The Pomegranate and the Bear and Tree: Granada and Madrid

7.39 pm. I’m on a high-speed train from Madrid to Alicante and I’ve realised I have more than two hours to write a new post. More than two hours to write about two of the happiest weekends of my Spanish stay. More than two hours to try to get rid of this awful sensation of dread slowly taking hold of my soul. Writing has always been cathartic for me. Let’s see if it works this time, once again.

Last week, on Saturday 15^th November, my mum came to visit. Apart from being glad to be together again for a few days, her arrival also meant something else: a 700-km day trip to Granada. We left directly from Alicante airport and travelled through all sorts of Murcian and Andalusian landscapes towards the beautiful capital of Andalusia. It was a cold, bright sunny day, not a cloud to be seen, and we easily got to the Alhambra, the purpose of our trip.

Entrance of the Alhambra

The palace, built in the 11^th century by the emirs of Granada, is situated on the top of a mountain, surrounded by woods and splendid gardens and fountains. Such a position grants a breathtaking view on the city, more specifically on the Albayzín, the district with narrow, winding streets of Moorish origin. Here it is:

The Albayzín seen from the Alhambra

Every room’s walls are finely engraved and there are columns, arches and vaults as far as the eye can see, which create striking optical effects leading to see the space as much bigger than it actually is. Water is an ever-present element in this place, as it was often the case in Moorish palaces.

Example of decoration of the Alhambra

Patio de los Arrayanes

Patio de los Arrayanes (II)

The central court

A particularly stunning star-shaped engraved chapel ceiling

My mum was very happy to see it again, as she had already been there in the early 1990s, and, although she had seen it in summer, with all the flowers in bloom, she enjoyed it, and so did I. I had desired to see the Alhambra for years, even more so during the second year at UEA, when we had to translate passages from a book which was partially set here (Tariq Ali’s Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, which will sound awfully familiar to the majority of my colleagues), as part of the Spanish course. I can honestly say that it was worth such a long journey, and Granada has much to offer as well: for example, there’s the Cathedral, with the Royal Chapel with the tombs of the Catholic Kings, Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, of their daughter, Joanna of Castile (unfairly known as Joanna the Mad), and her husband, Philip the Handsome. I have a rather strong interest in the figures of Isabel and Joanna, hence it was with a sort of reverential awe that I went into the chapel. A bit like entering Westminster Abbey.

The rest of my weekend with mum was marked by nice chats in Italian (I sometimes don’t realise how much I get to miss my mother tongue), long strolls by the sea on the Esplanada, and studying for a bloody French exam that turned out to be one of the most surreal I’ve ever had, as I’ve already said elsewhere. Mum left on Tuesday. I never thought I would say it, but every time I see my parents, or my friends, I realise there will always be a part of Italy I will never not miss when I am away. Especially now that I’m not in England. England is a second home, the country I’ve chosen for my life, where I can be myself. Spain isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it’s lovely here, people couldn’t be nicer to me, the weather is mild and it’s incredibly useful to speak Spanish every day in everyday situations, but… it’s not my place.

I had another exam on Thursday, a Spanish culture, vocabulary and grammar test with which the course is finally over (4 hours less per week, yay!). The essay topic was particularly interesting (“Do you support LGBT adoption?”), so I daresay it was ok, I’m not worried about the result. Not that it matters, anyway.

On Friday I ran away from UA as soon as my translation class was over to catch the 20.10 train to Madrid. I arrived at Puerta de Atocha Station on time to find my friends Gemma and Stefano waiting for me outside. I swear the best moment of a journey is arriving and finally seeing again the people you’ve missed for a long time. I know, they were here not a month ago, but it seemed like it had been ages. I immediately decided that Atocha looked more like an airport than a railway station, and without Stefano and Gemma I might have easily got lost. We celebrated my arrival by having a late dinner (it was well past 11 pm) at the nearby Cien Montaditos (it’s everywhere!) and resolved to meet the following day at 2 pm, to fetch Georgia, who would be arriving then by bus from Santander.

The following morning I translated a bit of my homework for tomorrow(I know, I am a very depressing human being), which I didn’t finish anyway (I managed to do so at the end of the day, working until 4 am, what a nightmare!), then we caught the metro to meet Georgia and subsequently went to the Prado Museum, one of the must-see of the capital in my opinion. It reminded me both of the National Gallery and the Louvre in Paris and there were many works by artists I had studied and loved: Titian, Caravaggio, Raphael, El Greco, the Carracci cousins and many more. The one I had particularly been looking forward to was a very famous portrait of Queen Mary Tudor by Anthonis Mor, it was great to finally see it in person.

The Prado Museum

After the Prado we had tapas and went on the terrace of the Corte Inglés close to the Gran Vía to have a look at the Madrid skyline: stunning. We then had a long walk before dinner: the Opera, the Palacio Real, the Italian Embassy and the Plaza Mayor. We had dinner at a Thai restaurant (delicious!) off the calle Arenal, and, sitting by the window, I had more than enough time to observe the people on the street, bustling in and out of restaurants, bars and shops, laughing, chatting. In that moment it struck me how much I had missed all that: the huge, anonymous, lively crowds in which, if you know how, you can move like a shadow, unseen, unheard, towards your destination. I like the idea of being an invisible presence if I so wish, it has always been a peculiar and strangely appealing thought.

Palacio Real (side)

Madrid skyline from the Corte Inglés

Madrid is a very lively city, I have been there but for a weekend and I already get the impression that it’s impossible to get bored. Also, there’s plenty to see for every kind of tourist: this morning we went to the Palacio Real, a spectacular visit: the elegance, the splendour, the power expressed by each of the owners during centuries in those stately rooms, crafted with art and skill, will never cease to amaze me.

Palacio Real

After that, we had a long walk in the city centre, then a quick snack and a stroll in the Retiro Park, where we had fun “deducing people”. I know, I might be strongly biased in my choice of expression, but that’s exactly what it was: we invented the most absurd stories about passers-by, who they were and their relationships to each other.

– “Those two have known each other for a while, but she’s not yet sure of her feelings.”

– “Those three: clearly a couple and a third weel.” “How bad.”

– “What about those four? The guy with the three girls?” “Oh, no, those are just mates.” “I really don’t like his jumper, I would never wear such a thing.” “Nope, it looks like a Christmas jumper.”

And so on. Memories and thoughts came to mind, of last year, of travels past and gone, and I wished it would never end.

Parque del Retiro

Alas, as my favourite French play said, “c’était divin, mais les plus doux plaisirs doivent avoir leur fin”, even the sweetest pleasures have to get to an end. So it was that, after a very tasty cup of hot chocolate with churros in a bar off Puerta del Sol and a hurried trip home to fetch my bag, we returned to Puerta de Atocha so that I could get my train back to Alicante. I swear the worst moment of a journey is leaving, not knowing when you’ll see your friends again. Back to uni, to my wonderful courses. How charming.

It’s now 9.47 pm, the train has reached Alicante and I’ve finished this post. Uni starts early tomorrow, so I’d better go home, have dinner and very quickly post this, because otherwise I will never get up on time.

Until the next update, who knows when.

Adiós, amigos!