Spanish food
We have moved on from tapas to ordering full dishes of food. A highlight for me was a lunch dish of broad beans and smoked bacon with jamon, healthy and tasty. The beans had been cooked in the smoked bacon and the lovely smokey taste came through the beans.
At breakfast we were treated to plates of jamon, manchego cheese, brine cured cheese and other delicacies. Alistair was disappointed to hear that although faced with this dazzling choice of food I was having yoghurt and muesli. But I did check out two intriguing breakfast spreads, asparagus marmalade and carrot marmalade. Ok - not sure I would try asparagus marmalade again. It was sweet but just a bit weird. Carrot marmalade, again sweet, but unremarkable. Similarly, gazpacho which I tried at dinner that night - glad I have tried it, but will not waste another meal eating cold soup.
For all those food porn fans Tom's bull's tail stew will be a highlight (see below).
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| Bull's Tail |
Real Capilla and mad Joanna
Isabella and Ferdinand are interred in this chapel in Granada, the name of which makes it sound like a football team. Real is Spanish for royal and you see it everywhere, it is not only used for Real Madrid FC. Being a little bit fascinated by Isabella as I am we decided to check out this chapel and I was extra excited because not only are Issie and Ferdy here, but also her daughter, Mad Joanna, and son-in-law Phillip the Handsome - a sort of two couples for one deal.
Churches are difficult for me when touring, I am quite happy to do the ones with historical significance, but being a fervent non-believer I am uncomfortable with the idolatry of Catholic churches. And in Spain they certainly enjoy their idolatry. The inside of this chapel was supposed to be more simple than most - looked pretty over the top to me - but at least you could see the beautiful base of the Gothic structure and the smooth linear stone vaults. I am a bit of a fan of Gothic.
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| The Gothic Cathedral |
The royal tombs are the usual marble effigies, but up very high so you cannot see the carved faces -which is very disappointing as I wanted to see what all the fuss was about with Phillip the Handsome (now that I am an afficiando of Spanish men). Firstly let me put this family into perspective for you. You have heard of Isabella and Ferdinand; the Catholic Monarchs, joined Castille and Aragon when they married, Christopher Colombus and the Inquisition (remember Monty Python). I would have to admit that the Inquisition was probably not Isabella's finest moment, but apart from that she was pretty admirable. Well they had a number of daughters, and like many royal couples no surviving sons. What is it with royals and sons - I had no trouble. For those of you with little Spanish history but some English history (or have seen The Tudors) their youngest daughter, Katherine, was the first wife of Henry IIIV of England, Katherine of Aragon (no sons there either !).
But it is mad Joanna who is the best family story. Joanna was married to early to Phillip of Burgundy. He was considered a dish, so was nicknamed the Handsome. I have checked him out on google and not so sure about the handsome. Anyway, Joanna was happy enough and she was besotted with him. So besotted that when he died young she refused to believe it. It is now thought she developed severe melancholia or an inherited schizophrenia, but at the time she was just labelled mad - acquiring the Spanish monicker, Juana la Loca. She is reputed to have refused to let them bury Phillip's body and to have carted the embalmed remains around with her for 19 years. She inherited the kingdom of Castille when her mother died (but not Aragon as women could not inherit in that kingdom), however her son locked her up in a convent on the basis of her illness and took control of the kingdom. Bastard.
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