Spain |
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I have to admit that I am impressed with my new GPS toy. It is an interesting piece of machinery combining GSM and GPRS communication with calendaring and email functionality and GPS navigation capabilities. The friendly lady in its chips announces that I have arrived at my destination and when I look out of the window of my tiny rental car I am indeed 3 meters away from my hotel in Granada after having driven through the tiniest alleys in the city. This morning I flew to Malaga in the South of Spain where my rental Fiesta was waiting for me to drive it to Granada. I am traveling for ten days through the South of Spain, an area better known as Andalucia.
Granada is cool. The Alhambra is the treasure it is best known for, but there is plenty other interesting stuff. Especially in the week before Easter as this is the period known as Semana Santa, aka Holy Week.
More then once I find myself surrounded by parades of very colorful Kuklux clan supporters or so it seems. (not that I consider the KuKlux clan to be something cool, in fact I was pondering whether I should be mentioning its name here at all)
In the week before Easter the believers of the local church all dress up like medieval executioners and march down the streets of Granada in an eerie silence carrying the church’s relics, a spectacle watched by all other citizens of the city from rows and rows of benches especially erected for this purpose. The very first evening I get surrounded by several of these processions and end up drinking beer in a bar in the enclosed triangle for lack of anything else to do and an escape route. (if all else fails drink beer or in Latin "In casum panicum aqua fermentum potare"). I feel sorry for the children who have to walk in the same spooky outfit. I hope they do not look in a mirror since I am sure they would scare themselves.
At the bottom of the Alhambra is a terrace with a great view on the castle where they serve great beers and omelets in the sun, a combination one cannot easily resist. The problem with the Alhambra is that only a limited number of tickets is issued each day. This is hardly enough for half the number of tourists (even in April), which is why tickets are now sold in advance via the internet. The only problem is that these are only available for a visit two weeks up front, which is of limited use when you (like me) decide to go down there four days in advance. The only way to resolve this is to be at the ticket office ahead of the official opening hours. As such I take a taxi at 6:00 in the morning to drive me all the way to the ticket booth with the idea to be the very first. Just roughly 1000 others beat me to it so I wait in line. And I wait in line. Finally at 09:45 I have a ticket in my possession! On your ticket the exact time is printed at which you can enter the best part of the Alhambra (the Nasrid Palaces). If you’re late, well see you tomorrow at 06:00.
The Alhambra is an old palace once built by the Moorish conquerors of Southern Spain. It is built on the top of a hill overlooking the city of Granada and the area surrounding it. It is an interesting combination of style & strength border lining between castle and palace. The weather is great and although my day started 5 hours ago, it still feels early. It is big and it is pretty and I am glad I am not visiting in July or August as even in April the heat is on. There are living quarters, work areas but what sticks out most are the gardens called Generalife surrounding all this. All of them fitted with fountains, probably in an attempt to keep it a bit cooler in the midst of the summer.
This is the first time I carry my two new lenses with me on a trip: the Nikon 70-200 /f2.8 VR ED IF AF-S and the Sigma 15-30 /f3.5~4.0 EX.
It is an interesting place. In fact it is one of the better places I have been to in Spain.
Once I am done with the Alhambra I want to see the thing in its entirety and decide climb the hill on the other side of the valley. If you climb up to the Mirador de San Nicolas near the church San Nicolas you’ll have a great view on the Alhambra. It is lit up very nicely at night by both the lights and the moon and I shoot some photos. There is a restaurant with an enormous terrace overlooking the whole thing (probably the restaurant with the best view in Spain). I try to have dinner at restaurant Carmen Mirador de Aixa but as I have not made any reservations I can only have drinks in the waiting area of the terrace. As such I am forced to have a few pints of beer obviously. It is a very nice evening.
For dinner I stumble over to the small square called Plaza San Miguel Bajo 300 meters further where there is a nice blend of locals and just a few tourists. There are some tiny restaurants with great opportunities for outdoor dining. Dinner is cool and so is the beer.
Cordoba is substantially different from Granada. I have troubles finding the centre. It seems that the maps from the centre in my new GPS toy are not as up to date as they should be.
Cordoba is known for the Mezquita, an interesting combination of cathedral and mosque.
Unfortunately the doors are closed, and even worse they are locked. I hang out for a while in the garden surrounding it and enjoy myself by looking at the scores of tourists all asking the guards the same question. The Mezquita is closed for an Easter service and will remain so for the entire Easter weekend. Just as I am about to leave and look for a terrace to have some beers in the sun, the vicar opens the door for five minutes and lets some 40 people in (including me!) We get the chance to see the mosque cum cathedral in the fading light of the day while in some part of the church the mass continues. I shoot a load of shots (some of them even come out pretty good, given that flash is not allowed, there are practically no windows and it is about to get dark outside. (Thank you Nikon for Vibration Reduction))
Surrounding the Mezquita is an area with narrow cobbled streets and white plastered houses. The closer you get to the Mezquita the more tourist junk is on sale. Especially the revolting looking girl’s dresses with enormous polka dots must be very popular and the inevitable T-shirts and baseball caps are increasing in numbers when you get closer to the Mezquita.
There is a tiny square with a terrace in the sun. Overweight tourists are carted in horse drawn carriages past the square looking very happy with them selves and their bright colored Hawaii shirts. I think I am at least just as happy with my pints in the sun not having to look at a horse's ass and pay for it. The faces of some of the occupants of the other tables on the terrace may resemble the back end of a horse as well, but hey, at least I don’t have to pay to see those.
Dinner has to be tapas in one of the more traditional looking tiny restaurants in Cordoba. Many of the houses are built around a small open court. Some have these covered with a roof and their inhabitants have started a restaurant in the now available space. Though I am not a tapas man, I have to admit that the place I end up is cool. The menu is in Spanish only (which is good as this means it is not a very touristy place) but the waiter does an on the spot translation for me. When I pick five tapas dishes he says that most diners only have two different dishes and proposes only to bring the first two from my list. Something must have gone wrong in the kitchen since after a little while his colleague delivers the five dishes I had originally picked. With a few bottles of beer I manage to consume the lot eventually.
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The next city I drive my little Fiesta to is Sevilla. Once home of the world expo it has now become one of the favorite destinations in Spain, and rightfully so. The area around the cathedral is very neat. I am glad that my feet are still able to walk me through the city centre and that I do not have to revert to the by now infamous horse drawn carriages. (see Cordoba above) The Spaniards must think that tourists are best to be transported in these tourist traps on wheels. Other sights I check out in Sevilla are the Plaza de España, the Alcazar and last but not least the bullfighting museum. Those who (like me) thought that bull fights are something from the past beware: even now every Sunday in the summer is bullfighting day! Though I am very much against cruelty to animals seeing the arena is … well… interesting, but I do not want to see an actual “match” (as if the outcome is not known in advance). Sevilla is actually a cool place. I am glad I do no visit it in the heart of the summer as even in April the temperatures are quite serious. Only drawback is that the street where my hotel is located is not shown on any map so it does take me more then an hour to find somebody who actually knows the rough direction where I should be heading. |
A bit more off the beaten track is Cadiz. Unlike the other cities I visited in Andalucia so far Cadiz is located on the coast and has been the home of many a fisherman. I stay in a “Paradores” hotel. This is an originally state owned chain with properties in very cool locations. They have now turned commercial as socialism has left Spain.
Across the bay is a small town called El Puerto de Santa Maria where I head for one day. It is one of the ports in the Jerez region and home of many of the Sherry houses. It also has an enormous bullfighting arena where the matadors are practicing on each other by holding a set of horns and attacking each other. They take turns playing bull and the matador. In their trainers and track suits they look slightly ridiculous, but that is what you get when you kill animals as a hobby.
I have some photographs I want to share with you from that trip as well. Have look at them:
If you have questions about this trip click here to send me a note!
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| I have some photographs I want to share with you from that trip as well. Have look at them: | |
Equipment used on this trip:
Nikon D70
Nikon 24-85 f/2.8~4.0 AF-D
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 AF-S VR
Sigma 15-30 f/3.5~4.5 EX
Nikon SB600
Pentax Optio S4
Manfrotto 055 MF4/488RC4