Granada is Spanish for 'pomegranate'. Fiesta means 'party', and Cortina means 'curtain'. Ford car showrooms in 1980s Britain must have been a bit weird for Spanish tourists.
I passed through Granada during my previous Spain trip. But I was travelling in a rented car at that point, and Granada is a legendarily difficult place in which to find parking, so I didn't stop. Of course, I had no objections about this. People who think they have a divine right to drive everywhere, and park everywhere, are morons.
Anyway, I'm here now, courtesy of a bus from Malaga. Obviously the Alhambra was my main interest, as per the previous blog. Sadly Granada's cathedral (including the royal crypt, in which Ferdinand and Isabella are both buried) is closed to tourists because of Covid. But the city as a whole is still a fantastic place to visit. From the surrounding hills you get a spectacular hat-trick of views: the Alhambra, the city itself, and the Sierra Nevada mountains to the south-east. Incidentally there is another set of Sierra Nevada mountains in California, in which lies Yosemite National Park, and which passed on the Sierra Nevada name to the greatest of all pale ales. But I digress.
(Actually Sierra is another Ford from the 80s isn't it? It means 'saw', as in what you cut down trees with. But it has a secondary meaning of 'mountain range', due to the fact that mountain ranges look like saw-teeth from a distance.)
One little morsel of culture here was a visit to the childhood home of Federico García Lorca, Spain's most prominent 20th-century poet. He was murdered by the Fascists during the Civil War, and his body was never found. The family had been fairly wealthy, hence his childhood home was big enough to be preserved as a comfortably spacious museum, with the surrounding gardens converted into a public park.
Admittedly I've yet to read a single line of Lorca, but that's because I want to spend a few more years studying the Spanish language in order to be able properly to appreciate its poetry. For the time being, although I remain a colossal literary snob where the English language is concerned, my Spanish reading practice comprises whatever trash I can pick up cheaply second-hand. I've just finished reading 'The Valley Of The Dolls' in translation.
I love Granada, and I think it's my second-favourite place of this trip so far after Madrid, although undoubtedly I would hate it if I was here during a hot and tourist-filled summer. It helps that I've got a nice apartment on a quiet side street in the old town, with views of the Alhambra. Indeed I can see the palace, eerily lit up against wintry Andalusian skies, from my pillow when I'm lying in bed. One of those memories that you immediately know you're never, ever going to forget.
In closing, I wish you all a very happy Christmas, even if it's to be celebrated mostly through the medium of Zoom, as mine will be in its entirety. This is going to be a very strange festive season for me, but you can rest assured that I'm getting enough culture and sunshine to keep me smiling through it all. I'm going to be in Spain for quite a while yet.
 |
| Granada, seen from the Alhambra |
 |
| Panorama photo out in the hills. Sierra Nevada mountains in the far distance |
 |
| Lorca museum |
 |
| Another view of Granada from the Alhambra. Cathedral near the top, in the centre |
 |
| Looking southwest from my living room window |
 |
| Looking southeast at the Alhambra from my bedroom window. That blue tarp is a bit of a view spoiler, but it helped when trying (pointlessly) to spot my apartment from the tower. |
 |
| Six different kinds of San Miguel! Does that count as diversity? |
 |
| Edd vs Food #96 Home-assembled burger. Two beef patties, in a wholemeal bun, because I will have nothing to do with brioche. Avocado, tomato, bacon bits, and a dash of spreadable black pudding (it's a thing). Ketchup below, mayo above. Blue cheese throughout. |
