Thursday 9 June 2011

A day in Al-Andalus...

I presented my paper this morning, and I'm happy to report that it went soooo well! I had at least twenty people in my audience - which is huge considering there are eleven papers being presented concurrently - and there were some good, interesting questions after. So, all in all, I'm very happy with the whole experience! Spent most of the morning at the conference and then slipped off this afternoon to journey into Al-Andalus...

Granada was occupied for almost 700 years by the Moors, and thus the culture and space of the city still has very strong traces of this Arabic influence. The most obvious example is the Alhambra, but Moorish design and aesthetic can be seen all over the city. When Isabel and Fernando reconquered Granada in 1492, they destroyed all the mosques in the city. However, many of the minnarets were saved and become the bell towers of new churches. The result is that many of the church bell towers are very Arabic in their design, as you can see in the arches and the mosaic:

This afternoon I experienced an Arab bath at one of the two Arabic bath houses in Granada, Hammam Al Andalucia.The procedure is as follows: You book a two hour time slot, with the option of including a fifteen minute massage. The bath house consists of three baths or pools, one warm, one hot, and one cold, and also a change room with showers, a steam room and a massage room. The idea is to arrive, don your bathing suit, shower, and then move from pool to pool, stopping to drink mint tea in the tea room, and then be called for your massage. It was possibily one of the most relaxing environments I have ever been in! The setting is beautiful, with low ceilings and dim lighting. Tranquil music plays in the background and everyone moves around very quietly and speaks in hushed voices. You obviously can't take photographs, but here is a link to their website - I think there's a photo gallery of the various rooms and pools to get an idea.
Hammam de Al Andalucia

I think I may have been the only person there in my session to fully submerge myself in the cold pool - it was frrrrrreeezing cold! But it was such a rush to spend fifteen minutes in the hot pool - pretty much like a very hot bath - and then go and jump into the cold pool, and then back again!

In keeping with my Arabic theme for the day, after my "bath" I headed into the Arab quarter for a little bargain hunting in amongst the stalls. I also made a stop for a glass of mint tea and an almond pastry, and finally, after a bit more wondering, I ended my day with a dinner of lamb tagine and moroccan flat bread - yum!

Another fun little experience today was buying convent sweets or dulces... R. and I had bought some biscuits from a convent in Madrid, but this time I got to use the little "Lazy Susan" procedure. This involves buzzing the intercom and when a nun answers, saying "quiero comprar dulces" and then making your selection from the list pasted on the wall. The nun then pops your order on the lazy susan and swings it round to you - you take your sweets and pop your money on the tray and send it back! It's quite fun! I got lucky today though and the little nun stuck her head round as the lazy susan turned and flashed me a big grin and a "Hola!"

Wednesday 8 May 2011

Conferencing...

Today was the first day of the New Directions in Humanities Conference in Granada, Spain...I should have been up bright and early and at the conference registration desk at 8am. However, my system has decided that it quite likes working on Spanish time, and I woke up only to realise that it was almost 10am!

Mad dash and scramble to get clothes on and get out the door - thank goodness I wasn't presenting today - and arrive at the bus stop just in time to see the No. 8 bus pull up. "Fantastic!" I think as I hop aboard. The No. 8 goes right to the University and I should be there within 15 min. I find a seat and settle in...we drive past the road I thought we should be taking..."Oh well, maybe there's a detour as there seems to be a fair bit of construction going on", thinks I. Fifteen minutes later, we're no where near the university, and I'm noticing that none of the bus stops that we're stopping at are listing bus No.8....Hmmmm. "Is is possible that the bus could have changed it's number after I got on? Why would they do that? Surely it's not legal...", I muse. Eventually the bus stops, the driver looks up and says "Termino, termino" Uh-oh...it's the end of the bus line, 30 minutes later, and I'm definitely not at the university. Oh well, nothing for it but to stay on the bus and go back to where I started....except I have to pay for another ticket to do so!! Cheeky bastards!!

Anyway, the moral of the story is to check carefully which bus you board when travelling, and when 6s resemble 8s it's either time to have your eyes checked...or to go easy on the tinto verano!

I eventually arrived at the conference and, despite my tardiness, managed to attend some very interesting sessions.

This evening was by far more fun though as I joined up with a walking tour of Granada organised by the conference organisers. We walked through the Albacian, the historic Moorish quarters, and then headed into the area around the cathedral. While I had seen some of the areas either with R. or on my own this past week, it was such a fantastic tour in terms of bringing the city together and making sense of the place. We ended the evening at a little tapas bar run by some Brits. I found myself sitting chatting to two South African women from Pretoria and two Romanian women, and we had such a fun evening with so many laughs.

Monday 6 May - Tuesday 7 May 2011

Shopping and Science...

Mondays in most cities are not good days for sightseeing...most sights are closed! But most shops are open...

I've decided that shopping centers and supermarkets offer an excellent way of peering into a culture. On Monday morning I took myself off to Corte Inglese, a huge department store downtown from Granada's center. It's one of those five floor jobs, with women's accessories on floor 1, women's clothes on floor 2, the men's department on floor 3, and so on. While I did mosey round the women's section for a bit - and came away with two summer cosies on sale! - the really interesting floor was the "supermarket" in the basement!

It's really just a regular supermarket, with a fresh produce section - beware the e.coli lettuce - a bakery, meat section, fish section and then all the non-perishable stuff inbetween. In many ways, it looks a lot like Pick 'n Pay. But then you start to look closely...

I've always found the BBC cooking shows a little frustrating because the chefs use all these amazing, seemingly exotic ingredients, that us mere mortals couldn't dream of accessing...well, all those ingredients are in Corte Inglese! (And probably a whole lot of them with be in the local corner store here as well!) Artichokes and endives, pomegranates, all different types of tomatoes, beautiful baby broad beans...And then you get to the seafood counter...Real, fresh fish - not that scary stuff buried in ice at the Checkers counter that you take an isle-wide detour to avoid - and different types of fish. Prawns, shrimps, fresh crayfish swimming around - "Yes, I'm justing popping down to my local supermarket to select a crayfish!" - clams, mussels, other things in shells that I don't know the name of. Once you've made it past the fish, it's the meat section...here you can buy a nicely cleaned and packaged sheep's head...I did say that supermarkets offer an interesting window into different cultures. You can also pick up an entire leg of cured ham...trotter included! Then of course you still have the cheeses...I counted at least thirty different cured and smoked cheeses. Oh, and they sell divine little custard puddings in little terracota pots - for the same price as the stff they sell in plastic!

So, after all this looking at food and wandering through the numerous stores of Corte Inglese, it was time for bite to eat before siesta...I found a very quaint little pub and settled in to dine under the watchful eye of El Torro...thankfully, I was having a ham sandwich!

On Tuesday morning I headed out to the Parque de las Ciencias, or Science Park. I ended up spending the entire day here! There was a fascinating exhibition on the works of M. C. Escher, who produced the most amazing images and studies using mathematics, architecture and perspective. The exhibition traced his interest and transition from still life to the manipulation of reality through optical illusion and impossible designs.

The park also had a wonderful display on the history of taxidermy as an art and science. The gallery included a herd of mountain goats leaping through the air!

I also visited the exhibition on the human body, the butterfly garden, the exhibit on the history of Spanish military aviation as well as the numerous interactive science exhibits. All in all, a really great way to spend, what turned out to be, a rather cold and rainy day in Granada!

I had to include this last picture here...When R. and I were in Granada about two weeks ago, we were walking back to the hotel one evening and almost bumped into this ginger and white cat hanging out the window. At first I thought he might be stuck, but then realised that he was, literally, just hanging out. Earlier today, when I was walking back to the hotel, I saw him again - obviously this is a prime people-watching spot!

Sunday 5 June 2011

Of cathedrals and mint tea...

Today felt like a real, lazy, holiday day! I slept in, had a lazy breakfast at the apartment, read my book in the sun in the courtyard, and finally made my way out onto the streets of Granada!

I decided to visit the "Cathedral Quarter" today and see the Capilla Real and Granada Cathedral. The Capilla Real was the private chapel and burial place of Isabel and Fernando - the monarchs who married in 1469, uniting the two largest kingdoms in the Spanish penninsula, Castile and Aragon, and ushering in Spain's "Golden Age" of exploration and empire.

The remains of Isabel and Fernando, as well as their daughter, Juana la Loca, and her husband, Felipe el Hermoso, lie entombed beneath lifelike marble figures of the monarchs. The chapel also houses Isabel's private art collectiong.

I then visited Granada's cathedral which was completed in 1704 on the the site of Granada's largest mosque, which was demolished after the Reconquista, or re-conquering of Spain from the Moors. It was the first Renaissance cathedral in Spain. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful these buildings are!

I ended my day in what felt like a time-travel back to Morocco as I strolled through the lower streets of the Albacin, which was the only Moorish neighbourbood to escape destruction during the Reconquista. The streets are tiny and narrow, and wind off in every which direction, and they are bustling with outdoor bazaars and shops selling all manner of goodies. I stopped at one of the many teahouses and had a glass of deliciously spicy, cardommon and mint infused tea! I'm planning on returning later in the week for a little "retail-therapy"!

Saturday 4 June 2011

Romeria del Rocio passing through Granada...

On our last night in Cordoba R. and I were aware of something on the go...lots of Spanish women dressed up in traditional flamenco-style outfits and men in smart clothes with traditional hats. I tried to ask a local what it was all about, but only managed to make "festival" and "Seville".

So, this morning I headed out along the Gran Via Colon and noticed a whole line of decorated caravans attached to tractors lining the main street. Again, I tried to get some infor from a local, but with no luck. As I approached the end of the Gran Via and the main center of Granada, I noticed that the crowd had swelled and there were loads of women and children dressed in flamenco-style outfits. There were also men and boys on horse back everywhere.

As I stood at the Plaza Nueve, the horsemen drew into formation and began to move down the main street in procession. The whole atmosphere was very festive...but I still had no idea what I was witnessing!

Back at the hotel this afternoon, I turned to trusty Google and I discovered that today's procession had been part of the Romeria del Rocio, a major Spanish festival that takes place in the marshes at the mouth of the Rio Guadalquivir at the town of Almonte near Seville. It is a festival in honour of the Virgen Del Rocio who has been celebrated at this place for almost 800 years. The festival has been held on the fiftieth day after Easter Sunday since 1758 and today involves nearly a million people making the pilgrimage to the site:

"The pilgrimage is a pretty traditional affair. Hundreds of "brotherhoods" from the surrounding villages and towns organise the processions that all end up in Almonte. Travellers (or "romeros") come from all over Andalucia on foot, on horseback or by cart. No motorised vehicles are allowed. Most of these pilgrims wear traditional clothes, women in bright gypsy-inspired flamenco dresses and men in the unique wide-brimmed "bolero" hats and short-cropped jackets associated with Andalusia. As they get closer to Almonte, the pilgrims camp out in the fields and forests of the surrounding Donana National Park.

All the romeros arrive in the village of Almonte just before dawn, and then the festivities really kick into gear. Accompanied by tambourines, flutes and guitars, the entire group strolls across the broad plains to the El Rocio shrine in the nearby marshes. Almonte's elite "Hermandad Matriz" brotherhood carries along a large silver shrine that contains an effigy of the Virgen. The sound of firecrackers fills the air as the crowds cry "Viva la Reina de la Marisma" ("Long live the Queen of the Marshes"). Once everyone arrives at the shrine, mass is recited and the Virgen is paraded around the dusty fields for several more hours.

For the next couple of days, the scene at El Rocio resembles a makeshift camp-out, a carnival, and a family reunion all at the same time. The crowds sing traditional songs and dance together in the fields. Snacks of tortilla, jamon, prawns and fried peppers are sold along with plenty of local wine and sherry. First-time pilgrims "baptise" themselves by dipping their hats in water and dousing themselves. In a day or so, the crowds will disperse and the fields of El Rocio will become quiet again."

While I won't make the trek to Almonte, it was great fun to catch a glimpse of this aspect of Spanish culture.

Wednesday 25 May 2011 - Postscript

San Nicholas Mirador, Granada...

After an amazing day visiting the Alhambra, R. and I made our way by bus through the Arab Quarter of the Albacin to San Nicholas Mirador. This is a beautiful look out point, and offers a spectacular view of the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada.

We might have paid extra for our drinks on the little terrace, but the views were well worth it!

Tuesday 24 May - Wednesday 25 May 2011

Granada...

Granada has a population of 300 000 people, 50 000 of which are students! The result is a hip, funky vibe and fantastic opportunities for people-watching from every corner cafe and bar.

Our hotel is situated down a funny little alley which is covered with graffiti, but once you step behind the heavy wooden door, you enter a beautiful oasis with rooms overlooking a garden courtyard. In many ways the city is the same - sprawling and frenetic, with old moorish-style whitewashed houses clinging to the hillsides, but then you turn a corner and come across an absolute gem of a view. The Sierra Nevada rises up behind the city, and I'm constantly taken aback by the snow-capped peaks that backdrop the green, olive-covered, hills surrounding the city.

On Tuesday we took a bus tour of the city and saw many of the famous sites, including the Plaza Isobel La Catholica with the statue of Christopher Colombus presenting his plan to sail to the New World to Queen Isobel, and Granada's bull ring.

We spent our evening moving from one tapas bar to another. The fun thing about tapas is that you only have to chose what you want to drink - the barman decides what you'll eat. I'm not entirely sure what most of the dishes were, but they were delicious! I've included a picture here of the barman slicing the jamon serrano, or cured ham that is so prevalent here. Also, R. was very happy to stumble across a small bar selling San Miguel beer on tap - and soon made friends with the barman!

On Wednesday, we spent the better part of the day touring the Alhambra complex. From the streets of Granada, the Alhambra, meaning "the red one" in Arabic, appears as a large, sprawling military fortress. And this was its primary purpose for much of its existence. However, the rough exterior conceals the grandeur within. The Alhambra consists of four main parts, the Generalife gardens, the Alcazaba, the palaces of Carlos V, and the Nasrid Palaces. 7000 visitors are allowed through the Nasrid Palaces each day, and on most days the tickets are sold out before the crowds even arrive!

We began our tour of the complex in the gardens of the Generalife, made our way down to the Alcazaba for some of the most beautiful views of Granada, and ended our visit with the Nasrid Palaces, which are truly spectacular with intricate carvings in marble, arches, and courtyards.

Where's Wally?

Waiting in line to enter the Nasrid Palaces...

The Alhambra with the Sierra Nevada in the background...