Spain/China 2023, continuing (07)

[aadler]

Sixth day in Spain – July 04 Tuesday

Up 7:00AM, Susan and I down for breakfast by 7:30. At 9:30 we met the others in the lobby, and they arranged a taxi for me, Susan, Mei‑li, Amber, and another mother/daughter (Enid and Sharon), with the wheelchair in the back, while everyone else got set to walk. At 10:00, we rode to the Alhambra.

Mei‑li did some preparatory exploration once we arrived, to determine which entrance to use and which way to go, and the six of us passed through the chosen gate, showing our passports for admittance. Kevin met us on the other side, having walked up with the others and come in the opposite entrance. Ten or fifteen minutes later, Cristina caught up with us, and took over pushing Susan’s wheelchair. We went through the Museo de Bellas Artes; the building incorporated Roman, Spanish, and Moorish architectural influences, but all the items and exhibits inside focused on Moorish/Muslim.

We had tickets to go through the palace at 12:30PM; till that time came, we waited in the shade on benches outside the museum. Once we were allowed admittance, Susan was moved to the front of the line (and us as her companions), and pathways with ramps were opened up for us. The interior was cool, and we moved around at leisure and Susan took photos (which had been prohibited in the museum). Kevin had to go back on Mei‑li’s behalf — he had her phone in his backpack, with the digital ticket information, plus her and Amber’s passports — but rejoined us once that was seen to.

When we had done as much as Susan wanted in the palace, we returned to shade outside the museum, and relaxed there till the rest of the group was done. All together again, we went to Restaurante La Mimbre, just outside the Alhambra gates. (Cristina had been pushing Susan’s wheelchair, with Kevin spelling her occasionally; halfway there, the husband in one of the Chinese couples in our group took over, prompting me to ask Kevin if everyone except me was considered strong enough to push the chair? He told me it wasn’t that, it was more that if they let me do it, they would be judged by everyone else as neglectful.)

I won’t detail the dishes at La Mimbre (it was the usual variety, all of it marvelous), but it did include fried baby squid. Cristina must have been repeating her ‘smaller portions’ message, because again none of us had to leave large amounts uneaten.

Susan wasn’t willing to face the trip back (hotter now than in the morning, even though it would have been downhill for this trip), so at 3:30PM we again used a cab to return us to the hotel.

Susan had been dealing with an increasing sore throat for the last couple of days, and messaged Kevin to ask him to get cough syrup for her if he happened to pass a pharmacy on the way back. She rested and even dozed somewhat; about 7:30 he came up with the cough syrup (he hadn’t realized she wanted it as quickly as she could get it), and let us know the others were gathering downstairs for tonight’s dinner activities. She took a belt of the cough syrup and said she’d give it a try.

Location for tonight’s venue was just under a mile away, which we could have walked but Susan would have been very uncomfortable from the heat (still over 90°F), so it was taxi again. A mile didn’t take long by taxi, and we reached the restaurant — La Soléa — and were in our seats by 8:10PM.

Dinner was at the third level; we waited till the others arrived, after which came the by-now-standard succession of different dishes. Meanwhile, down on the ground floor, we could hear flamenco performances for the non-dining audience. Partway through the service, Amber crashed from the morning/afternoon activities (she hadn’t slept in the interim), and Kevin got a cab for her and Mei‑li back to the hotel around 9:00.

We finished the meal, and starting about 9:50 Kevin and Joachim helped Susan back down the stairs to the first level, so that we, too, could see a flamenco performance that began at 10:15.

I thought I had some idea of how flamenco worked, and my prior impressions weren’t wholly inaccurate, but I hadn’t known how dramatic the dancers could be in their performances. The women, I found, let the long dresses conceal their feet during the buildup, but would raise the skirts to calf-level when they were really about to cut loose. (The male dancer, of course, had his footwork fully visible throughout.) There was an opening sequence, with all three moving together and then taking turns. Few minutes of intermission, then a classical guitar performance (Spanish style). Then the flamenco dancers came out again …

The younger female did a performance that must have run twenty minutes. Fifteen, minimum. It was more than a bit surprising that she could maintain that pace for that long, and I had time to observe the little motions and flourishes that made me wonder if flamenco might have come into its own by inculcating some of the elements of Islamic dance during the Moorish occupation. (Wikipedia says no, Romani is the only influence that doesn’t come straight from various strata of Spanish folk dances.) At any rate, once she was done, the older woman took the stage … and I swear she was going faster (shorter passages of higher tempo, but those seemed close to the edge of human possibility). Susan had left with Kevin by this point, he using a taxi to get her home because she was fading. She’d been really wanting to see authentic flamenco, and I just went along, so it was a bit funny how caught up I got in the actual performance.

Those of my group still remaining got up around 10:50PM and started off, so of course I had to go with them. Cristina got a taxi for the first set of folks, and asked if I wanted to go along with them. Honestly, I would have rather walked with her — she’s enjoyable company — but I needed to get to a restroom very soon, so I went along in the taxi.

Back at the Aurea Catedral, I joined Susan up in the room. She went to bed minutes after my arrival; with one thing and another, it was substantially later before I followed.