Sunday, May 04, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Hotel Los Tilos
[April 25, Granada]
Hotel Los Tilos sits on the pleasant pedestrian square Plaza Bib-Rambla. Our room overlooked the square and offered a 24-hour ever-changing show. The square was ringed with restaurants and ice-cream shops, all the essentials of life as we know it.
Spices? Spices? We don't need no steenkin' spices!
[April 25, Granada]
When you think of Spanish food, you tend to think of spicy Mediterranean fare, at least until you travel here. In fact, the Spanish have a remarkably narrow range of spices in their food, relying mostly on onion, garlic, and parsley. (Ham is also considered a spice as well as an entire food group.) But for Houstonians, or anyone raised in the American culinary cornucopia, there is a sad lack of variety and a desperate lack of picante. Pizza without red pepper? It is not civilization as we know it.
We brought this bottle of Cayenne pepper with us from Houston; as Karl Malden would say "Don't leave home without it."
Donde esta Subway Sandwich por favor?
[April 24, Granada]
The Subway sandwich chain is not our favorite in the US, and we stop there only when we want a simple reliable meal. But frankly, Subway's offerings are better than most sandwiches we find in Spain. The Spanish bocadillo or commonly available sandwich (pictured here) is a poor thing of meager ingredients (usually ham, cheese, a slice of tomato if you are lucky) on a hard baguette-wannabe.
Hispania waves the rules
[April 25, Spain]
In Gibraltar Britannia still rules the waves, but we find often that Hispania waves the rules. Here is an example: our hotel room is designated strictly non-smoking, but just in case, the hotelier provides an ashtray. Similarly, our guidebook advises us in busses to always ask for non-smoking seats, with the observation "it doesn't do any good, but at least it's a statement". Nor are only tobacco-related rules flexible. In a private house museum our guide informs us that photos are not allowed and then adds, "but if you want to take some, it's OK." And similar ambivalence is observed in driving, parking, etc.
We have seen this phenomenon in other countries, and conclude that it may well be a Catholic characteristic. Steeped in Augustinian pessimism about human nature, they accept the breaking of minor rules as routine accretions to our Original Sin. And from the point of view of the Church or the traffic cop, it's probably good for business to allow minor sins that must be absolved or paid off.
Churros con chocolate
[April 25, Granada]
Sometimes two complimentary problems are their own inspired solution. Spanish hot chocolate is rich and thick, so thick it is more like a pudding or porridge and can hardly be drunk.
Carmen lived here
[April 25, Granada]
Along with Sevilla, no place is more associated with Gypsies and flamenco than Granada. Well into the second half of the 20th century the Sacromonte district of Granada contained a thriving Gipsy community living much as they had for hundreds of years in troglodyte dwellings burrowed into the soft hills. Bettie remembers as a teenager visiting Sacromonte during a communal festival, enthralled by spontaneous bursts of flamenco song and dance performed by firelight into the small hours of the morning.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The Alhambra by moonlight
[April 24, Granada]
Though it is only April, we have been dismayed at the unexpectedly large crowds here in Spain and were not looking forward to sharing the Alhambra with massed formations of group tours. We had the happy idea to see the Alhambra at night, when most groups are being stuffed with Spain's notoriously late-hour dinners or treated to an "authentic" flamenco dinner/floor show. We had seen the palace of the Moors by day many years ago and a night visit offered a certain romantic charm.
Days in the Gardens of Spain
[April 24, Granada]
Listen to Manuel de Falla as you look at these photos of the Generalife Gardens. Though part of the Alhambra complex, they well reward a visit in themselves, especially in spring. They spread up a steep hill across from the Alhambra and provide beautiful views of same. They, along with the lovely "summer palace" were built by Moorish rulers of Granada as a get-away from the business and summer heat of the main Alhambra palace. Today they give the visitor some sense of the luxury and elegance of the Moorish court.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Hotel Amadeus
[April 22, Sevilla]
We are staying at the Hotel Amadeus, a unique 14-room hotel in the Barrio Santa Cruz. It is run by a family devoted to music, and musical motifs and instruments fill the hotel. When we checked in, Carmen was playing on a DVD in the lobby (how appropriate for Sevilla, her home!).
Flamenco memories
[April 22, Sevilla]
There is no more evocative place to see flamenco than Sevilla. The problem is to find a genuine performance rather than a flamenco "show" mixed with dinner, drinks, and tobacco smoke. We followed a recommendation to Casa de la Memoria de Al-Andalus (conveniently around the corner from our hotel!) presented by a cultural organization dedicated to preserving the art in full integrity.
Alcazar of Sevilla
[April 22, Sevilla]
The Alcazar is our favorite building in Sevilla. It is a Moorish-style palace built 14th c. by a Christian king (Pedro the "cruel"), who appreciated the artful tradition his people displaced. Being of Christian origin, it was never despoiled and today suggests the splendor that the Moors once enjoyed.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Some of their best friends were Jewish
[April 21, Sevilla]
Spain's relationship with her Jewish citizens has not always a been a celebration of multi-culturalism. Jews at times have felt unwelcome: it is estimated that after the Reconquista 1/3 of Spain's Jews were killed, 1/3 fled the country, and 1/3 converted to Christianity under duress. And the Inquisition was initiated to deal with these latter conversos who were foolish enough to compete too successfully with their good Christian neighbors.
Madmen and geographers
[April 21, Sevilla]
The builders of Sevilla's cathedral promised to "build a cathedral so large that anyone who sees it will take us for madmen". They succeeded. None of these photos can suggest its massiveness, third only to St. Peter's (Rome) and St. Paul's (London).
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Busted Flat in Baton Rouge ...
[April 20, somewhere in Andalucia]
... or rather, on a country road about 15 miles east of Cabezas de San Juan, the closest map reference we could find.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Hotel el Convento
[April 19, Arcos de la Frontera]
Our Hotel el Convento in Arcos is located on a narrow street behind the neighboring convent.