Settling into to Granada, Spain

Settling into to Granada, Spain

by | Nov 21, 2011 | Deep In It

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 …

Semana Santa in Granada 2010

Semana Santa in Granada 2010

by | Apr 17, 2011 | All-Time Favorites, Deep In It

As we enter the Holy Week 2011, we take a look back at Semana Santa in Granada, Spain, 2010. We are told there will be celebrations here in Buenos Aires and a larger one in Luján, which is a two-hour bus ride from here. But in Spain, cities like Seville and Granada have few rivals for the Holy Week celebration. Happy Semana Santa 2011!

We wrote an account to families and friends last year...

Granada sits at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Southern Spain. Semana Santa began during our second week of a month-long stay in Granada, Spain.

There is just no way to capture the scene around this festival. Nightly we have seen people in the tens of thousands crowding the street in a sea of humanity as religious processions pass. Most of the stores have been shut since Wednesday. The festival continues well into the morning hours. While the temperatures have been cool at night, crowds stay huge well past midnight.

Background

Holy Week (Latin: Hebdomas Sancta or Hebdomas Maior, "Greater Week" in Christianity) is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter.

The week begins with Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday), we all know that one. Not so familiar, Holy Monday (or Fig Monday), Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday (sometimes called Spy Wednesday). This quickly gets complicated for many of us. Toward the end of the week things heat up, there is Maundy (Holy) Thursday and of course Good Friday. On Holy Saturday the celebration of Easter begins after sundown. Easter Vigil is the longest and most solemn of the Catholic Church's Masses, lasting up to three or four hours.

Setting:

Our base for this Holy Week celebration is an apartment we rented next to Plaza Nueva in the Albayzin neighborhood at the base of the Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace in Granada.

To further define our choice location, the Albayzín (also written as Albaicín) area of Granada is the Moorish quarter of the city that retains the narrow, winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past. It was declared a world heritage site in 1984, along with the more famous Alhambra.

With such fundamental human history being re-enacted this week, the omnipresence of the Alhambra with its own religious heritage provides a somewhat trenchant perspective on the entire celebration.

The Alhambra, literally "the red one," is a palace and fortress complex completed early in the 14th century by the then Moorish rulers. The history of the time period is a rich testament to Moorish culture in Spain and the skills of the craftsmen and builders of this era. Moorish poets described it as "a pearl set in emeralds" in allusion to the color of its buildings and the woods around them. Read more if you get a chance. I believe it is the number one tourist attraction in Spain.

After the Christians conquered Granada in 1492 (another interesting story), the cathedral of Granada was begun in the early 16th century atop the site of the city's main mosque (not nice) and completed over a hundred years later. There is just no way to capture the scope and grandeur of cathedrals of this period. Here you get a glimpse.

So now you have the setting for Semana Santa in Granada, Spain, where Muslim and Christian cultures have intertwined for centuries. Let the 2010 Semana Santa begin...

Granada has 32 brotherhoods belonging to the city's many churches and therefore, 32 breathtaking processions. The figures representing the scenes on the pasos are life-sized. In essence, the processions represent the Easter Passion, the story between the Last Supper and the Resurrection.

The entire scene is alive with color and sound. Emotions are stirred by the slow rhythmic beating of the drums and mournful sound of trumpets. The only way to get a sense of the drama is to watch some of this YouTube video.

http://youtu.be/yn1AbWnqv4I

The pasos are carried on the shoulders of men called costaleros, 20-40 per paso. What makes this amazing is that they are under the float and out of sight when the paso is in motion. And you have to remember that the streets, especially in the Albayzín neighborhood are barely wide enough for a single small car to traverse. This is athletic artistry at work and is wildly appreciated.

Since they cannot see where they are going, they follow the instructions of the capataz who walks in front of the paso, beating the ground with a stick to communicate. The basic maneuvers are simple, achieved with a shuffling movement of the feet. The difficulties come when the float must, for example, turn a particularly tight corner in a narrow street. This tedious maneuver is often applauded by spectators. Another crowd-pleaser is the swaying of the paso.

A typical float, which can weigh up to 6 tons is carried by up to 40 men. Footnote: According to this article, in 2011 women are now included.

Remember, this goes on for several nights and into the early morning hours. The crowds are enormous. Even to a non-believer, this historic event repeated year after year for centuries has no real parallel.

I hope this gives you a sense of Semana Santa. If you go either to Seville or Granada for Semana Santa, plan well ahead.

P.S.

Here are a couple of YouTube videos of our neighborhood in Granada:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2rAW1hXvYI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyV3W0GRs_A

And of the Alhambra:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDaodQLm8C8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MLKaVkEZxA