The Events of Sunday, April 10, 2011

                At 7:15 it was dark inside the bungalow but light outside. We are on the outskirts of Granada, near some farms and abandoned buildings. So it is a good place to walk. As I wandered toward downtown, I noticed the snow-covered peaks of the Sierra Nevadas in the distance. This is a beautiful place; I can see why people would want to settle here.

                Today was a day of contrasts. Our first destination was Granada’s Royal Chapel. Commissioned by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel, this building was not large, but certainly lavish. The royal couple invested more than a quarter of their riches in its construction (and in the years 1506-1521, their treasury was flush with wealth). Intricate gold decorations on dark wood delighted our eyes. The king and queen’s personalities are evident throughout the building. Statues of them praying flank the front altar. Their initials F Y (for Fernando and Ysabel) mark each pew. The royal couple also chose to be buried here, with ornate tombstones in the nave and simple caskets in the lower level, under the nave. I wonder what life was like for this couple. Was their faith genuine? Their vast wealth and power must have strained their sense of dependence upon God. I am curious to learn more about this famous couple.

                As we returned to our parking, Lindsey and Abby raced back to the car. Unused to the cobblestone surface, Lindsey twisted her ankle. We paused to comfort her and assist her into the van, and then we drove to a very different site: the Alhambra. This the world’s greatest Moor palace, covering a huge area that includes two palaces, three gardens, and a city wall and fort made from reddish stone (Alhambra means “red fort”).

                We had a picnic lunch in the shade outside the entry gate. Today was warm, so we noticed how pleasantly cool we felt in the shade. These Moor rulers were wise to include so many shade trees and shade structures on the grounds. We explored for several hours and visited perhaps a quarter of the sites. Lindsey’s ankle bothered her more during this tour, but Benjamin stepped up to the plate and escorted her up and down stairs and ramps, along the narrow passageways, and across more uneven cobblestone surfaces. It was a pleasure to see them cooperating so well, like a gentleman escorting his lady, with her arm through his.

                My description of the Alhambra could go on for pages, but I will summarize by giving you our impressions. Byzantine decorations are intense. The intricately formed plasterwork and vast webs of colorful geometric tiles overwhelmed our Western sensibilities. Any visitor who had a camera used it almost constantly. (I personally went through both my rechargeable camera battery and my backup battery!) Outside we found wisteria in full bloom, hanging from walls and overhead trellises. Pam in particular seemed to relish the shade, the beautiful colors, and the rich aroma of these clumps of lavender flowers. The aromatic, shady gardens were intended to be an earthly preview of the Islamic notion of Paradise. Indeed, we found them heavenly.

                During our stay at the Alhambra, Abby had a misadventure with a happy ending. She took her camera to the restroom and hung it in the stall, then promptly forgot all about it. We were just finishing up some ice cream cones when Abby realized her camera was missing. She, Caitlin and Pam ran back to the WC stall she had used, but they found no camera. Next, they checked with the woman in charge of the bag check. They used English, broken Spanish, lots of gestures, and Caitlin’s camera as a prop, to communicate the situation. The woman understood that we were missing a camera called “Lumix”. She checked in the back and a few minutes later a security guard arrived who spoke better English. After hearing the story, he conferred with the bag check lady in the back room. Finally, he came out with a Lumix camera, but said he would have to verify that it was Abby’s by seeing the pictures. Abby gasped with relief and excitement when she saw her camera. She went through the slide show of recent pictures quickly until she found one of Pam and me under wisteria. A broad smile filled the security guard’s face as he recognized Pam’s face, which proved that the camera was hers. After submitting Pam’s passport to complete some paperwork, they returned to us with the good news.

                On the way home, we hoped to find a market to buy some dinner supplies. But we found that the markets are closed on Sunday evenings after 6:00. So, being the Flexible Taylors, we went back to our bungalow and gathered our raw materials: frozen peas, leek soup, a carrot, bread, butter, jam, Maria crackers and salted peanuts. For most teenagers, this situation would have yielded a torrent of whines and complaints. I am so proud of our four kids, who were excited about the opportunity to be innovative and use what we had to make some sort of meal. We put together all sorts of interesting combinations, and we finished off our food supply. Lucky Lindsey, our food packer: she won’t have much to pack up tomorrow morning!