Granada- Friday

Granada- Friday

Breakfast this morning was a little different with a veggie mixture—cooked but only slightly warm mix of carrots, broccoli, green beans and cauliflower. With the veggies and all the fruit I feel that breakfast is my healthiest meal of the day—that is if you don’t count the luscious pastries I’ve also been having for breakfast. Most noon and night meals are meat and potatoes with maybe a veg. soup. Not the veggies I’ve been used to eating at home.

Lots of time today spent on the bus to get from Seville to Granada. (For those who grew up in Alpine, remember the Granada theatre?)
We were given information about the Spanish educational system concerning what is mandatory and costs.

Akin to our kindergarten(preschool) is their Infantil- which includes children from 3-5 years of age—attendance is NOT mandatory.
From ages 6-9, their school is called primaria and IS mandatory
Ages 9-16 covers our middle school areas (their word collegio) and 2 years of high school (secondario) Attendance is mandatory to age 16.
Depending on how well a student does on a skills test at this point in their educational career, they may go ahead and complete the last 2 years of high school or be tracked over to a trade school. This is not at their choice of the student or his family, but dependant completely on test scores.
University is free except for administrative charges which don’t amount to more that 3-400 Euro per year. Mention was made that Europeans have a hard time understanding the high tuition for attending universities in the U.S.

The school day is broken up because of the Siesta, which I mentioned before. Usually the school day begins at 8 or 8:30 and runs to 12 or 12:30, when the students go home for lunch and siesta. School resumes around 3 pm until about 5. The major costs to elementary and high school age students are books and uniforms. Usually schools begin teaching a second language at 5-6 years of age.

We talked a little about the impact of the school curric on the economic situation. The richest man in Spain owns the Zara stores all over the world. I’m wondering if there any many in Texas. From what we’ve heard about him and his stores, I doubt if I could afford anything there, but it might be interesting to visit.

We stopped at a large “rest stop” for bathrooms, and to get lunch “to go”. The place was nice and well stocked and interesting. Then the thundering hoard came in. Busloads of school children (I’m guessing Jr. Hi) roared in and the noise was deafening. They were there for snacks and most were buying candy and chips. I found a “SOMETHING’ to share with my choir friends at this rest stop. No mystery meat this year, but fruit and nuts.

To get us ready to enjoy THE ALHAMBRA, more history was shared with us.
1492 was a pivotal year for Spain. Isabella and Ferdinand, very Catholic rulers gave Muslims and Jews a choice. Convert to Catholicism,---- leave the country ---or die. We were told that many converted (on paper) because they considered Spain to be their home. Six years after this edict Isabella and Ferdinand began their Inquisition which actually lasted for 356 years. You’ve read about it ---confess your heretical sins and implicate others and you could live. Don’t and you might not live. (Side bar—reminds me of the Salem witch trials with several parallels.) Anyway, as we pull into the parking lot of the Moorish Palace, we are told to expect many geometric designs, but very few, if any, images of anything living. We will see Arabic poems and religious quotes carved on the walls as decoration.



This is one case in which the postcard is not as good as one of my pictures- the color is weird, but perspective is good.

This is not the highest tourist season, but the place was packed and there were long lines of folks from everywhere waiting to get in. Of interest to the folks around me was a mom pushing a baby carriage—the baby kept grabbing for the rope which was dividing the lines of people. My Spanish is getting better with use (DUH) and I asked the mom how old the baby was. She was 1 and was having a great time grabbing the rope and causing folks to have to move her hand.

The Alhambra (which means RED) dates from the 8th Century and was used as a residence by 23 different Sultans. The grounds cover 125 acres of land with gardens, palaces, courtyards and the King of Spain’s summer house. Included in the palace were rooms for the Sultana, the other main wives and the harem. There was a steam bath with a relaxing room to the side. The staff in the palace at the time of the Sultan was made of up eunuchs who waited upon the women and musicians who had to be blind, so as not to see the women. We heard a story about a Sultan’s wife who was indiscrete with a man of a certain family, and the Sultan invited all the men of the family to a dinner and beheaded them all.

I mentioned Washington Irving’s book in a previous story—we heard that this book “Tales of the Alhambra” played a major part in opening the palace up to visitors.

Hopefully my pictures will explain rather than my words, just how ornate and lovely a place the Alhambra is. One thing of note—all the ornementation is on the inside. The outside of the palace is very plain. When the Muslims were removed from Spain, the Alhambra was inhabited by beggars and vagrants, who stole the rich tapestries, carpets and what little furniture was probably in the building. Its charm remains in the imagination of the visitor who can "visualize" the beautiful people in silks and lush fabrics, the lush gardens, the elegant rooms with curtains dividing them, the rich rugs and tapestries of a time long gone.










One minor observance, we have had several “local” guides who are very knowledgeable. Two in particular continued to take cell phone calls while guiding us around making me think that our business was not particularly important to them. Couldn’t they check their messages later…. Just saying…..

It was a once in a lifetime experience and I’m so glad we did this palace. I bought a copy of Washington Irving’s book, which I originally read about 50 years ago with an enclosed cd of music. I suppose I’m expected to listen as I read.

We’re back at the hotel in Granada and are about to go on a looking around foray—I hear there is a chocolate shop across the street. Be seeing ya”


Couple of hours later—the chocolate shop was more of a pastry shop, but N did find una tienda de helado (ice cream shop) and in his expert opinion it was almost as good as Blue Bell. Tomorrow is a day devoted completely to travel to Valencia with a paella cooking lesson after we reach the hotel. Lots and lots of time on the bus---I’ll take my book and I’m sure we’ll have lessons on other things Spanish.

At our first rest stop of the day one of the ladies from Georgia fell going down the stairs. A doctor looked at her foot, which was giving her some pain, and declared it bruised , but not broken. That’s good.
Good night.