Hello everybody, it's day six of the escape of the moose to the land of bulls! The first thing of note is that my family's travel kettle (yes, we bring that on our travels!) has ceased to function. That's bad news 'cause usually don't risk drinking tap water overseas. Which means we have to buy bottled water and that's usually expensive.
But anyway disregard that for now - if I don't blog tomorrow, you may assume that I may have collapsed due to hypohydration. =P We met the Hos at nine-thirty in the lobby, where we proceeded to take a few pictures. I snapped a few with my iPad too, a bit mangled because the cover slips and blocks the camera on some. Several're up on Facebook for you guys to get a sneak preview of those that're to come from the real camera.
After that bit of dilly-dally, we took the same route down Alhambra as we did yesterday. We visited a luthier (I got pictures!) and asked him a few questions. Found out he produced around ten guitars per year and each cost around four to five thousand euros. Wow! O.O W then stopped at an eatery-cum-hotel along the way for a spot of breakfast. I do believe it was the best breakfast I've had in Spain so far except that the hot chocolate wasn't "Spanish" enough! I ordered a plate of eggs, frankfurters and potatoes. There weren't potatoes so the waitress replaced it with toast (baguette, to them!). I burst a yolk, sliced up a frankfurter (there were four! =O), and spread it around the lower half of the baguette. I used up all the butter on the top half of the baguette, smacked them together and there you have it, the sausage and egg Raysonwich! Then I cleaned up the rest of my plate like a vacuum cleaner. Just what the doctor ordered!
The Hos went to get train tickets while Mum, Dad and I went shopping. We stopped by Lacoste first, found nothing, then went to Massimo Dutti. I spent the rest of the time there and managed to get two pairs of trousers for ninety-nine euros and ninety cents. I was highly surprised, but very gratified to find that their trousers at thirty inches fit my waist really well! Got a purplish-auburn pair of corduroy pants and a pair of khaki trousers with some checkered patterns when folded up at the ankles. Nice.
We met the Hos at H&M at eleven forty-five, then made our way to the Catedral de Granada. It didn't really look impressive on the outside but once we got in, boy was it a sight to behold! Everything was white marble and gold, the ceilings were high, and the pillars wide beyond belief! Neither photos nor videos allowed, but I took plenty! I couldn't resist, especially since other people were doing it too. =P Anyway it was an enormous space and every sound that people made rumbled around. The place seemed to be made for beings far larger than us. If majesty was what the architects and artists wanted to convey, they certainly managed the task with flying colours! But somehow, though it was so awe-inspiring, I didn't really feel that God was in there more than anywhere else. *shrugs*
After that, we went our separate ways and agreed to meet at three forty-five at the hotel. After a short snack of crepes, waffles and ice-cream milkshakes, we decided to return to the hotel by climbing up the way we had come down, but not before getting our names in Arabic written down and buying them. What a touristy thing to do lol!
We met at four then walked up to the entrance of the Alhambra Palace and Generalife. I got a free Java application on my phone - they're really creative there! I chanced upon this blue signboard with a triangular base and read the information in English. It said to turn on your mobile phone's Bluetooth and set it so that it'd be publicly visible for a java application installation file to be sent to you. I did that, installed the application and voila (people, THIS is the way to spell what always appears as "wala" when you write it!), I had all the information I needed - history, information, maps all on my phone. Wonder if they've an app for the iPhone... In any case, we waited for a while (the appearance of a friendly and pretty grey stripey cat REALLY made my day then, and I saw another dark grey cat and two young ones in the grounds =D) for the walking tour guide to appear.
So we were introduced to Robert in due time and he was a wonderful guide. He's a linguist and speaks six different languages very well, but that isn't what makes him a good guide - it's his desire to help you understand what the ruins really looked like and what the situation was really like at different time periods in the past. He explained what elements made up a Muslim courtyard - there'd be water in the middle, greenery around it, and finally, surrounding all that, the building. He told us to imagine the richness and colours of the wall and ceiling decorations when the colours were very nearly gone. We also learnt about how in Muslim buildings, the lower part was decorated with flat tiles, then some funny kinda plaster that has egg white in it (!), and the ceilings are decorated with wood. He said the Muslims conquered much of Spain in seven short years, and it took the Christians more than eight hundred years to win all that back, and they mostly modified all the existing buildings to serve their purposes (more economical), so at many buildings had both Muslim and Christian Renaissance influences in them. Madly interesting, the way he shared it! And the most interesting morsel of information, of course, was how the design of the political courtyard influenced the design of the Taj Mahal in India more than three hundred years later. Wow. Pictures to follow on Facebook! =D
Robert walked us back to our hotel a short distance from the palace, then politely declined to dine with us while recommending us places to eat for dinner and for lunch the following day. We took him up on his suggestion and got the hotel receptionist to reserve a table for six at the Estrellas de San Nicolas. I ordered a Roasted Baby Lamb's Shoulders. It was highly tender, with a bit of residual lamb taste, which I quite like actually. The veggies that came with it were very green tasting however, so I left them. Mum had a Roasted Baby Pork with Honey, Prunes and Tamarillo sauce. I tried a bite and immediately disliked it - I could taste the pig in it so strongly even though it's texture was decidedly tender. Dad had an Andalous Ox Tail. I tried a little of that too and liked the taste of it very much, though I think it would do them some good if they used wagyu ox tail instead! We had red wine and it seemed pretty strong and dry, but I drank more than my share in good time because firstly, I had a second helping, and secondly, my mum was getting a little tipsy so I had to help finish some of what was left in the bottle. There was cold tomato soup with some weird grass in it before the food came. It wasn't to my tastes - sour and cold things usually aren't are I think! Also order some Special Granada Dessert after the main entree, and it was basically one caramel roll and one orange roll, with a cinnamon dip. Quite pleasant. And finally, as we settled our bill (two hundred euros total!), there came six shot glasses of rum and honey - highly pleasant and smooth but overly fiery to finish considering the wine I had drunk. The owner called up two cabs for us and we arched our lodgings at around midnight.
I oughtn't to have typed this post considering the hour. You can tell it's short and a bit rushy towards the end of the post, but since we're getting up late tomorrow, I thought it'd be alright to still let you guys know what went on. =) Right then, I'll end off here 'cause I feel tired with all the alcohol sloshing around in my tummy! Goodnight then, more to come tomorrow! ^^
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Calle Real,Granada,Spain
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