This is a 4 parter about my bridge holiday in Spain with my sister, Kathleen, as my roommate and partner. Kathleen is 17 years old than me, and had been a widow for a few years by the time of this story, which is October 1996. She does not enjoy playing bridge.

Tuesday was our day for the outing to Granada and the Alhambra, and because we had to join the bus by the Iranian Supermarket - three blocks away at 8.45, we had to make sure we had an early start and breakfast no later than 8.

We got to the bus slightly early, but our friends almost didn’t make it, and the bus pulled away promptly at 8.45. It was quite a pleasant day. still chilly and the hint of rain, but warmish. We had a very good tour guide who turned out to be from Luton - we were all speculating on her accent.

The guide told us about the economy of the country  and the various historical places that we passed - and how the way of life was so different here. She had a Spanish boyfriend and when it was time to plant potatoes, the whole family went out and planted them on Sunday - and they put in hundreds of bushels. The same was true of harvesting times. Mostly the area was peopled by small farmers who sold their produce to bigger co-ops in the large cities.

The land gradually rose as we went North, and before long we could see lots of snow on the Sierra Nevada peaks. She was very excited because when she had last taken a tour the Friday before, there was only a sprinkling. She was a very good guide - with lots of little amusing stories about the land and myths to pass on to us.
 
This went on for about 1 1/2 hours and then we pulled into the large city of Granada. We were to have half an hour to wander around - possibly going to the basilica behind the department store, as that was where the toilets were - so we all headed there as soon as the bus stopped. We were to meet her again in front of the bus at 11.

Kathleen and I did the required loo stop, and then sort of wandered through the aisles looking at maps and books and gloves and handbags and looking for little things to buy for souvenirs. Then we made our way through the store, up the street and into the basilica which was very dark, but very impressive. There were lots of beggars around the doors of the church - you had to step over them practically. We felt we should give them something - but only had big notes. So Kathleen determined that we would go back in the store, buy something to get some change and go back. But we never did find anything to buy, so we just had to say a prayer for the beggars and hoped that would help a bit.

At 5 to 11, we found our guide and stuck to her, and then the bus arrived and we all got on - that is all but one couple who were seated just to the front and across from us. We waited and waited, but they didn't come. The tour guide went into the store and around the other side, and couldn't find them. Finally at 10 past, she decided that we must go on - she would take us to our next place of interest, and then she would walk back and try to find them again.

When the bus got a few streets further into the centre, we were diverted off the beaten track by a policeman. There were road repairs and no busses were to be allowed into the shopping area. So we got out, and our guide took us through back alleys and narrow streets until we emerged in a large square. She showed us where the museums and university buildings were - and where we were to meet after lunch - and how to get to the Cathedral.

When we were walking towards the Cathedral, we met up with our missing couple - who said they saw our bus drive away at 11 - so joined another group. They were rude to our guide, and she was fairly rude back, both claiming the high moral ground. But they were on time for all the rest of our deadlines that day.

After our guide left us on our own, we thought we were go first to the Cathedral - and by avoiding some more beggars, we found our way in, bought tickets - and first went into the robing rooms. Each room had thick stone walls, and was surrounded with large oil paintings by no doubt ancient famous people - but we had no guide and no labels to help us out. We tried to join a group, but they were being instructed in German, so that didn't help much. So we just did our own thing and went from side chapel to side chapel and picture to picture.

It was an enormous cathedral and if you put 20 pesetas into a slot at the side of a chapel, it would light up. Someone came up and asked us for this coin, but of course we didn't have any small change even yet - so couldn't help them out. Somebody else did have the right coin, and the chapel was lit up, and we rushed over to get the benefit of it, even though we hadn't been able to help light it up. We probably stayed half an hour in the Cathedral, beginning to wonder at the end if we would find out way out - it was so huge and everything looked alike after awhile. But we did get out, and cringed past a few more beggars.

We now were looking for one of our little alleyways - where Kathleen had seen some backless leather slippers that she thought would just do the trick for her poor aching feet. We went up one little street and down another, and they all looked sort of alike, but for a long time we didn't come across the stall we were looking for. We did find some slippers and they looked about right - so Kathy tried them on - sort of balancing on my arm while she did so. The man offered her a place to sit on a low bench - but that almost looked worse to try to get up from, so she struggled with balancing. They fit nice - they looked good - except for the odd squashed fly on them - but the real question was - were they a good bargain? We asked the man how much. “1500 pesetas,” he said. Well, at that stage, I could only think in equivalents. We had spent 400 on 2 small glasses of sherry - which I reckoned was about £2 - so these would be about £8 or $12. I thought they were expensive for that - or at least not a bargain - so I talked her out of it, and I think she regretted following my advice every after, because we never again did see any better bargains in slippers that she would have liked as well.

So then we started looking for a place to eat. The best place, according to our guide was a place where you ate inside and had maroon chairs and they had toilets upstairs. So we went around searching for maroon chairs, and who should call our attention but our American friends - who wanted to live in Portland. So we joined them for soup - and although it wasn't the right restaurant, it was okay - and we enjoyed talking to them again.

After the meal we continued to wander the streets for awhile, and then after we found our rendezvous point, and found we still had lots of time. Kathleen wanted to change some American money, so we found a bank, and eventually she got waited on. There seemed to be no hurry in anyone's way of working in Spain. You just had to wait until they finished their 10 minute chat to the friend who came in just ahead of you.

When we rejoined the group, the bus wound its way out of the town, and up to the Alhambra - which was the castle of the Moorish leaders from about 900-1400 when the Christians kicked them out. We did have a guide for our tour of the Alhambra, and I learned the one thing he seemed to know, as he repeated it at least 20 times. Before 1400, the Moors and the Christians and the Jews lived and worked happily together - and together they contributed to the beautiful decorations and architecture of this delicate and most beautiful series of buildings. But when the Christians got the ascendancy, things took a downward dive, and still continue to go downwards today.

Kathleen was a bit disappointed because our last bit of the tour was to see the gardens, and she had this picture of amazing pools and beautiful gardens stretching for miles in all directions. The reality was somewhat more modest - and as we no longer had a guide by then, we didn’t even get to properly appreciate what it was we did see.

Just outsisde the Alhambra are the trogolodyte dwellings - lots of lived-in caves, now quite an expensive buy rather than what they were originally, a free shelter.

Back to the bus by 4.45 - back to hotel by 6.15 - back to a poor excuse for supper by 6.45, and back to the dreaded bridge table by 8. We again opted to play North-South, but this time picked a table nearer the middle of the room which we thought might we less draughty. We were lucky in that we sat behind Joan and John - regulars of all these trips who often win something - but mainly are known for their good bargain shopping. Joan and John had the cards the time before we did, and Joan, who was playing South like Kathleen, always put her cards in order before they were passed on. I never do that, but apparently you are supposed to either do that or mess up the order so that good players can’t guess from the order of the cards what the previous table played for each trick.

Kathleen said she was so tired and so discouraged that she couldn’t have possibly sorted out her hand herself so for Joan to have done it for her was a great gift. Even lifting the cards was hard work for Kathleen that night. We were so tired, and our feet still hurt, as well as our legs and backs, and all the nice people in the room that we played against couldn't convince Kathleen that this was really a fun game. But we came 4th that night - just goes to show that what you score has very little relevance to how you feel.