Snow falling on orange trees

Snow on the orange trees in the square

Imagine our surprise to wake up, look out the window and see snow falling this morning! We heard it was the first snow in five years. It was also Andalucia Day, which meant a holiday for school children.


We caught a train to Ronda, a small hill town to the west, perched on the side of a gorge. Walking around, we saw a high school band, and men carrying a heavy looking platform. This we thought was a protest of some sort, but when we asked, it turned out to be a practice session for Semana Santa (Easter), when they'll carry a heavy statue.

Bridge between the old and new parts of Ronda

Men in training for the Easter procession

The Royal Chapel in Granada

This morning we walked through the Royal Chapel, beside the Cathedral. This 16th Century Gothic chapel has the marble tombs of Queen Isobel (Isobel la Catolica) and King Ferdinand. The enormous and intrically carved tombs were made in Italy and shipped here. Narrow steep stairs take you down to the crypt where the actual caskets and remains are. This is also where their son and daughter-in-law rest: Philip the Fair and Juana the Mad! Who said history is dull?
Further along in the Sacristy/Museum is a glass case with Isobel's silver crown, decorated with silver pomegranates, the symbol of Granada. We saw various textiles, and a small collection of religious paintings on wooden panels, one done by Botticelli.

Brad buys fruit

Town Hall in Granada

Don Quixote dining al fresco

After that we did a lot of walking: we found the Town Hall, and admired the courtyard and tiles inside, we walked to the Jewish Quarter and happened upon a small guitar shop; through the window you could watch the luthier at work. We couldn't resist going inside; the owner himself came out to explain that he had a one year wait list for hand made guitars.

Tapas bar near the cathedral

Isobel & Columbus statue by day

 

Columbus and Queen Isobel statue by night; the fountain only appears after dark.

Alhambra in Granada

Ideal photo by Aidarile CC

Today we took the local bus up the winding narrow streets to the Alhambra, originally a walled city and Moorish palace. We started in the gardens, where workers were busy pruning; it must take a small army of gardeners to maintain all of the flower beds, hedges, and roses and other bushes.
As the gardens are at the top of the site, the views are incredible: the palace below, the snowy mountains in the distance, the city below, and the Albayzin (the Moorish quarter with all white dwellings) across the gorge on the next hill.

Courtyard of the Myrtles

We just had time to get through the very interesting museum, with interesting pottery, textiles and metalwork, when it was our time to go into the Palace. Again we had an audio guide, which was invaluable in explaining the rooms functions, the Arabic script, the tilework and so on. Theses are two photos of the Courtyard of the Myrtles; the first is what you hope for, a fabulous shot, but we were rather disappointed when we got there, to see scaffolding in place!

The viewpoint is beside the tower 

After the palace we found the Parador de Granada San Francisco and had lunch; a parador is a government run hotel in an historic building. Imagine staying right in the Alhambra!

The Alhambra from the viewpoint
 

Following a twisting path, we walked down the hill to the river, and back up winding cobbled streets in the Moorish quarter to the Mirador San Nicolas - the viewpoint where you can watch the sun setting on the Alhambra. It was quite a scene with craft vendors, four guitarists, a wandering photographer with a polaroid camera, and of course tourists like us.


Down by the river
 



Gato in the garden

Train from Madrid to Granada

Atoche train station, Madrid, by alanak CC
 

Today we got a taxi to the train station, went through security, found out which platform we needed to be near, and just had time to get some coffee and food to go before it was time to board. We'd been able to buy and print our tickets before we left home, so it was only a matter of having the attendant scan our printout and minutes later we were in our seats.
It was a comforable 4 1/2 hour ride to Granada. We passed fields of sheep, and row upon row of olive trees. After Cordoba the landscape became hilly, and as we approached Granada we could see the snow covered Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance.

Sunday in Madrid

We spent a good portion of the day in the Prado; with our map and audio guide, we roamed from room to room in this incredible art museum. It's a good thing the building itself is huge, as a lot of the canvases are enormous. We made sure we saw Velazquez's Maids of Honor, Goya's work, Rubens and Titian. There are also several of Durer's paintings, including his self-portrait. Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights triptych is also there.
There was so much to see we had to visit the cafe to restore our energy, where a 250 ml bottle of orange juice cost an astonishing 5 euros! That's $6.76 CDN!

The hanging garden outside CaixaForum
 

Next we walked down the wide boulevard Paseo del Prado, where the demonstration had been the night before, to the modern art museum CaixaForum. Before going in we had a look at the "hanging garden" outside. Inside there were exhibits on food insecurity, maestros of chaos, and, the best one: cartographies (artists interpret maps of all kinds).
We ended the day by searching out the famous Chocolateria San Gines, where the hot chocolate is so rich and thick you don't drink it, but dip your churros in it; they're long deep-fried crispy donut-like bites of heaven. A popular place, the line-up to get into the tiny place was to the door; you pay, and then take your receipt to the counter to pick up your order, then move to a ledge to enjoy your treat. It's a standing room only place, unless you want to wait for a table in the back room.

Saturday in Madrid

Plaza Mayor
 

It was crisp, clear and sunny as we set off on a self-guided walking tour. First stop was Plaza Mayor: a vast, cobbled square that's seen a lot of history, including "trials" during the Inquisition. We looked in some of the shops: a hat store, coin and stamp shop, a bar full of bull's heads and bullfighting memorabilia.
Next we went into the San Miguel public market, a steel and glass structure from 1916 - it was packed with people at the wine and cheese bars, deli stalls, fruit stands and so on. Around a few corners and up a narrow lane we found the oldest door in Madrid, made of wood and iron, in the oldest building in the city, built in 1480!
Soon we were at the Almudena Cathedral, an enormous one only finished in 1993; it took 100 years to finish! Inside we enjoyed the sun lighting up the large stained glass windows, the Neo-Gothic interior and painted ceilings.

The Royal Palace

Next door, we lined up for tickets to the Royal Palace, at 1.5 million square feet, it's Europe's largest. We moved from one over-the-top room to the next. While not lived in by the royal family anymore, it's still used for formal occasions, ceremonies and dinners. One highlight was the Gasparini Room, the King's dressing room: Rococo in style, with a frescoed ceiling, silk-embroidered walls, chandeliers, and multi-coloured marble floors.

After all that we actually thought we would carry on down to the Prado, but each road we tried was blocked by police barricades, and we eventually realized there was a huge demonstration going on - thousands protesting the government austerity measures. People coming up the hill were carrying" No Cuts" signs.

Arrived in Madrid Spain

Our flights were fine; we both watched the movie Lincoln and were able to nap so the time went by quickly. It was -3C and snowing lightly in Frankfurt when we arrived. After a crowded bus trip between terminals it was a long walk to our next gate and along the way we passed a Camel glassed- in smoking room full of smokers standing (no chairs). Employees on small bicycles was another sight we hadn't seen before in an airport.
Madrid was warmer: 12C but raining, so when we got off the express bus into the city, the walk down the Gran Via to our small hotel was a wet one. Our room looks onto Plaza del Carmen on the edge of the historic part of the city, and we'll be able to walk everywhere.
Tonight we walked to Puerta del Sol, the centre of town, where on New Year's Eve people gather below the bell tower and eat a grape for every toll of the bell at midnight, for luck in the new year.
We went into three tapas bars full of antique curios, historic photos, bullfighting momentos and more.




Gran Via Madrid by Demitry B CC
 

Flying today

by Ponte 1112 CC

Our flight leaves YVR this afternoon; we change planes in Frankfurt then arrive in Madrid late Friday afternoon.
There's a nine hour time difference between Vancouver and Frankfurt.
The weather forecast for Madrid, for Friday is: Partly cloudy. High of 15C. Winds less than 5 km/h.