Down South

The first time I traveled outside the US or Canada was almost exactly four years ago, and the first place that really felt like a different planet was southern Spain. So arriving in Andalucia today and having it feel familiar was nice; the bus ride from Málaga to Granada looked pretty much like what I remember. Brown and green, curvy and hilly, bull signs on the side of the road, trees that I´m choosing to believe grow olives. No fields of sunflowers, though; I guess maybe itś too early for them. The trip four years ago was eye opening and life changing and it was good to come back to the place where it happened.

The trip this morning was a little painful because of a 6am flight but otherwise went off without a hitch. When I arrived in Granada there were protesters in face masks blocking one of the main streets: They were protesting against a nauseating smell in Santa Fe, wherever that is. I like this place.

Granada was the last capital of Muslim-ruled Spain, and the big attraction here is the ruling palace from that time, the Alhambra. More on that tomorrow after I actually go to it. today I walked around the old Islamic quarter and went to the Cathedral and saw themausoleumm of Ferdinand and Isabel. It is so different from Barcelona. The Islamic architecture makes it look completely different. People are friendlier: I´ve already had several conversations with strangers here and that hardly ever happens in Barcelona. You get a free tapa when you buy a drink; I had wine and cheese today for 1.60 euros. And they speak Spanish. The accents are a little different (they drop s´s at the end of words) but that I can deal with. I respect the Catalan issue, but it complicates things. The bars seem to have sangria on draft, at least that´s what I assume tinto de verano (red wine of summer) means. All the tourists seem to be British.

It rained a little today. It´s not supposed to rain in Andalucia, ever. But then the sun came back out and made a big rainbow, so I guess it´s okay.