was nice, the
plane was nice, the Madrid airport was an architectural beauty, everything was
great until we arrived in Granada to discover our luggage had not.
Since then all kinds of things have gone wrong. We are in great spirits and have laughed a lot, but here goes:
1. This first thing happened over the course of the week before departure (which is already a plenty stressful week). Pre-trip departure I went online to pre-purchase our Alhambra tickets only to discover they were all sold out while we are here (I was crushed)... Upon further investigation I found a company to sell us tickets (I was elated)...then they emailed me to say they were mistaken and the Alhambra was actually closed during those days for restoration (I was crushed even more). When we flew into Granada we inquired at the info for tourist booth in the airport and they said the Alhambra was actually open (I was skeptical, but hopeful), then at our hotel the concierge said no it was actually closed for a government event (though far more prepared for it, I was still feeling crushed). We walked up to the Alhambra just to be sure and it was official. No Alhambra while in Granada. The perk? We did get to walk through the free sections of it. It was something, right? The one section we were able to see was the portion Charles V (HRE during the time of Martin Luther and Spanish king) had built right in the heart of the Alhambra…so in the middle of this major Moorish complex you have a Catholic Church. Very interesting!
Worth noting - we arrived in Granada Friday night, had all day Saturday here and are flying out Sunday morning. The reason we chose to visit Granada first is because the Alhambra is lit up at night on Friday and Saturday nights only in the off season. The times booked for the government event? Friday afternoon/evening and all of Saturday. We were really not meant to visit this place. :(
2. Missing luggage. Without our luggage none of us had appropriate walking shoes - especially for hills, stairs, and cobblestone, and cold weather. The boys didn't have their jackets. None of us had rain gear.
3. The luggage arrived...only Daniel's didn't. We have "Frankensteined" his outfit together and he looks fantastically European chic. It is hilarious.
4. Saturday we woke up to find rain and lots of it in our forecast.
5. We ventured out but got completely soaked, sought refuge in the nearest restaurant but the food was terrible. Really terrible.
6. We ditched the lunch place to visit the Cathedral only to discover it had just closed and was not going to open for several more hours.
Cold, wet, okay try soaked, we retreated back to the hotel.
Okay...now for the highlights, otherwise we just sound like whiners.
Positive things -
1. The city is beautiful, our hotel is amazing, the views are spectacular, Granada is charming!
2. We love the concept of each a big lunch, graze on tapas over dinner....our jet-lagged bodies haven't quite meshed with this plan, but they are trying and realize its brilliance!
3. The foodies in us are in heaven! We have had all kinds of delicious combos, but among the favorite are good ole ensalada caprese (tomatoes + buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes + queso de cabra, pork tenderloin with red wine sauce, pine nuts, and raisins, a "pio pio tower" - two foot skewer of tender chicken and veggies, and a number of other delicious discoveries - overall - mmmm!
4. Today after getting completely soaked and being cold, wet, and miserable, we retreated and returned to visit the Granada Catedral where we saw Spanish Catholicism at its finest and visited Isabelle & Ferdinand's mausoleums and saw their lead-lined caskets! So awesome! The layering of Renaissance style + counter-reformation gilded gold pieces were pretty awesome! And then in other areas there is such distinctive Moorish influence - such fun layers of history! It was really interesting to compare and contrast the paintings and artwork in the cathedrals to the styles we saw in the churches in Cuzco and Lima. As we walked through Isabella’s treasury we also couldn’t help but to think how much of the silver was actually Mexican or Peruvian silver!
Since then all kinds of things have gone wrong. We are in great spirits and have laughed a lot, but here goes:
1. This first thing happened over the course of the week before departure (which is already a plenty stressful week). Pre-trip departure I went online to pre-purchase our Alhambra tickets only to discover they were all sold out while we are here (I was crushed)... Upon further investigation I found a company to sell us tickets (I was elated)...then they emailed me to say they were mistaken and the Alhambra was actually closed during those days for restoration (I was crushed even more). When we flew into Granada we inquired at the info for tourist booth in the airport and they said the Alhambra was actually open (I was skeptical, but hopeful), then at our hotel the concierge said no it was actually closed for a government event (though far more prepared for it, I was still feeling crushed). We walked up to the Alhambra just to be sure and it was official. No Alhambra while in Granada. The perk? We did get to walk through the free sections of it. It was something, right? The one section we were able to see was the portion Charles V (HRE during the time of Martin Luther and Spanish king) had built right in the heart of the Alhambra…so in the middle of this major Moorish complex you have a Catholic Church. Very interesting!
Worth noting - we arrived in Granada Friday night, had all day Saturday here and are flying out Sunday morning. The reason we chose to visit Granada first is because the Alhambra is lit up at night on Friday and Saturday nights only in the off season. The times booked for the government event? Friday afternoon/evening and all of Saturday. We were really not meant to visit this place. :(
2. Missing luggage. Without our luggage none of us had appropriate walking shoes - especially for hills, stairs, and cobblestone, and cold weather. The boys didn't have their jackets. None of us had rain gear.
3. The luggage arrived...only Daniel's didn't. We have "Frankensteined" his outfit together and he looks fantastically European chic. It is hilarious.
4. Saturday we woke up to find rain and lots of it in our forecast.
5. We ventured out but got completely soaked, sought refuge in the nearest restaurant but the food was terrible. Really terrible.
6. We ditched the lunch place to visit the Cathedral only to discover it had just closed and was not going to open for several more hours.
Cold, wet, okay try soaked, we retreated back to the hotel.
Okay...now for the highlights, otherwise we just sound like whiners.
Positive things -
1. The city is beautiful, our hotel is amazing, the views are spectacular, Granada is charming!
2. We love the concept of each a big lunch, graze on tapas over dinner....our jet-lagged bodies haven't quite meshed with this plan, but they are trying and realize its brilliance!
3. The foodies in us are in heaven! We have had all kinds of delicious combos, but among the favorite are good ole ensalada caprese (tomatoes + buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes + queso de cabra, pork tenderloin with red wine sauce, pine nuts, and raisins, a "pio pio tower" - two foot skewer of tender chicken and veggies, and a number of other delicious discoveries - overall - mmmm!
4. Today after getting completely soaked and being cold, wet, and miserable, we retreated and returned to visit the Granada Catedral where we saw Spanish Catholicism at its finest and visited Isabelle & Ferdinand's mausoleums and saw their lead-lined caskets! So awesome! The layering of Renaissance style + counter-reformation gilded gold pieces were pretty awesome! And then in other areas there is such distinctive Moorish influence - such fun layers of history! It was really interesting to compare and contrast the paintings and artwork in the cathedrals to the styles we saw in the churches in Cuzco and Lima. As we walked through Isabella’s treasury we also couldn’t help but to think how much of the silver was actually Mexican or Peruvian silver!
5. It is fall
here! I haven’t seen fall in seven years
(since we moved to Florida) and my favorite of all the fall leaves is the gold
leaves – which is what Granada is full of!
When we were taking the cab into the city we marveled at the
juxtaposition of the white-capped Sierre Nevada mountains with the golden
trees.
We have had a lot of fun exploring, more misadventures than
we were hoping for but quite a few laughs, and are very excited to head down to
Morocco!
Click this link to view our Granada Pics!
Click this link to view our Granada Pics!
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