Dr. Eric Conway of the Morgan State University Choir writes:
After
a very successful concert in the Teatro de Rojas in Toledo, we departed
for Granada, Spain. The name of the city was nostalgic for me, because
my family had a Ford Granada back in the seventies which served us
well. We had a four hour drive to Granada ahead of us.
In
Spain, the coach bus travel is very well regulated by the government.
Buses may not travel more than two hours without a break. Imagine
this: All buses in Spain have seat-belts. We in the US are still trying
to get seat-belts on school buses.
The
ride to Granada was very exciting from a literary standpoint. We drove
through the land of Don Quixote - which was created by Cervantes. We
actually saw los molinos (windmills) referred to in the well-known
story. Many may remember the Broadway show, The Man of La Mancha, created from this story. We drove through the land of La Mancha!
The
ride to Granada also featured thousands of olive trees along the
countryside. Spain is the largest producer of olive trees in the world!
Much of the world’s olive oil is produced in Spain. Much of the food
of Spain is diced in olive oil. They believe that everything is better
and healthier with olive oil. We have certainly had our fill of
olive oil on this trip!
Upon
arrival to Granada, we immediately checked into the hotel - Los
Angeles. - We believed that perhaps that name of the hotel was to
attract Americans, however, our Los Angeles really is a Spanish word
that means the angels which is to give the Spaniards a feeling of
comfort, especially the Christians.
The
main reason for traveling to Granada, the second most important city in
Andalusia, was to see the most important Islamic structure of the
Alhambra and General-life, the number one most visited site in all of
Spain. After arriving to hotel, about seven of us took a strenuous
walking tour of the city where we saw Granada’s cathedral, Royal Chapel,
and impressive view of Granada called the Albazina.
We
then went to Alhambra. This complex of buildings was first built in
the ninth century as a citadel called Alzacabal. Adjacent to the
Citadel is a part of the Alhambra called General-life where the Nasrid
kings had their residences and all the staff. Imagine everyone
associated with palace living at the palace as well. This was a great
position to have during this time (akin to being a federal worker). The
tour of the Alhambra took over two hours, with several groups of
walking tours staggered every ten minutes. If you were late to your
assigned tour, you lost your position and funds for the tour.
After
the tour, the choir had a late meal scheduled to begin as late as 9:30
PM. On the way to the restaurant, due to much activity in the city:
Commencement from the local university, scores of weddings scheduled,
and a special procession of the Virgin for the anguish, we had to depart
from our bus due to street closures due to the procession and walk four
blocks to the restaurant of our group meal. After a great meal, we
then walked to our hotel, another four blocks due to additional road
closures.
After another full day, everyone crashed from a full day of touring!
EC
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