I had this problem where I could NEVER remember the word for 'bill' in Spanish. Who knows why, it's just one of those things like how I can always pull out the word for 'hummingbird' at the drop of a hat, but regularly forget how to say 'knee.'
But after my friend recently asked for the 'hill' instead of the 'bill' at lunch during last weekend's adventure to Andalucía, we decided to use that incident as the catalyst for remembering the right word from then on. In her defense it's a very easy mistake to make, considering "¿Cuánto cuesta?" is "How much does it cost?" but "una cuesta" is a hill or incline while "una cuenta" is the tab/bill. One top of that, "un cuento" is a story (And in a great moment of serendipity, I learned today that a cuentacuentos is a storyteller. This just keeps getting better!) Lucky for us, Granada gave us a lot of opportunities to practice all the above.
Monday and Tuesday were national holidays, so two fellow au pairs and I set off Friday morning to spend the long weekend in Granada. I'll call them Alemana and Finlandesa, since they're from Germany and Finland respectively. Three buses, a flight and about nine hours after leaving my front door, I was at my Air BnB without incident.
Founded in the 11th century, Granada is a city of about a quarter million people in Andalucía, a region in southern Spain. Its rich history is based in the combination of Moorish, Jewish, Romani and Castilian cultures. From flamenco and tapas to la Alhambra and winding cobbled streets, Granada is probably most representative of how the majority of Americans picture Spain.
We spent Saturday walking all over the old parts of city. At least from what I could tell, la Catedral de Granada and la Plaza Nueva more or less mark the boundary between the old sections with primarily Muslim roots and the progressively newer sections built anytime after the Catholics gained control of the city in 1492. La Albaicín (Albayzín) is the sprawling Moorish neighborhood with iconic white houses and narrow roads that go two directions - straight up and straight down - surrounding the Alhambra's hill. It's packed with small cafes offering mint tea from squat silver teapots and plenty of shisha.We wound our way up the hills to the Mirador de San Miguel Alto, a church above the city with a low wall that offers a breathtaking view of the entire city. La Alhambra juts out on a ridge to the left from where you can sit directly overlooking the Albaicín and finally discern the real shape of the cathedral, which is set so densely among other buildings you can't really appreciate its grandeur from up close. The historical areas eventually give way to progressively taller modern buildings that in turn fade into farmland, which disappears into the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas in the distance.
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| Mirador de San Miguel Alto (photo courtesy of Finlandesa's camera) |
Very little short of our ticket to a private flamenco show could have enticed us off that wall. Granada is full to overflowing with bars offering highly commercialized espectáculos de flamenco. Thanks to an invitation through my Air BnB hosts, we got to experience this art form up close and personal in a private home. A co-op hosts flamenco and tapas nights periodically, and we were there for the right weekend. Flamenco includes four essential components: singing, guitar, dancing and rhythmic snapping/clapping. While strongly associated with the Romani, it's a true Andalusian art. Dramatic, loud and energetic, I found it mesmerizing with its waves of fiery motion and intermittent calm punctuated by the tiniest of heel taps and soft cries of olé. Most incredible was watching the connection between the three performers. The singer kept her eyes pinned on the guitarist's fingers, whose gaze was intensely focused on the dancer's heels, and together they could transition from the storm to the calm seamlessly.
We had an afternoon appointment at Aljibe, one of the many traditional Arab baths. The baths consisted of 7 shallow warm pools of various temperatures, with a cold pool illuminated in the center. The room was humid and cave-like, lit only with candles and heavily shaded lamps. Clients are expected to be silent, so the only sounds are running water and the soft Arabic music playing in the background. Water, sweetened mint tea and lemon candies were constantly available. I chose to include a 15 minute massage with my session. Alemana thought I'd legitimately passed out at one point, if that demonstrates my level of relaxation.
After that hour and a half, we were only motivated enough to camp out at a tapas bar with cards and a pitcher of sangria. Another of Granada's claims to fame is as one of the last cities that offers free tapas, the hors d'oeuvres-y fare offered every time you order a drink. Its possible to visit the city without ever actually paying for a dinner.
Alemana and Finlandesa headed back to Málaga Monday morning, where they had an earlier flight than I on Tuesday. I stayed for my guided tour of la Alhambra - another misadventure in the life of the directionally challenged. First let me say in my defense that everyone's very kind directions revolved around climbing or descending a hill and I just didn't find that very helpful in a city that is nothing BUT hills. So my tour- which was supposed to start at 10:00 at a cafe at the bottom of the hill- actually started with me calling the tour company at 9:55 in a total panic because I had inexplicably ended up already inside the Alhambra. I was told in no uncertain terms not to budge from the Puerta del Vino and my tour passed by about 25 minutes later and rescued me.
We spent the next three hours exploring the sprawling palace, most of it built 800 years ago by the sultans who were trying to impress the Castilians and fellow Moors alike into forgetting to ask how big their army actually was. We saw the Generalife as well, a second palace slightly farther up the ridge, surrounded by elaborate orchards and gardens. It was the sultans' summer home, since vacationing a nice ten minute walk away was the most practical option when your own people were constantly on the verge of rebellion and the Castilian kings were an ever present threat.
By the time I walked back through my front door Tuesday evening, I was thoroughly glad to be back in Asturias. As beautiful and interesting as Granada was, Oviedo is the place to live in Spain as a foreigner, in one temporary expat's opinion. I'm ready to enjoy my time at home after my mini vacation, and in less than a week now I will be back on a plane to spend the holidays in Germany/Denmark!
"Dale limosna, mujer.
Que no hay en la vida nada
Como la pena de ser
ciego en Granada."
- F.A. de Icaza
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