SEPTEMBER 18TH, BLOG #8 TUESDAY

SEPTEMBER 18^TH, BLOG #8 TUESDAY

Had a bit of a restless night. The room air-conditioner blows directly on the bed and has quite bright lights! Paul said he felt like he was sleeping at the end of runway! A bit of shielding is called for!

We had some coffee and a pastry in the room and headed out to explore Granada. We decided to try the Tourist bus, it gives you a good perspective of the city. However the best parts of Granada are not on this tour. We got off at the Cathedral and headed into the Albaycin which is the best preserved part of the city. We ate and then decided to take a taxi up to Carmen de los Martires, which is supposed to be beautiful. Damn it, it was closed!! I am bereft. All I wanted to do was visit a Carmen which are quite exclusive to Granada! On the way back down the hill (remember what I said about the Spanish being part mountain goat?) the taxi driver, after hearing that we spoke Spanish gave us a history of Granada. It was awesome. He had very bad teeth and spoke with a very strong Andalucian accent with a speech impediment but he was so sweet and proud of his city. It was very informative and my Spanish expanded in ways I could never have believed.

I am being summoned, we are going to dinner and a show up in the Sacromonte district. Ole, viva, andale,  andale, off we go! 

Jane posing on our way to the Flamenco show.

Jane ordering her dinner and video of flamenco show.

We caught the mini-bus outside the Hotel Condor and off we went a group of about 8-10 of us for an adventure in the Sacromente. Driving up the hill was nerve-racking to say the least! Crazy, narrow, twisting, ancient streets. Really only room for one car, but accommodating two mini-buses passing a parked car! Whew! However we made it to the Vente El Gallo. It was very small terraza but it looked over the Alhambra. The sun went down, the lights came on and we had a breathtaking view of the Generife and the Alhambra. Quite beautiful! Dinner was excellent and then we all traipsed down to the cave to be entertained by some true Gypsy Flamenco! It was to, say the least, thrilling! We were lucky and sitting up front then in came about 50-70 Japanese tourists!  The singing, guitar playing and hand clapping were awesome.

After the show we set of for a short walk around the Albayzin, through the tortuous alleys to the Mirador de San Nicolas, where we had a most marvelous view of the Alhambra and the whole city spread out below us. All in all, it was a terrific day! To bed, to sleep (maybe) and dream, assuming the air conditioner doesn’t freeze us before morning!