Granada, the pomegranate of my eye

Not quite right, I know. But Granada in Spanish can mean either grenade, or pomegranate, which the city has chosen as its symbol. There are pomegranates etched everywhere... from the benches inside the cathedral, to stone lined paths inside the Alhambra. It is really strange to see how no matter what landmark or site you go to, you still find the same traditions. Not only did we visit the Alhambra (which is ABSOLUTELY better in real life than in pictures), and the Cathedral, but we also got to see a flamenco show which was performed in a cave in the mountains. Not what you're picturing right now: a hole in the side of the mountain with a campfire and rocks as chairs. It was an actual house built up on the mountainside and it had two caves that they had sculpted and painted which were the site for their flamenco "spectacle" as our itinerary put it. It was absolutely amazing. The footwork aside, the strength that the dancers had to have was crazy. The passion that they put out during their dances would inspire any NFL player to win the Superbowl. And the dances told stories. Although I didn't quite catch the plot of the second, the first told the tale of a girl and her boyfriend who wanted to get married and dance. Her mother however, didn't approve of the more modern approach they were taking to the art form. Eventually the young couple got married, but not after a tense argument with mom and then a make up scene haha. It was beautiful and the costumes were so traditional looking. Definitely one of my favorite places while we were there.

Another strange thing is the weather there: Granada lies only kilometers away from the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the highest point in Spain. The mountains are snow covered and I am not just talking about the tips. The whole mountain was covered in fluffy white snow. My madre learned to ski there when she was younger lol. But the strange part is that while situated so close to all this snow, the temperature when we arrived in Granada was close to 30 degree Celsius, or approximately 86 degrees Fahrenheit! It was sweltering, and all the while we could have gone snowboarding with less than an hour's journey away. For someone from Ohio, thats big news!

We saw the Cathedral of the Incarnation, which is dedicated to the Mother Mary. It was started in 1518, and not finished until sometime after 1590. It was originally planned to be the burial place for the Spanish king Charles I, but his son Phillip II moved it to El Escorial, in Madrid, and now all Spanish monarchs are entombed there. The Cathedral was breathtaking, and next door we were surprised to visit the burial place of Ferdinand and Isabel, the famous Catholic Kings. Their crypt is heavily decorated and beautiful, and the symbolism is magnificent. An interesting note that we learned was that of the two stone effigies that lie above the monarchs' tomb, Isabel's head rests lower than Ferdinand's. Legend has it that this is because the Queen was actually smarter than the King's,  her head rests heavier than his. While of course this cannot be proven today, we do know that Isabel and Ferdinand were equals in their reign, and that Isabel had just as much power as Ferdinand since their were the uniters of their two kingdoms, Aragon and Castilla. There are actually 5 coffins inside the crypt: Ferdinand and Isabel in the middle, their daughter Juana the Mad, their son in law Phillip the Handsome (Juana's hubby), and finally, Infant Miguel, the 2 year old son of the monarch's oldest daughter.  It was fascinating and although I was intrigued and learned a lot with that trip, it was good to get outside to my 80 degree weather and sun again: it was so cold inside the Cathedral and Crypt, I felt that I was quickly turning into a corpse myself!