We arrived in the early evening and planned on getting to our hotel, getting something to eat and then unpacking and sleeping in order to be fresh for the first full day. Went to the cafe/bar across from our hostel for some wine and tapas. If you're not familiar with tapas, they are little bites or small plates served with your drink - you order a drink, you get a tapa. What you get is totally up to the cafe. After we finished, we felt the need to walk a little and we ran into our first procession coming out of the cathedral. The area of Andalusia is noted for the Semana Santa processions. They start on Palm Sunday and go through Easter Sunday. The floats tell the story of the passion of Christ. Each float weighs around one ton and it is carried on the necks and upper backs of members of the church. The procession is led by members of various confraturnities and they are dressed in long robes with pointed hoods. Very similar to what we would call the dress of the KKK. when you first see it, it is a bit disconcerting because of our history in the US, but these confraturnities have been around for centuries. I didn't have my camera with me that night since I wasn't expecting to see a procession so no photos from those floats but there will be several more to come. This was Paula and Dave's first time here and first time to experience this in person. It was actually more fu. For me to watch their reactions than to see the floats.
I think we returned to the hotel around 11 that night, probably one of the earliest nights of the entire week in Granada.
The plan for the next day was to wander, or as I like to call it, get lost in Granada. Hit the ATM first, bought a bus pass and then started walking. We followed the Darro River til we got to the Moorish Bazaar area. One can get lost in the narrow streets and alleys which are lined with shops on either side. The restaurant we wanted to eat at was not yet opened so Paula and I decided to get henna tattoos. Afterwards we stopped at a tea room and killed time.
The Cathedral in Granada. You can see the viewing stands for the processions coming to the cathedral. They process through and then return to their respective churches. Some of these processions left their churches at 4 in the afternoon and returned at 3 in the morning. They carried these floats through outrageously hilly and narrow streets,
Just a ham shop we passed by.
This is the Church of Santa Ana. Take note of how narrow the door is. That's what the floats needed to get through. Sometimes the folks carrying these had to do so on their hands and knees to get through the doors.
There were three floats in the church that would be used throughout the week.
I couldn't believe how well sculpted the faces were.
This was the back of the Virgin's float showing her cape.
Our walk along the Darro.
Just to show how narrow some of the streets are. Mini buses also went up this street.
Another beauty shot!
The tea shop we stopped at.
Paula's tattoo. The writing to the left of the flower is her name in Arabic.
Couldn't believe the wiring!
I think Ernie would have trouble getting in and out of this place easily.
That brings us to time to go to the hostel and relax before we head out for the evening processions.
Kids collect wax balls and keep adding to them every year.
Mothers are the same all over the world. This mother was giving her child something to drink while they were stopped.
We were really surprised when we saw this float. It was the one we saw in the Church of Santa Ana that afternoon.
We finally decided to start heading home around 10 to have an early evening but actually saw a few more floats so the best laid plans of mice and men......
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