granada

"there is no worse punishment than to be blind in granada" were the words, more or less, inscribed on ceramic tiles near the cathedral steps, where i waited to meet up with raul. with a backdrop of the sierra nevada mountain range and the alhambra as the jewel in the crown, granada certainly attracts a lot of visitors. raul and maria were the perfect hosts. they made me very welcome in their small but cosy flat on elvira street, situated in the albacin district in the heart of granada. that first evening, we made our way up to the lookout at plaza san nicolaus... turning the corner to see the alhambra bathed in the red-orange rays of the setting sun with the snow capped mountain peaks in the backdrop, it took my breath away. a couple of africans were busking with native xylophone and stringed instruments, the soft tones floating dreamily through the square. and when one of them came later with the hat, we dropped some coins in. i started to play on my drum, not to busk but just for fun, and the 'strings' took up the beat. “let's join them“, i said, and so we went to where they sat on the wall. and after the introductions, we just started to jam when one of them stopped suddenly and said, “watch out, police“. and so that was that. nice ambience gone in a flash. can't even make music for the fun of it, never mind busking.

yeah, granada and busking.... dodging the police, beating the competition to the good busking spots, avoiding water thrown from balconies and windows.... yeah, it's only ever happened to me in granada, some years ago.... twice.... on the same day! these granadinos are probably very tired of drumming buskers.

i played in my usual spots... one time, two pigs came up and told me that i couldn't play there. “maybe down there“, i said pointing down the road. “no, not even there“. “but it's away from the centre“, i pleaded. “no, it's still the centre“, they said. it was all very polite but it was like my first warning. “ok, no worries“, i said, collecting up my 'hat' with the few coins that were in there. it wasn't really a good spot anyway and they weren't too open to changing their minds. i walked on down the road a bit and found some african guys hawking their fake designer fashion stuff. i asked one if it didn't disturb them if i played nearby. “no problem“. but it wasn't the ideal place either and after ten minutes or so, the first sign of the pigs heading our way had us all packing out stuff and a hurried stroll away.

yeah, granada... not easy. but not to worry. i had made enough for the bus to orgiva, raul was cooking great meals for us all, maria had given me her keys so i could come and go as i pleased, and the lookout was a great place just to relax and enjoy not being blind in granada.