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Published: January 3rd 2009
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Oh, Christmas holidays. I was very much looking forward to having my mother and aunt come to visit Kris and I, both because I miss my far-away family and because I was looking forward to showing them around Spain. My mission was to show them a good time and not stretch any of our budgets too far. I thought I had done a good job. And then I got the e-mail from my uncle:
"You're mother's flight has been delayed. They will now be getting to minneapolis tonight and leave sunday afternoon. They want you to try to reschedule the connecting flight for some time later the next day.They have tried phoning you but can't get you for some reason."
It was a stressful hour of checking flights, phoning airlines and, trying to add credit to Skype to make phone calls, before we figured it all out. Finally I decided to fly them into Barcelona and meet them there to take them directly to a hotel to sleep off over 48 hours of stressful transit from Regina to Spain. The three of us had a nice day checking out the Sagrata Famalia Catedral, Las Ramblas, and the beach before
heading to Valencia to begin the planned portion of our trip.
While Auntie Kathy spent a few days exploring (and getting a tiny bit lost in) Valencia's sweet shops and maze of streets, my mom accompanied me to school. My students wanted to know if she was someone's grandma and my colleagues wanted to know if she was my sister. She took both as compliments and got to know everyone as she helped me to finish off the craziest week of preschool. And then we were off to Granada with a mission to find out more about the regions' Islamic past and see if tapas really came free with every single drink in the city.
We were met at a discoteca near our rental apartment by Esperenza, a formidable Spanish abuela who flirted with Kris, hugged me, and led us to our "cave" where we would stay until Christmas day. Her thick Andulucian accent was hard to understand, so it is possible that we misunderstood here when she told us that she had scrubbed the floors herself, since they certainly did not look too clean. After cleaning it up a bit ourselves and buying a few things for
the fridge, we felt at home. From our base we toured the beautiful Alambra and Generalife - toted as Spain's grandest example of Moorish architecture, situated atop a hill overlooking the Albacin barrio (Muslim neighborhood) where we were staying. The grounds include a grand sultan's palace, a castle, and beautiful gardens which traded hands several times during Spain's history. We also convinced my mother and aunt to try smoking fruit tabacco from a hookah in one of Granada's many Moroccan tea shops. The following day we had our first experience in a Hammam bath- that is, a traditional Arabic bathhouse, complete with three different temperature rooms and pools, a massage, and sweet mint tea. It was a good, relaxing combatant to the smog that hangs over Granada, somewhat ruining what would be beautiful views from the many hilltop plazas. After days shopping for souvenirs, eating tapas (which does, in fact, come with every drink)watching a flamenco show, and walking up and down Granada's hilly, cobbled streets we decided to head for the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains for a day of skiing and snowboarding. Mom and Auntie came along to take in the air and play cards in the coffee shops.
Kris was easy to find in a head to toe red ski bunny getup, rented along with his equipment since we had not factored a daytrip to the moutains into our original plans and had not packed any gear. On the bus ride back to Granada Kris and I sung Christmas carol duets and the bus driver whistled along. It may have driven some of the other passangers crazy but my mom said we sounded nice.
Kris, although good natured and patient, began to tire of shopping with us and began creating small missions for himself. With not-so-fond memories of wandering hungry around Seville the previos Christmas Eve with nary an open restaurant in site, he took it upon himself to stock our cave with the fixings of a good traditional meal, complete with a roast chicken (since turkeys are somewhat scarce in Spanish markets). Pollo asado is not easy to find, but he found it and we went to sleep that Christmas Eve, far from home but full of food and happy to have enjoyed our time in Granada.
Christmas day was a travel day and we spent a good five hours in the back of a
bus. It was actually a lot more enjoyable than it may sound. We had good books, music, card games and company and the views were incredible. The Andalucian countryside is full of montes (bigger than hills, but smaller than moutains - why don't we have a word for these in english?), olive groves, and sustainable energy in the form of windmills and giant solar panels. The landscape changed every time I looked up from my book and we were in Madrid by evening.
Our next apartment was quite a step up from our cave. It may not have had as much character, but it had comfortable beds and a spotless bathroom with a tub to soak in. Our Christmas feast was a table full of Lebanese fast food including the cursory impossible to eat loaded doner kebabs. Our Madrid mission, unfortunately for Kris, was a shopping mission. My aunt wanted to find the perfect Spanish futbol (soccer) jersies for her boys, and her and my mother both wanted to buy boots better than any that they could find in Canada. Amist all this shopping we still found time to take in Parc de Buen Retiro, Jardins de Sabatini (two
of Madrid's most beautiful parks), and get a taste for the city. When the time very quickly came for my mother and aunt to get to the airport to fly to London and then to Canada, it was a bit of a shock. We had filled our days up so easily, and once their travel woes on the way here were over, the only other problem that arose was the constant battle to decide who would get to pay the bills. We sent them off on the metro - two brave women learning how to travel in a foreign country - both keeping their spirits way up and enjoying everything that came their way. It will be good to see them again this summer and remember how many strange foods we got Auntie to eat (and how many sweets we both shared), to look at photos, and to remember a great trip together. We have agreed to have a dinner date with just the four of us just for this purpose and I look forward to it.
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Collette
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aw, so sweet. good post Dennie! xoxo