Thursday 15 November 2012

Granada

Alhambra from the River Darro

We have been looking forward to exploring inland Spain, so this week we hired a car to take a trip to Granada. Before we left, we headed round the coast to Mazarron to look at the Bolnuevo Erosions, a collection of wierdly shaped, towering sandstone rocks formed by weather erosion over millions of years. It reminded us of some of rock erosions we have seen in Cappadocia in Turkey.
 
Bolneuvo erosions
 
Our trip to Grenada took us through some spectacular and fascinating mountain scenery. One of the most unusual sights were the cave houses in the Sierra de Baza. It used to be common for people to live in the local caves as they were much cooler than the traditional houses, but we were surprised to see that people still live in them today. You would suddenly come across a traditional, white rendered frontage with door and windows set into the rocky hillside, with a chimney or two poking out of the rocks further up. Needless to say, the developers have spotted this as an opportunity and you can now rent or buy the cave houses as holiday homes.


Cave house near Baza


View of Granada from the Alhambra

We woke up to the sound of pouring rain on the first morning, so it was on with the waterproofs before heading off to Granada’s key attraction, the Alhambra. Set high on a hill above the town, the Alhambra housed the palaces of the Nasrid Sultans, rulers of the last Spanish Muslim kingdom.
 
Patio of the Lions
 
Partal Palace
 
Generalife
 
Intricate carved wood ceiling
 Luckily the rain cleared and the sun came out as we wandered around the beautiful gardens and admired the intricate workmanship that went into building each of the palaces.  The Moorish architecture is stunning and is complemented by their use of water, which cleverly reflects the sweeping arches and creates a calming atmosphere. We found the views from the Alahambra equally breathtaking, with the magnificent snow-capped peaks of Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance and the hillsides rich with autumn colour.
 
Snow capped Sierra Nevada mountains
 
Autumn colours below the Alhambra

 Walking back down from the Alhambra, just around the corner from our hotel, we heard the sounds of  a guitar being played. We followed the music and found two guitarerros -  guitar makers - right across the street from each other. Apparently Granada has over 40 guitarerros and many classical musicians buy their guitars here. One of the shops we had found, Casa Ferrer,  is the oldest in the city and has been making guitars since 1875.
 
Casa Ferrer
 
After the Alhambra, the second highlight of our trip had to be the food. We dined out on tapas - most bars offered free tapas with each drink, often bringing us a meal-sized plate of delicious squid, salt cod,  paella or pork and then we would choose another dish or two if we had room. We also discovered that the pasteleria over the road from the hotel made excellent coffee and  very tasty cakes – our favourite was the Granadian speciality of Pionino, a thin, sweet pastry coiled into a cylindrical shape and soaked in honey-based syrup then topped with toasted cream.
 
Pionino pastry

We walked off all the calories exploring the narrow streets of the Albecin, the original Moorish sector of Granada which sits on the hillside beside the river. The area is a mix of Moorish and Christian buildings, where souks sit next to churches and the tiny squares still feature the traditional mosaic paving made using the smooth white pebbles from the River Darro and slate from the Sierra Nevada.
Traditional mosaic paving

At sunset each day we made for the Church of San Nicolas at the top of the Albecin, where you have a panoramic view over the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Alhambra. On our second night, as the sun went down two guitarists began playing flamenco music.  When  darkness fell the walls of the Alhambra glowed under the floodlights and the place had a truly magical feel.



Sunset serenade
Alhambra at night

Thursday 1 November 2012

Port life

Yacht Port Cartagena

 
Well, we’ve been here in Cartagena for a month now. I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone! Here are a few of the highlights so far…
Surrounded by the Romans.  Wherever you walk in Cartagena there are remains of its Roman heritage. On our first day we took a wrong turn trying to find the supermarket and stumbled across a large, very impressive Roman Theatre. We went back later to visit the site and were amazed to discover that up until relatively recently the whole thing had been buried beneath houses and a church.  
 
The restored Roman Theatre

We soon realised that a huge amount of investment has gone into restoring the theatre and other key Roman sites in the town. Each site has audio visual presentations and exhibitions which help bring the projects to life. There is so much to see that we decided to explore a different site each day. 
Wall decoration at Casa Fortuna
We've visited five sites, our favourites being the Roman Baths and Casa Fortuna. At the baths you can still see the original flooring and some of the wall decorations – even some Roman graffiti on the wall of the ‘Taverna’ that served the baths. At Casa Fortuna we were taken underground to walk through the excavations of a large Roman villa with original floors, beautiful wall decorations and a well preserved Roman road, complete with the original cart tracks.    
  
Elida gospel choir
         
Sailing for Jesus. We were walking back from town last week when we heard live music coming from the waterfront. We expected to find a band in one of the cafes, but instead discovered a gospel choir, complete with supporting band, on board a 131ft yacht! The band were part of a Swedish Christian mission called Elida, whose motto is ‘Sailing for Jesus’; the ship sails between Sweden, the Med and the Canaries doing good works.  The crew were very friendly, and at the end of the concert the audience was invited on board. Cliff jumped at the chance to have a look round the huge cruiser-racer. Although the navigation equipment was sophisticated, the accommodation was very basic, reminding us of what we have seen on the larger racing boats. But the crew didn't seem to mind, as they get to sail in the Med for just 12 Euros a day! Elida is now in the yard here having her annual checks done before sailing to the Canaries.
 

Sailing training ship Pogoria



Polish spirit. Around the same time we had a visit from another big boat – a 157ft square rigger called Pogoria. This is a Polish sail training ship crewed by young people aged between 18 and 25. They certainly have a head for heights – their idea of fun in the evening was to climb the mast and hang off the top spars!
 
Anita makes it to the second spreader
Up the mast. I also had to climb to the top of the mast last week, though not for the fun of it. Cliff noticed that one end of our flag halyard had come loose and disappeared up to near the top of the mast. The only way to retrieve it was for one of us to go up, and since Cliff is too heavy for me to winch, I would have to do it. I don’t like heights and I don’t mind admitting that I was terrified. Still, I eventually managed to scramble up to the top spreader, but when I grabbed hold of the line to pull it down, it wouldn’t budge.
Anita untangling the line at the top of the mast
It wasn’t until I got back down to the deck again that Cliff suggested the line might have become tangled at the top. Once I had stopped shaking I decided it would make sense for me to go back up try and untangle it. So up I went, this time right to the top (50ft), hugging the mast for dear life as the boat gently swayed back and forth in the wind. Once I got there I realised I would need two hands free to untangle the long series of knots in the line. It took a few deep breaths before I was able to let go, but I did, and after a few minutes the lines were unknotted and I was on my way back down. Cliff reckoned I earned my G&T that day! 
Yana, Cliff, Jim and the magician
Cartagena Ocktoberfest. The last thing we expected in Spain was a beer festival, but since it was on the waterfront just down from the marina, how could we not go? A group of us from the Marina – Yana from Scrabbler,  Jim from La Pearle Noir and Sally and John from Vaitea – headed over. Well, it turned out that beer festival was a bit of an exaggeration. There were 4 beers to choose from and  German sausage to eat! There was also a magician wandering around the tables, a rather strange choice of entertainment for a beer festival, but very entertaining nevertheless.