24 Hours in the Land of Lorca
24 Hours in the Land of Lorca
— by David Eugene Perry
Tuesday, August 12
Grazalema is a wonderful base for exploring Andalucía. So today, Alfredo and I will visit one of our favorite cities, Granada: exploring the world of its most famous literary figure, García Lorca.
After dropping Alfredo’s parents in Antequera for the high-speed AV train to Madrid, from whence they’ll continue on to their home in Santander, we explore the Neolithic 5000-year-old Dolmens nearby. These three megalithic burial chambers continue to amaze with their seemingly indestructible construction and astronomical orientation.
Next stop: Granada, to check-in to the lovely Vincci Albayzin Hotel (where we’ve stayed twice before): centrally located, very reasonably priced and with its own underground parking. Also, the breakfast is one of the best we’ve ever enjoyed.
While we wait for our room to get ready, we have a vermut and beer at the iconic Granados Bar just adjacent, including terrific tapas with our drinks. Granada is known for its tasty little bites with “copas.” Next to the door is this historic plaque:
“THIS IS A SPECIAL PLACE
Since 1900, three generations of the Granados family have run this legendary tavern with more than one hundred years of history. What began as an alpargatería (espadrille workshop) at the dawn of the 20th century is today one of the establishments that best represents the essence of the tavern tradition — a timeless place.
When travelers of the early 20th century passed along this Carrera del Genil, they would stop here to water their animals and enjoy a glass of its famous wine. Unforgettable figures such as Falla, Lorca, Dalí, Ayala, and Morente have all passed through here. There is so much of the past in this central corner of Granada that no one can bear to see it disappear.
Inside, the present coexists with pieces of history: bottles and cases of original beer, even the pole with which the night watchman of the era would light the lamps of that 1900 Granada. All this turns the Taberna Granados into a unique museum.
From this corner, more than a century later, one continues to gaze out at the city. That is why this tavern is a place to discover.”
Later, we have a fab Moroccan dinner at “Tajin Dar” where we had eaten once before. Then we take an enchanting night tour of The Alhambra, with a lovely English couple and our terrific guide, Natalia. We had done the Alhambra twice before: once early morning just as it opened and once during the heat of the afternoon. We’re beat by the time we get back to the hotel after a 22,000 step day at 12:52am — so already Wednesday. After a shower, we collapse right into bed.
Wednesday, August 13
We slept un-interrupted: both of us beat by yesterday’s power-walking. Neither of us awoke ‘til past 8am: 2 hours off our usual. We thought of a return to Granados Bar for coffee — since Lorca frequented here — but it’s not open mornings. So, across the alameda to the equally historic Ysla (desde 1897) with their confession worthy pastries including one dedicated to Pope Pius IX: Ysla’s Piononos.
“The Pionono
The origins of a tradition
We have been handcrafting piononos® since 1897
The history of the Pionono® begins in 1897, when Ceferino Isla created a cake in homage to Pope Pius IX (Pio Nono), who in 1854 had proclaimed the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
The cake recalls the papal figure: cylindrical and somewhat plump in shape (sponge cake soaked and rolled onto itself), dressed like the Pope in a white mozzetta (paper cup in which the soaked sponge cake is placed), and topped with a crown of sweetened and toasted cream placed on the sponge cake cylinder (symbolizing the zucchetto with which the Pope covers his crown).”
Of course we split one. 🙂 Pretty sure Lorca ate a few in his day.
Now, we head to Lorca’s nearby hometown of Fuente Vaqueros (our third visit) and the museum now in his house. On our last excursion to Granada we visited his family’s summer home — in the middle of a park dedicated to his memory. It was from there that Fascist thugs took Lorca and later murdered him, throwing his body into an un-marked grave. It has never been found.
In Fuente Vaqueros we find that the museum only opens for guided tours every hour on the hour starting at 10am. The museum is closed on Mondays. Note: the website and its contact info for reservations is notoriously casually responsive. As we arrive at 11:10am, we’ll need wait. So, we walk the central square — flanked by statues of its homeboy hero — and have a vermut in Bar Málaga, of course, graced by a photo of Lorca. At 11:50am, we go to get our tickets and there’s easily 25 people waiting. And, que suerte, Wednesdays is free admission! Another note: the docents are extremely well informed and the tour is great. However, it’s fully guided and non-flexible. Once you’re in there’s no early exit. It’s an hour commitment.
The spirit of Lorca is everywhere in and around “his city”: Granada. The airport is named for him, a cultural center, streets, plazas and thousands of tourist tchotchkes and t-shirts bear his image.
Since I was in college and studied his plays, Federico del Sagrada Corazón de Jesús García Lorca has fascinated me. When I founded the nonprofit Rainbow Honor Walk in San Francisco I made sure his memorial plaque was one of the first to be installed. As he is a character in the book on which I’m working, Thorns of the 15 Roses, the great Andalucían writer is much on my mind this trip.
After our visit, as we enter the freeway from Fuente Vaqueros, right in front of us a jet takes off from the runway of Lorca International. If time travel was possible and universes could collide outside of fiction, a young Federíco could have seen it lift to the skies.