ClubJuggler

We spent most of today driving from Toledo to Granada. We had planned to drive straight on through and have lunch in Granada, but after we had to stop because the doctor had finally succumbed to the virus that's going through the choir right now and threw up. So, after a half hour to get him cleaned up we headed on, then stopped about 12:30 for lunch. It was early by Spain standards (the cafeteria didn't open until 1pm), so we availed ourselves of sandwiches and soup. Got some very nice pictures going through the mountains of La Mancha and Andalucia. Yes, I even got pictures of windmills, both old and new. They should be added (soon) to the set I posted yesterday. Once we got to Granada, we drove straight to the hotel and checked in. The hotel has free wifi (nice) but otherwise isn't quite as modern a place as some other ones we've stayed at. They have normal keys instead of cards to swipe and they'll only give out 1 (and keep the other behind the desk). Also, it's fairly smoky (according to jklgoduke) in our room. But, it is 150 meters from the Alhambra, where we're going tomorrow.

Today, though, we headed for the cathedral in Granada. Our organist, David Arcus, finally got a halfway decent organ (2 actually!) to play on (after playing on basically a Casio keyboard last night in Toledo!). The cathedral is extremely ornate with lots of gold filigree on white walls and ceilings. I was filming video for one of the choir members, so before the concert I availed myself of his tripod and took some nice pictures (without flash, since that's not allowed inside). During the concert, I sat behind a 1985 Duke graduate and next to a member of the choir of the cathedral. The cathedral choir member absolutely loved the Duke choir's rendition of Hacia Belén and asked if I knew how to help them get a copy of the music. I said I didn't know, but introduced them to jklgoduke who graciously gave them her copy. They were ecstatic, since apparently they only had the music to the melody.

In addition to the concert, our friends Clark and Mina, along with their 5 month old daughter just happened to be visiting Mina's parents in Malaga, a mere 80 or so miles away, so they came up to the concert. It was really great to see them again, and especially since I hadn't seen the baby yet. Mina's father remembered me as the person at their wedding that spoke Spanish and had lived in Valencia.

Afterwards we came back to the hotel and after looking a bit down the street for restaurants, we ended up at the hotel buffet. The current theory on how the virus is spreading through the choir is through everyone handling the utensils of the morning buffets, so we'll see how things go, but the food was fairly good.

Tomorrow, we go see the Alhambra. I've been telling jklgoduke about it for 11 years so it's very cool that she finally gets to see it! More later...