World Wanderings

Oops, I thought to myself the moment after pouring what looked like pancake batter into the pan. It was a crepe mix. Oh well. I ended up with the worlds thickest crepe. Tasted the same, there was just a lot more there than normal.

I'm on a train heading towards Seville after two nights in Granada. Just enough time to do the city a bit of justice, but I could have easily spent a week in it. It was yet another georgious city, filled with small cobblestone streets where the cars jsut fit though, and the chance of getting run over seems pretty high. Luckily the drivers know exactly how big thier cars are, passing within inches of walls and people.

It makes me wonder why so many people would put up with dragging a car through the maze of small streets. Sure there are plenty of motocycles and mopeds, and that seems like a much better way to go. Kind of makes me want to pick one up when I get back state side. I think the number of SUVs to the nunber of small cars in America is equivalent to the number of mopeds/motocycles in the cities I've seen. And for the most part they transport the same number of people, one. What a differmce that would make if America could give up this obsession with large cars. If you can't tell I'm a fan of small cars.

Anyways, the small cobblestone streets are lined with a mix of Spanish and morrish architecture, all in various states from new to fallig apart. I find the areas with old, decaying houses the most beautiful sometes. There is something inherintly lovely about old buildings that have grown into thier surroundings, or have been slowly reconqured by it's surroundings. Ruins are great. But like I said in an earlier post, since there is so much more history here, buildings have been around longer than in the states and just kind fit I thier surroundings much more natural. Grass grows on old stone walls, trees and plants have grown up right against house walls, and there are more natural colors in the buildings.

Granada had a section of the city that was all caves built into the hillside. It was there were the freespirited lived, not a bad place at all considering the earth kept thier homes at a constant tempurature, despite how hot or cold is got outside. And it got hot. There were a few more established homes and restaurants/bars further down the hill. One of which I stopped by yesterday before heading to the morrish palace of Alhambra.

Alhambra was amazing. For those reading who don't know what morrish architecture is let me quickly explain (it's been a while since I took a class on it, so I there may be a few details askew). .

Since the Muslim religious forbids the use of figures in it's artwork, they used patterns, lettering and plants in thier artwork. The effect of covering a wall with these tightly packed carved patterns, is a sense of lightness, associated with fabrics/carpets. So you end up with amazingly detailed patterns, which fill walls, cielings, doorways, etc. This palace was filled with this. Detail on a miniscule scale, and amazing patterns that would fill whole walls. The arches for doorways would have the appearance of frilly lace.

Overall I spent nearly 6 hours wondering around the palace and the surrounding gardins/other smaller buildings. This was ofciurae in the middle of the day where the sun is at it's brightest and hottest. I think I drank nearly a gallon and a half of water, and was ready to quit and go back to the hostel when, luckily, cloudy weather brought a nearby thunderstorm and cooler weather. And the sight of watching a storm move over the nearby mountains and across the city/nearby valley, with patches of soft sunlight alighting various slopes, just made my day all that much better.

Granada was great, and I could have easily spent a few more days there wondering the mazelike old city and spending the nights drinking beer with free tapas surrounded by the travelers that met at the hostel.

It dawned on me the other day as I was in a group of people consisting of Austrailians, French, Candian, American, Dutch, and so on, that I don't of anywhere else where I would be able to meet, hangout with, and get to know so many people from so many different places than here in Europe.

Granada was great, the hostel was lots of fun, but now I'm off to Seville, where more adventures are in store.


It's that time again for things I've noticed:

Dogs and cats where everywhere in Granada. There was not a leash/lead in sight, and the cats where mostly ferrel. Living in and around the palace.

Even though it may be hot and humid, people somehow are still wearing jeans. It at least boggles my mind.

No matter how much sun I get. I don't get tan (maybe a few more freckles). And no mater how much sunblock I use, I'm always just on the edge of a sunburn.

There are a lot of Americans that travel, but it's in a disproportionate amount to the total amount of people that live our county. And the excuse that we are further away, I would say that I feel eveyone in Austrailia travels to Europe. But of course in the end it's easier for people in Europe to travel within.

At least everyone that I've met and talked to at hostels speaks english, from seviceable to fluent, except for one girl I met in France. She spoke Spanish though, so I attempted what was to be a failed conversation with someone from France in Spanish. Oh well.

American media is everywhere. In terms of music and movies. I think I hear more songs come over the radio that I recognize (or are in English) than I don't. I feel that, at least in central New York, that we don't have any stations that play international music.