Sunday in Granada

We love our hotel here. It is a little on the funky side but feels very quaint and southern Spanish. Ouir rooms overlook the patio garden and there is a fountain which made water sounds all night and aided sleep.
After breakfast we headed into town. We first went to the overlook spot that Rick Steeves recommends and the views were great. There were quite a lot of people there and it was nice people watching as well as scenery. We met two British women school teachers who were very friendly and talkative. We even discussed politics – they loved Clinton, hated Bush, love Obama – hate Tony Blair and Camilla. Regarding Camila they said her face looks like a horse.
Next to the overlook is a fairly recently built Mosque. This was built by the city to honor the Moslem population which is substantial. In the Mosque there is information trying to tell “the other side of the story” compared to what the local guides saY “perpetuating misinformation.” The local guides say that the Moors were invaders and that the Christians reclaimed the area and expelled the invaders. The mosque counters that the Moors were Mulims who had lived in this area for centuries and during their reign of power were very tolerant of their Jewish and Christian neighbors. In 1492 the Spanish Christian Army won the area as the result of a long fought war and banished the Moors (and Jews).
We spent the next several hours wandering the twisted streets and then took a break at a little open air café on the river. It was very pleasant and relaxed. Most shops were closed for Sunday.
We took the local minibus to get back to the Alhambra. This was a lot of fun. It was packed with locals and kept stopping five minutes at a time for reasons unclear. At one point several of the passengers bursted out in song.
We spent most of the afternoon at the Alhambra. This is probably best described in pictures. It was all wonderful. The Palace is the highlight with its intricate carvings, reflecting pools, and vistas. But I think I enjoyed the lush gardens with the water flowing everywhere the most.
We had made reservations for dinner and flamenco dancing performance for 10 pm in the same general area where we had been the night before. So we went into town a few hours earlier. The town by the river was very quiet (it was Sunday) so we took the minibus to the general area where the flamenco restaurant was. It let us off but we couldn’t see which way to go. We stopped to ask directions from a local and he told us exactly where to go and said “for flamenco?” We said yes. As he left all three of us realized he was the same fellow who had been the handsome flamenco dancer of the previous night. Small town….
The show at this second flamenco event was great. Much better than the food – oh well. The group was a family (male singer, his young female cousin (dancer), a handsomThje man and beautiful women married couple who were both excellent dancers. They all had a ton of energy and were very exciting to watch.
Then a taxi home and to bed.