September 13, 2009 Granada, Spain: The Alhambra and the EESB

Granada, the Alhambra, and the Ever Elusive Spanish Bruha(Witch) AKA EESB.
This story actually begins just over a year ago when Ginny and I traveled Guatemala and made our rigorous Journey to the top of Antigua’s active volcano. When we came down we spent an hour riffling through our otherworldly pictures with great excitement. They were like something out of an old Star Trek episode, the one that might have had Kirk beaming down to a molten lava planet with no vegetation or life. It wasn’t until we sat to watch a movie that we realized the camera was missing, immediately, we took the steps of any ultra annoying tourist couple; the steps that ultimately led us to the door of the hostel that sold us our volcanic excursion, accompanied of course, by 6 Antiguan policemen. Needless to say when I uploaded our pictures to Picasa we had every day documented except our most adventurous: the pictures that had us standing at 3,000 feet above Antigua looking down at the city and the flowing lava not more than 10 feet below.
Fast-forward to yesterday please where you will find us traveling down a street that sucked us back in time, to say 1,200 AD when the Christians had finally gained a foothold on the city of Granada by thus erecting a gigantic medieval Cathedral/Fortress under the looming shadow of the Muslim Fortress: The Alhambra. The second we saw the massive cathedral Ginny requested the camera. With both of us downtrodden with 4 backpacks, exhausted from only 4 hours of sleep and a 5 hour bus ride, I suggested that we drop our gear, grab our camera, and come outside for an amazing nighttime picture of the gigantic edifice. As Ginny got directions to various bars and flamenco shows I began preparing for our photo shoot. When the camera was not in its “assigned” place in our bags, the clink of an unknown object sounded in my head. I’d heard the noise about 20 minutes before it was time to get off that incredibly long bus ride. I had given the floor a brief once over and decided it was nothing of importance. I flashed to the last time I had used the camera, which was to take the picture of the sunset on our 30 minute bus break at some arbitrary restaurant somewhere between Madrid and Granada. I must have put it between my legs rather than in its assigned spot. I was tired, sleeping and in a hurry to get off the bus. Those where my justifications as I performed a pointless and futile search through all 20 pockets of our 4 brand new REI bags, knowing full well I’d come up empty handed. “Do you have the camera” was how I interrupted my beautiful wife as she tried to get info on all the places we needed to go in the next 24 hours. With a quick pat-down of her pockets she said no. When she was done with our helpful hostel clerk she turned to me and asked all the questions she’d asked only a year ago. Satisfied that I was able to lose the same model camera again on some mode of transportation on the night before our most picture worthy day in Spain, she rushed off to call the bus station.
With the Alhambra online ticket office closed and the traditional “you can check with lost and found when it opens,” Ginny and I decided, once again, that we would take matters into our own hands. We were going to go back to the station and find our bus, of the hundred that were parked there, and we were going to recover our goods, because God knows if someone had found it before us, it was gone. When arrived back at the bus station around half past twelve, only to find it nearly empty. We asked a ticket window attendant if our camera had been turned in, “Come back tomorrow morning at 9:30.” Rather than leave, making all this work a complete waste of time, we decided we’d go find our bus since they were parked for the night. I found an open bus that looked kinda like our bus, got on, went to our seats, got down on my hands and knees and found it! Wait, that was the big sticky puddle of soda. Defeated again, we took the “Nocturnal” bus back to our hostel where we were able to get in a 4 hour nap before our day at the Alhambra.
We woke at 6:30 am to make sure we got two of the 2000 tickets sold daily to enter the Alhambra. As we drove towards the massive Muslim fortress with a picture worthy sunrise behind us above the Serra Nevada to our left, and the medieval cathedral to our right, I thought, damn it would be nice to have a camera right now, and this thought continued all day with the Alhambra, screaming with its 13th century armories, palaces, reflection pools, mosaic tile, and 12 foot wide wall. The only thing missing was the water from the moat that protected the palace from Crusaders. The architecture was absolutely beautiful. The amount of detail put into every aspect of its creation was most impressive - absolutely exquisite.
With the amazing Alhambra behind us, it was time to get to the bus station and head for a new city. Next stop Algeciras, so we can head to Morocco and Gibraltar. (But first, I’m going to check to see if anyone turned in our camera. Dumb. I know.) When we got to the bus station my poor bride was starving and drawn to the McDonalds by an almost supernatural force which would leave me to try to get the camera back by myself. As I stood in front of the 50 year old heavy set woman with a frown instead of a smile, I knew this interaction was not going to be pleasant. First I asked her if she could print out my tickets and she lazily said I could but it was not necessary. This is when I knew getting her to get up and check the lost and found was going to be a challenge. Through my broken Spanish, I asked pleadingly if anyone had turned in a camera. “No!” So, I asked her if she could check in the back to see, “POR FAVOR “and again, she said “NO”, then I explained to her that my camera was “muy importante para mi,” urging her to at least check. Ginny had our hostel call the night before, and supervisor of the station had already explained the lost and found process, which required the bus driver to turn any left items by 12 the next day. My pleas had finally reached her and she was forced to leave her chair, or she was trying to look somewhat helpful in front of her co-workers. NOTE: I was super nice and sweet to this woman as I needed her to do something for me…(I smiled extra big, showing my dimples, fluffed up my curls, and batted my eyes.) I knew the camera would not be back there but she was kind enough to bring the lost and found book out and show me that only books and phones had been found in the last 10 years! I gave her a very sad thank you and headed off to tell Ginny of the bad news and recommend that she go to a nicer bus ticket clerk, one last ditch hope on my part. As I sat 50 yards away from the ticket counter, I sent Ginny back after explaining that she hadn’t even looked. Ginny was somewhat reluctant to go, but since she was able to eat her cheeseburger while she waited in line, she agreed. Ginny later told me that she waited until the young cute guy was free, allowing others to go in front of her, until she could go to his window. Once there, I saw Ginny waving her hands and just chatting the guys ear off. After about 5 minutes of Ginny standing up there, I saw the guy hand her a book and a pen. Oh woopie-doo, they’re taking her info so that when they do find the damn camera they can kindly ship it to us when we’re in Rome…..False, that thing is gone! Damn it!!!!
As Ginny was heading back towards me, I realized she was carrying something in her hand. The camera? How? Huh? No way! She was urging me to get up in a panic nervous tone, so we could get the heck out of there before someone came and took OUR camera back away from us. I was stuck. I was in disbelief that in her hand was our camera, relived that I didn’t lose another one, and PISSED that 30 minutes earlier, I wasn’t given it. As I walked with her, I pressed her for answers, and through clinched teeth she said, “that lady had the camera the whole time.” I begged Ginny to let me go say something…..but all she would let me do was call her names from afar, which is where the scientific classification of “THE ELUSIVE SPANISH HOG” TESH, was formed. TESH had eluded me but was no match for my wife who used her powers of persuasion on a nice young man. While the man was helping Ginny, Ginny realized he was acting weird, like he was pretending to look while making eye contact across the station. He hadn’t said anything to the woman, when she started yelling at him about “la camera.” He yelled back at her, calling her “mala!” With her heavy heels dragging, she came to the window with the camera in her hand! Even after Ginny exhaled with elation, jumped up and down, shouting, “Yes, that’s my camera! Thank you!” She still didn’t let the man have the camera until he grabbed it from her hands, again saying, “Mala---the camera is hers!” Needless to say TESH had seen the camera and claimed if for her own, hoping nobody would show up to get it. She knew exactly what I was looking for, and I’m sure the rest of the workers did as well….SO all this just to say I have made a habit of losing things!
We bought postcards of our camera-less day at the Alhambra, so the pics we will post will be of postcards. As for the beautiful sites, breathtaking architecture, and intriguing history, we are in awe of it all. Now that I’m cooled down from my experience with TESH, it’s time to board the bus!
After our day at the Alhambra, we had to decide if we wanted to travel for another five hours to Algeciras where we could catch a ferry across to Tangier, Morocco, entering Africa, and also head to see the famous rock of Gibraltar. With both of these stops on my must see list, we headed south.