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'Travelpodians' - Parts IV and V
Entry 226 of 355 | show all | print this entry |
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'I've got your poison running through my veins..'
Early last year I wrote an article for Travelpod. Essentially it was a 'how to' covering some of the ins and outs of travelling with a PDA and how to update a travelogue on the road. Sometime after the article's posting I received an email asking all sorts of question's about PDA's. I responded.
David remembers more of this interaction than I do, but neverthless it evolved, and over time grew into the contact and banter that we have today. We've spent a lot of time over the last twelve months around Travelpod, David (Uncle_Davros) and his better half 'Lucy' (Lucinate) also moderating in the forums.
Since first reading random excerpts of his travelogue, I've always kind of admired them - having set off ten years ago from Australia and blazing a slow and steady trail through the Indian Sub-Continent, Europe and the Middle East, getting up to all sorts of misadventures along the way. Some of the stuff they've experienced is mindblowing.
I told Dave months ago of my intention to fly over to Spain to surprise the old crumbs, and it wasn't long after that that a rendezvous in Granada was arranged. I've just got back.
The Arrival:
What can I say? I thought I'd got little legs. He's a lot shorter than I imagined and yet walks at an alarming rate - Lucy and myself often had to break into a half-jog in order to keep up. As for personality, he's exactly what I expected, having spoken to him many times over the net. He's a typical Aussie with filthy rotten gutter humour and plenty of laughs up for grabs, certainly someone you'd feel at ease with provided you're open minded enough. As I write this, the song 'Poison' by Alice Cooper is circling it's way through my head. And my veins. Though this is largely out of my control, it's also highly appropriate to this entry.
Dave and Luce are seasoned travellers and it was interesting to scour the historic city of Granada with them on foot. Having only two days at our disposal meant we'd got a lot of ground to cover. Not only was there the abundance of visual and historic wow-ness to be enjoyed, there was also lots to talk about and catch up on. As it turns out we couldn't have mixed it up any better. Food and drink went down in copious amounts while the sights and sounds, smells and scenery of Granada were also lapped up thoroughly - exactly how thing's should be done. I don't think you could have squeezed any more activity into two days than we did this weekend. That said, in almost forty-eight hours we only managed to get around seven hours sleep.
  
They arrived Friday night at around 10.30pm. I met them off the bus in a side street. After getting them checked in and devoid of luggage we hit the town. Granada is very different to other parts of Spain in that it has different tapas 'ethics'. Here you don't necessarily order it (or outrightly pay for it for that matter), it's included in the drinks.
So... you buy a beer and all is well. Two minutes later and you're handed a tapa over the heads of the queueing punters. As always the tapa is succulent and tasty, and as always you finish your drink and order another. Two minutes later and you're handed another tapa over the heads of more queueing punters. This wonderfully reciprocal process continues on and on and on until you've spent enough time and money as to require a wheelchair. We drank and we ate. We moved on. We drank and we ate some more. Then the big guns came out. Rioja. Dave's wanted to get me on the Rioja for ages. He was right to get me on it. It's a positively delectable treat, especially given the authentic cultural surroundings gifted to us by inland Spain's weekend city-life.
The banter was plentiful as was the endless indulgement. It wasn't until Dave interrupted the conversation with 'Guess what time it is?!' that we thought it best to make a move and get back to the hostel. 6.30am is no time to be frolicking with refreshments when a whole day's worth of itinerary lies just couple of hours away. We got to bed just as the sun started to stir. Two hours later and we were up again. That's less than two hours sleep and the snoring shit in the bunk beneath me didn't let up the whole time.
Day two:
Dave looked exactly how I felt: like shit. His voice was a whole octave lower. We crammed in hunks of bread and jam like desperate neanderthals before heading out for a more civilised breakfast of meaty bocadillos, tortillas and coffee. Then we took Dave's 'panoramic walking tour' which made for some very pleasant exploration.
  
Granada is positively joyous. It oozes history, character and charm and offers stunning views across the valley floor over to the Alhambra palace, which is lucky enough to be overlooked by the vast majestic sprawl of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada. The fact that they were rounded off with a generous dusting of snow only enhanced matters and gave us that perfect postcard visual to walk away with.
After a humbling saunter around the church (Colegiata del Salvador) we stopped for refreshments in the square. Three 'hair of the dog' portions were ordered and bingo, out came the tapas: whole fish, lightly battered and gently fried, all nicely seasoned with a generous sprinkling of salt, a squeeze of lemon and delivered swiftly to our sun-soaked table out in the open air amongst the restaurants, the church and the timeless day-to-day life. The Argentinian flamenco guitarists playing nearby provided the icing on the cake to our already exquisite dining experience. This really is as good as it gets. We could have sat there all day. We almost did. After then procuring a menu we continued with our stuffings: whole mounds of pimientos, berenjenas y albondigas, mas cervezas and more stretched bellies. Sublime.
  
We waddled over to the Mirador San Nicolas,, a small square overlooking the valley and the Alhambra up on the hill opposite. The view was magnificent and as the young chica morena strummed her guitar outside the whitewashed church, the locals flittered about through the open air market without a care in the world, while others dangled their feet over the edge of the wall and gazed up at the palace. It was immensely relaxed. A little further down the hill and we passed through a long narrow street brimming with Moroccan tea houses, trinket shops and unfamiliar Indian wares. The touts were out too bringing back all too familiar feelings of coastal Spain.
  
'Why go back to the hostel?' someone said, 'Why not stay out?' They were not challenged.
We went for beers and found a place we'd settle on for the majority of the night. A place we'd stopped at briefly the night before. A place that serves Alhambra on tap and quality complimentary tapas to accompany it. But with a twist. I forget the name of the place. Here, you order a drink. Two minutes later and you're handed a tapa over the heads of the queueing punters. The next drink you order comes gifted with a different tapa, a better tapa, almost as if you've been granted privileged access to some kind of 'next level' through your humble loyalty. We cottoned on and ordered more. It got better and better: bagels, bocadillos, meat stewed in paprika, marinated kebabs and tortilla espanola. We had no idea where it would end. Then the idea struck and our eyes lit up. We decided we'd find out and opted to keep going and going and going to achieve our 'Roll of Honour'. It was hard but we were dedicated: anchoas, albondigas, jamon serrano, the list went on. A few bottles of Rioja later and we were tucked up in our shaky comas for another brief recharge, this one lasting a little under five hours. God knows how people do this.
Day three:
While today was brief by comparison, it was the most mindblowing. The Alhambra: a proper palace of fairytale proportions and a mesmerising one at that. Built somewhere around the 1300's, the Moorish style Nasrid palace has to be seen to be believed. I've seen nothing like it before. Dave and Luce have, many of similar ilk, so it was less of a shock for them. To me it was absolutely stunning. The architecture is immeasurably intricate, the mix of influence is harmoniously balanced and the whole layout and feel of the place is positively enchanting. The walk through the grounds was timeless and the five or six hours we spent soaking it all up as the morning sun slowly cut through the ground frost passed by without notice. To think that this whole experience costs in the region of ten euros is a joke. Go and see it.
  
For me this weekend was one of those well spent weekends, where you come away feeling like you've spent days and days in a place. We covered a lot of ground in a very short space of time and that for me is what it's all about - making the most. We saw a lot, experienced a lot and laughed a lot, and I'd like to think we came away better for it. I certainly did. While I can't speak for the others I can say that my time was very well spent here and it was great to finally meet someone who you've gotten to know a little through the hazy mask that is the modern internet. Dave is an animal. Lucy is a great sport and one easy target for a wind up. Sitting back and watching the hysterics wash over her is medicine in itself. Dave's humour is twisted like mine, so there was very little effort involved in entertaining ourselves.
While 'Uncle Davros' will often call me a mummy's boy around Travelpod, it has to be said that he is the MB of MB's. He's got P running through his V's and tries to offload it into GB's, he delivers monstrous DD's and is feared the world over by WC's. But he's a good lad, and one person I will keep in touch with.
 
Chances are I'll not be in their neck of the woods for a long time but if I am, I'll certainly be catching up with them for much more of the same.
One more thing: this weekend I finally got to experience the rare privilege of drinking an 'Estrella' with an 'Ostrayan'. Now that's something..
(For Dave's account of this madness, click here!)
Tapas count:- 73
Latest Comments (3)
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Did the earth move for you two? (reply)
Jan 2, 2007 03:12 EST by sorceress05
... Ah, the fated meet... and not a natural disaster recorded.. Well done lads & lassie!! Keep up the practice Scott - you'll need it for St. Paddy's mate!! In fact there's a great little tapa's bar called Daze End literally just across the road from the Ha'penny Bridge Hotel... lol. Think I'll reserve a section of concrete floor!
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Re: Eating (reply)
Dec 29, 2006 16:41 EST by scottwoz
I clocked it at being around the twenty mark. It was stupid. Thousands would have just gone home.
You were successful in getting me into Rioja by the way, it's going down well..
Happy New Year mate, we WILL be doing it again..
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Eating (reply)
Dec 29, 2006 15:58 EST by uncle_davros
Mate
How much tapas did we eat ???
Trust me, teh rioja is still flowing. On my last run on the train to calais, I picked up some more cases of the lovely drop
We must do it again
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| 226. | 'Travelpodians' - Parts IV and V - Granada, Spain Dec 10, 2006 (  75 ) (  3 ) |
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