Up to the Atlantic Coast

Well, it's been a while since I updated this. I was full of good intentions and planned to sort it all out at Rubee's, including uploading the pictures, but somehow the time flew and nothing got done. Hmmmm....

Anyway, the last time I wrote this we were being rained on rather profusely in Granada - in fact it was tipping down so much that Cathryn decreed that the new elocution practice should be 'the rain in Spain falls mainly on bloody Granada'. It didn't just sprinkle I might add - each time the heavens opened it was probably Adelaide's annual rainful. However, it did eventually stop and we were able to venture into the old Arabic Quarter of the city following the LP's suggested walk. This meant that we enjoyed the view from the square facing the Alhambra (which sent Cathryn off into a new frenzy) as well as pottering down the little street filled with tiny Arabic tea shops. Of course this entailed trying Morrocan mint tea for Rachel while I sipped away on a very sweet but nice vanilla tea. Yummo!!! By this stage we were ready for a siesta so it was a good excuse to crash out for a while waiting for Rubee and her friend Arianna to arrive from their exciting five hour bus journey from Madrid. Lucky things!!!!

Before we knew it, it was time to grab some dinner and head up for our night tour of the Nasrid Palaces in the Alhambra. I have to say that there aren't many places where it makes perfect sense to begin a tour at 11pm at night, but in Spain, why not? The plaster stucco work in the palaces was amazing but I have to say that I think it was just as good at the Alcazar in Seville. The other problem was a general lack of lighting so photos were tricky to take, not to mention the fact that the bit I really wanted to see with the Patio of the Lions was under restoration so we missed it. Drats!!! Still, it was pretty impressive. A short trek back down the hill gave us time to meet up with Rubee and Arianna, who at midnight, had just finished dinner. Only in Spain!!! A few drinks and a lot of talking and we finally made it back to the hostal for the night.

The next day after a belated breakfast we set off to see the Royal Chapel which houses the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella, the king and queen of Spain responsible for the defeat of the Moorish leader and subsequent conquest of the Alhambra. They also happened to be the parents of Catherine of Aragon so it's interesting from a historical perspective. Unfortunately we missed the opening times and contented ourselves with fighting off the rosemary-sprig-offering gypsy women instead. There's always the internet I guess if I want to see what the chapel looked like anyway. We all headed back to the tea street instead for a refreshment break before our garden visit to the Alhambra. Believe it or not, just as we got to the gate the heavens opened once again but thankfully it was only a relatively short downpour. The gardens were amazingly beautiful but they were on such a big scale that after a while you ceased to really appreciate them, although Cathryn again was in heaven. Another late dinner followed as we adjusted well and truly to Spanish time, and then it was time to pack for our early morning departure to Madrid.

Surprise surprise, as we set out for the station in the morning it was raining yet again. Lovely! However, I must say that the First Class train trip was unexpectedly good as we were served a three course lunch with a bar service. What style!!! We even had little bottles of balsamic vinegar and olive oil for our salads, along with tiny salt and pepper shakers - and the food was good!!! On our arrival in Madrid (at Atocha Station where the bombs went off) we were met by Rachel's friend Jose who took us to Rubee's so we could dump our bags and then gave us a walking tour of Madrid's main sights, including the main parks. The architecture is beautiful in the city, with its wrought iron balconies and domed roofs. Rachel even commented on how European it all looked! Jose's tour finally ended after tapas for dinner at about midnight, by which stage poor Rubee had nearly frozen to death waiting for us (as we had her house keys she couldn't actually get in to her own place).

Our first full day in Madrid was pretty much a catch up on sleep day, although Rubee didn't have that luxury with her usual 6am start. We staggered out at about 2pm and braved the well organised Metro to sort out the next train booking and hit the shops, although we didn't actually buy anything. The Spaniards have definitely got the tourist info sorted too - we had no trouble getting about due to all of the signs in English as long as no-one tried to speak to us in Spanish. On our return to Rubee's the plan was for an early night but alas that was before we all started talking!

The next things on our plan were the Prado and the something-Thyssen Collection. Both were amazing collections of art, especially the second one. In the LP it describes it 'quite simply as a ridiculously rich collection' and I'd have to agree. Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Sisley, Renoir, Rafaello....they were all there, plus many, many more. We met up with Jose again for a paella dinner and met his two brothers, since he had met all of Rachel's family in Canberra and wanted to reciprocate. One of his brothers has an apartment with an amazing view of the city so we went there for a late drink, and Jose's impromptu version of Spain's entrance in the Eurovision Song Contest, the 'chicky chicky' song. Be afraid, very afraid I say! Finally, on our last night in Madrid we recreated Erkan's Air Conditioner cocktail, although due to the unavailability of pomegranate juice on its own (strange in Spain where it's important enough that Granada is named after it, and the fruit is its symbol) we made it instead with a rather weird mix of orange, pomegranate, raspberry and blueberry juice. It was yummo!!! But of course we've had to rename it the Air Reconditioner now.
Which brings me to Donostia. This place has been on my list of destinations since Susanne raved about it, and I can see why already. It's nice here! We didn't quite get the same stylish train trip with the lunch service but the town is making up for it with their version of tapas, called pintxos. We had to try them out of course, along with the local wine. It's all good so far....I'll have to give a full update once we have seen a bit more of the town.