Tombs & Street 'Art'

Isabel and Columbus.

Yesterday we saw the tombs of Isabel and Ferdinand (Isabel is the Queen who gave Christopher Columbus the money to sail to the 'New World'. He died believing he had found India---in fact, he had 'found' what was to become the United States along with some other places along the way).

Look at this stamp celebrating the 400th anniversary of Isabel agreeing to 'sponsor' Columbus on his voyage. Columbus Day is sure about more than a school vacation!

Seeing King Ferdinand's sword (Tip was broken, handle was small- small hand?) and Queen Isabel's crown was memorable. Isabel and Ferdinand spent 1/4 of their riches building the Cathedral where they lie buried; if you've been following along you won't be surprised to find out they built it on top of where a Mosque had been.

There was a LOT of gold and the ceiling is as soaring as the building is wide---it's gynormous. They put a rush on it but it still took nearly 200 years to finish (with The Plague happening in between). The Cathedral was soooooo giant that it was freezing! Sorry. No interior shots, my hands were deep inside my pockets. It's worth taking a second to see what it looked like, you can here. Our good friend, Tio Frank, who has traveled the world declared once that the Granada Cathedral was the coldest he'd ever visited- we concur!

Below was the highlight of our Cathedral trip for Baby-O and frankly for me too--- Catholic art is not the most uplifting at times.

This fellow was perched up in a niche on the outside of the Cathedral. 

Here's what he did (sorry for the finger!):

We also had our first encounters with the Roma, or Gypsies- they arrived in Granada in the 15th Century. They were all around the Cathedral 'offering' sprigs of Rosemary for a 'recuerdo de Granada' or a souvenir (I was having trouble spelling this word and found out it's French for 'memory'). Gigi had a great strategy. She kept her hands in her pockets.  

We'll post on our sheep pen hotel and our favorite restaurant Patio Andalus next. We're going on a hike in the Sierra Nevada's today. 

Miss you! Gigi is excited to Skype into Miss O's birthday party later.