Toledo to Granada

I was without internet access for a couple of days. I ended up writing text in the car today. Will post pictures later.

Today (Monday) wasn't great. We spent longer than we wanted to in the car, took too many roads we didn't want to take, and Judy and I both got sick. Hopefully tomorrow will be much better. We are in Seville tonight.

Here are the text posts for the days prior.


Saturday leaving Toledo Arriving Granada
We left Toledo in the early morning as the drive to Granada was to be the longest of the entire trip. We had some difficulty getting onto the right freeway (this seems to be a continuing problem). However once on the road there was no traffic and it was smooth sailing at a pretty high rate of speed. We made it to Granada in 3 hours. The landscape for the first half of the drive was boring – flat, pretty barren, and no towns that looked inviting in the lease. The only thing mentioned in the guidebook as a possible interesting stop was La Mancha – a ruined castle with some windmills. We were so bored with the landscape we were even considering a stop here but it turned out we could see it (or at least something that looked just like it in the guidebook) so we just kept on “truckin.”
The second half of the drive was much more enjoyable. The landscape changed to rolling hills covered mostly with olive trees and a few vineyards. The weather was much was much warmer, low 70s. When we got about 25 miles from Granada we could see the Sierra mountain range which is the highest on the Iberian Peninsula. It had a dusting of snow on the highest parts. Obviously the rainstorm we had when I was in Barcelona and the first day in Madrid was a very cold one.
Since our Granada Hotel is inside the Alhambra we found it pretty easily following signs to the Alhambra. The hotel is extremely quaint and looks just like other structures in the Alhambra. It has an inside patio that our rooms face onto and there is a fountain running all the time. The patio is covered with a grape arbor. Of course my room (a single) is about as big as a jail cell.
Cars are parked by the main entrance to the Alhambra so we drove down there after unpacking. We then had a nice lunch in a beautiful patio restaurant. It had a pond with coi (sp)in it.
Our ticket for the Alhambra palace is Sunday but we were able to buy a ticket that permitted us to see other parts. It is “other worldly,” There are shade trees everywhere and water runs in streams, troughs, fountains, and fountains. The sound of water is everywhere and it is very shady. There are incredibile views looking out at the old and new cities and the scenery beyond. We were able to visit some builidings/gardens on a low cost all day ticket – it is very Moorish with intricate carvings in the courtyards and hallways. One can imagine what an oasis this would be during the hot summer weather. The only drawback to this peaceful experience is that there were hordes, and I do mean hordes, of visitors. It is worse than Disneyland. I can’t imagine what it would be like at the peak of tourist season. Very disappointing to me was that my camera battery was dead (a good lesson I will be sure not to repeat) so I was unable to take any pictures of this beautiful sight.
We returned to the hotel and had some rest – knowing that it was going to be Saturday night and we should be ready to stay up late. We had made dinner reservations at a place recommended by Rick Steeves that is a “Carmen” in old Granada. This means an old home that now is a restaurant. (You have to ring a doorbell for entrance. The hotel person said it could be walked to in an hour but she didn’t advise it as it was hard to find, there are many narrow paths passage ways that can be dangerous at night. Michael thought we should try to walk it anyway and if we didn’t find it in an hour take a cab. Fortunately Judy and I prevailed and we took a cab from the hotel. It was “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” – in fact a long distance also.
We went on a myriad of tiny passages, some so narrow the driver had to fold in the side mirrors just to get through. We passed many fountains, down numerous unmarked streets, up and down steep, steep hills, through neighborhoods without any notable shops/restaurants, until we finally arrived at our destination – an unmarked alley way. The driver told us to go up the tiny walkway above us and then take a left and we would find the “Carmen”. He was right – there it was with a tiny unlit sign and a doorbell. We were 45 minutes early – it wasn’t yet open. We had planned to walk around the area until we could go in. However, there didn’t appear to be anything public around us. We decided to walk a little and be sure to remember the way back.
We ended up in a little square with just a few local people and dogs hanging out – there was a very nice view of the Alhambra from there. We could hear a lone male voice singing flamenco in the near distance. We tried to locate him by walking around but could not and decided he probably was in one of the homes within a few blocks of us. Where we were is very close to the Sacromente district which is where most of the gypsies live. There is a very large gypsy (preferably called Roma) in Granada. They don’t dress like gypsies that you see in many European cities like Rome – most of those are from Eastern Europe and are not at all assimilated into the local culture. The Roma here have been here a very long time – in fact they are responsible for the whole Flamenco thing. Additionally, they don’t appear to be in the pickpocket business here. They seem much more just like local people living their lives.
We managed to find our way back to the “Carmen” and were seated at a table on the patio with a beautiful view of the Alhambra across the river. It is lit up at night and is very beautiful to see at night. A nice dinner, plenty of vino, and we were really enjoying southern Espana. After dinner we asked them to call us a taxi as we knew we would get hopelessly lost if we tried to walk down the hill through all the twisted streets and then we would still have to get to our hotel which was quite a distance away since it is in the Alhambra itself. We knew we were interested in some night life, preferably flamenco and decided to ask the cab driver. We are fortunate in that Judy is very fluent in Spanish, more so after all the practice she has had this week.
The taxi arrived and we hopped in. He could pull out right away because there was a large crowd of local people coming down the street. They appeared to be headed to a small appearing bar in the next block which hadn’t been open earlier. Judy asked the cab driver what the crowd was going to and he explained it was a flamenco place run by a friend of his and “it is highly recommended would you like to go?” We said YES. So he drove us the 100 feet to the front of the place and spoke briefly to the owner who was at the door. The owner put us in the front of the line. Michael paid the driver, probably the most money for the shortest ride in his experience.
The owner explained that it was 25 euros a person for the show. I gave him two 50 euro bills and expected 25 euro in change. He told us to go ahead and be seated he would pay me later. We were escorted in a cave like room with seats lined up theater style and a small wooden stage in front with six chairs on it. When the audience was seated a waiter came and took drink orders. Soon the dancers and musicians came down the center aisle. The music began – a single guitar, a woman singing (more like wailing), and the whole group clapping various rhythms. The first was a somewhat attractive young woman and seemed to be the most junior dancer. The second dance was an geriatric women, probably at least sixty, with long black hair wearing black and red with a red rose in her hair. She was danced very gracefully and played castenets (sp?). It turns out she was the only one who used them. She appeared to be the most respected of the group. The next dance was a middle-aged man with an Elton John haircut and a red polyester outfit. He had a lot of energy but was a bit short on grace and style. Two more dancers followed one of which was a little overweight and looked like a cross between Bill Murray and Joe Cocker. The final dancer was the best of the men he was also younger and a whole lot better looking. The crowd was very enthusiastic. The show ended about 12:30. I was sure that I should just forget about my missing 25 euros but as we left the owner came up to me and handed me 25 euros. We were very impressed. He called us a cab and we headed home. This was a great day.