Of Tapas and the Alhambra!

It has been a very busy couple of days of touring tapas and a bit of drinking! In spite of the strike we had a very enjoyable time in Granada, made more so by a chance meeting with Joss and Lynne from Philadelphia who introduced us to the ‘art’ of tapas cruising. More importantly, they were great company and we were sad to part ways. Very extensively travelled and accomplished it was a pleasure to pass the time with them, and I have to say that the calamari was just brilliant…somewhere during that tapas crawl! Fast, close friendships are not uncommon on the road and are one of the more special travel experiences.

So what have we been up to since the last entry? I guess the hi-light would be the Alhambra. Clearly the historical and visual pleasure of the trip. The symmetry of the gardens and buildings is stunning and during its prime during the 150 year construction it must have been breath taking. Its little wonder why the Christians wanted to hold the property so badly. They were unable to construct anything to match at the time, with their own buildings dark, damp and grey. The Moors used the ancient geometric principals developed by the Greeks to create the symmetry. Rectangles, triangles and left sweeping transect lines made the floors perfectly aligned and to the eye the results are stunning. We took time during our 4 hour wanderings to just sit and listen to the sounds around us. There are many birds in the area, but once the tour groups pass, the magical sound of running water was present at just about every location. Not being an expert in many things Islamic, my understandings may be flawed, however, I believe that pure water is very important for various rites and ceremonies within the faith. All over the Alhambra grounds, gardens and in the buildings there are small low rising fountains and tranquil rectangular reflecting pools. The water comes from the stream that flows through Granada far below, but the engineers of the time managed to locate the stream where it originates in the Serra Nevada Mountains approx 6 kms upstream and they constructed a reservoir with a gravity release system capable of filling an Olympic size pool in just seconds. They cut a tunnel through the mountains to carry the water to the Alhambra and a 30 meter aqueduct bridges to the palace complex. When one appreciates the shear size of the Alhambra grounds it is an impressive achievement by any measure! They release 100’s of 1,000’s of liters of water daily from the reservoir and the water is funneled throughout the grounds by a very complex system, designed to accelerate and slow the flow of the water, thereby removing the suspended grit with gravity deposition. Pretty cool!! I thought of my Mother and her passion for flowers as I wandered the gardens…I suspect that the gardens of Babylon were no better. In summary, a very tranquil and present moment during a long day in Granada.

We are now down on the south coast on the Med at Nerja where we have spent a pleasant day wandering, swimming and getting prepared for a number of days wandering the ‘white villages’ before returning to the coast somewhere along the Atlantic Coast. No specific plans at this point. During the drive here we visited a series of small Moorish based villages on the south slopes of the high Sierra’s and travelled some incredibly narrow and winding roads as we descended from the mountains to the coast. I’ve driven many similar roads, but I have to say that for shear terror these roads have to rank fairly high up the curve…but they were sure fun to drive!

More on white villages on my next entry.