3/25/2010
“How lazily the sun goes down in Granada, it hides beneath the water, it conceals in the Alhambra!”
Ernest Hemingway, American novelist.
High above Granada in Sacromonte
There would be much to see and do in this historic and beautiful city in the coming weeks. But now I share one of my favorite quotes about Granada, “Give him charity, girl, as there is nothing worse in life than being blind in Granada.” — poet Francisco Alarcón.
Our first order of business in Granada was to secure a room at Hostal Zurista in Plaza Trinidad, then park the rental car and begin exploring. This beautiful city was to be our home for the next month.
The rest of the day was a combination of sightseeing and apartment hunting. The next week would kick off Semana Santa, one of the largest celebrations in Spain. Granada’s Semana Santa is a huge tourist draw and made our search for the perfect apartment more difficult given the influx of tourists from around the world to witness the amazing celebration to come.
That evening while walking the wondrous narrow streets we wandered into a real estate company, chatted with the owner, a man of 70 (setenta años) who lived in Granada his entire life. The conversation was difficult at best due to our lack of Spanish, but we were able to schedule a meeting for 10 a.m. the next morning to look at a couple of apartments.
Quite the gentleman, Esteban was dressed in a suit with a fedora when we met promptly at 10; he removed his fedora and greeted us with a cordial buenos días.
Stacy and Esteban were able to have a conversation as we walked about a mile under beautiful sunny skies along narrow cobblestone streets (calles). The weather was perfect with a temperature of about 21 degrees celsius (70 degrees) and people were out in throngs enjoying it. Our first full day in Granada.
Our language challenge became more noticeable here, in that the Spanish spoken is very fast with a heavy accent; it is muy deficil (very difficult) to understand. We constantly say, hable más despacio por favor (speak more slowly please) so we can try to understand.
We looked at two apartments, one was very nice, great location and modern, the drawback was that it had only one bedroom (dormitorio) and a futon in another room which was less than ideal. The second apartment was less modern and still had the same one bedroom problem. After walking a mile or so, and then a few blocks to the second apartment, we walked up about four flights of narrow stairs. Esteban was winded but not terribly so. Not many at 70 that I know, and some much younger, could have made that walk and climbed those stairs and have the same said. A lifetime of walking.
On the way back to Plaza Trinidad, we passed the local market which has 40-50 stalls selling meats, fruits and vegetables. Esteban seemed to know everyone. When we reached our hostal, Esteban gave us his card and then left without pressuring us.
We regrouped, ate some lunch and then set out to a second real estate company (imobiliária). We rented the first apartment they showed us in a great location, spacious, with two bedrooms. We were a bit hesitant to sign a contract for the apartment written in Spanish, but luckily the agent knew about Google Translate and was able to print it out in English. We managed this feat with all of our language skills stretched to the maximum, finalizing with great relief.
The beautiful Plaza Nueva was steps outside our apartment
We completed that work around 15:00 (3 p.m.) and returned to our hostal with two goals in mind: to visit the market to stock the apartment refrigerator and haul part of our luggage to make the next day’s move easier. Unfortunately, the market was just closing for siesta (had to learn that schedule) so we went to the apartment and dropped the luggage and put our feet up. We oriented ourselves, found the silverware, plates, ironing board, towels, etc. We had been given new sheets and bath towels as part of the rental.
Our new apartment
The week-long holiday of Semana Santa commences this Saturday leading up to Easter. It should be spectacular and we have ringside seats in Plaza Nueva!
The Alhambra against the majestic Sierra Nevada mountains
“The most beautiful sunset in the world is in Granada.”
Bill Clinton, American ex-president.
Mark Blondin, the next road …