One of the things I will remember most about Granada is its hills! There were sights we expected: like the Alhambra and others we had never even heard of, like the church dedicated to San Juan de Dios; the tiny home of Manuel de Falla, which was not where we expected it to be but was a delight and all in addition to the people, the street art and the shopkeepers. In a short visit we could have expected to see no more, even with the occasional lengthy downpour.
While exploring the Albeicin, we had stopped for lunch at the Marrakesh cafe – now, forever, the ‘no rice’ cafe! (The waiter asked one of the group whether she would like rice or salad with her meal. She said ‘rice’. He said ‘No rice’!!!)- and while there spoke with a Belgian couple sitting at the next table. They were disappointed not to have been able to get tickets to visit the Alhambra but seemed content to have found a church which had impressed them greatly . When they showed us the photos on their phones, we could see why! We wondered if we could squeeze in a visit…. so, on Sunday morning, before visiting the Royal Chapel with the tombs of Isabella and Ferdinand (‘the Catholic Monarchs’), we took the short walk to find it.
Such opulence!! There was gold wherever we looked and every inch of wall and ceiling was either painted or covered in ornate wood carving. This is the basilica dedicated to San Juan de Dios -St. John of God – of whom none of us had heard! Above the altar, the relics of the saint are held in a silver casket and at the very top is a small statue of the man himself carrying a cross.
In the image to the left here, the little white circle shows where the image of San Juan de Dios holding the cross is and gives some idea of its size while the image to the right shows one of our group walking around the casket, maybe helping even more to understand the scale of this basilica.
From here we made our way to meet the others at the Chapel Royal: what a difference! It was a much simpler (some might say, more elegant) building which is now as much a museum as a tomb. Somewhat reminiscent of the chapel at St. George’s in WIndsor where Queen Elizabeth II is buried with her husband, Prince Philip, her parents and her sister, the notable difference is that there you see the stone memorials but have no sight of the leaden coffins held in the vaults. Here they are on full display and visitors are expected to walk down a short flight of steps to view them before moving on to look at other items of interest.
Having admired the ancient documents and fabrics we began thinking about coffee and were wandering with intent for a few moments. That’s when I spotted the photographer, one of those who seem to have sprung up all over the place, certainly in Spain. I had come across a couple in Barcelona.
This one had positioned herself well in the Cathedral Square at one of the junctions where visitors would walk past to find souvenirs or coffee. She was working hard at getting business and seemed to be enjoying herself. She was aware that I had taken some photographs of her at work and had no problem with that it seemed.
But this was a lady with a sense of humour: she had taken advantage of our position and the first we knew of it was when she came bounding over to the four of us, handed me the Granada Express with the headline ‘The stars were seen in Granada today’ and the not particularly flattering photo she had taken of us!! At least it made us laugh while we drank coffee and ate churros to dodge the rain!!
By chance we found what claimed to be the oldest churros cafe in Granada, right in the square between our various accommodation. That made for a pleasant hour as the rains started and, once again, we enjoyed the warmth of the staff’s attitude and their smiles. Sadly, I’ve had better churros!!!
Time to take a siesta.
The Alhambra and the home of Manuel de Falla will have to wait!
Living the Journey 