Granada, Spain, September 2008

As one of our humans was going to Granada in Spain for a week's conference on Cosmology Across Cultures, we had the opportunity to go with her. Granada is a big city in the southern part of Spain called Andalucia.

Click each photo to enlarge

We were told there would be lots and lots of talks. Roger of course had prepared a talk on stars and celebreties born under the Royal star, Regulus. McBear had prepared a talk entitled "The Importance of Toy Animals in Modern Cultures". It turned out, however, that bears were not granted access to the conference: We were not to be seen anywhere inside! McBear said it was an outrage against Toy Animals' rights! Instead, our human sneaked us in to the central courtyard, where we enjoyed the science park, Parque de las Ciencias. This smart fountain was run by power from a solar panel.

Granada, Spain, September 2008

Here we are enjoying a trainride. McBear called it a locomotive skateboard.

The science park was a great place; a kind of a playground and we enjoyed climbing a mesh of metal tubes whatever it was supposed to symbolize.

Granada, Spain, September 2008

There was a huge tube and when you talked into it, the sound was returned but louder. Roger tried to imitate the roar of a viking gone beserk.
"How did that sound to you?" Roger asked McBear.
"Well... more like an elephant stepping on an other elephant's trunk! But hush! We're not supposed to be here so try imitate a sleeping mouse."

We had a tour around Granada and from Mirador San Nicolas we could see across the valley to the famous castle complex, Alhambra, a world heritage site. In the horizon we could see the mountain range, Sierra Nevada, Europe's most southernly ski resort. Tom said Granada would be an ideal new destination for Tom Teddy Tours.

In one of the streets Roger passed a poster for flamingo dancing, and he felt inspired to take up the fiery flamingo dancing.

Granada, Spain, September 2008

The next day we went to see Lorca's house. This was Roger's idea as Lorca, like Roger, was a writer. However, as Roger explained, Lorca was treated unfair by the militant Franco rebellians during the Spanish civil war.
"What do you mean by 'treated unfair'?" Tom asked.
"Well, he didn't survive..."

We were still sad, when we left Lorca's House. To cheer us up, we stopped for coffee at a cafe to enjoy the local cafe con lecche.

Granada, Spain, September 2008

On a bench nearby was a cat lying enjoying the sun. Roger stopped to have a chat. Roger discovered they had a common favorite dish: Fish! As a polar bear Roger was used to delicious treats from the sea.

The next day we went to visit the world famous site, Alhambra. This complex has several castles, some of which dates back to the 13th and 14 th century when the Moors still ruled Andalucia.

Granada, Spain, September 2008

Then we went to visit another castle inside the Alhambra complex. Here we are on the walls next to the Moor fortress, Alcazaba.

Here's another famous part of Alhambra with the pools.
"Did you know, that Nordic Vikings in the 10th century went as far south as to say hello to the Moors?" Roger asked.
McBear didn't know, but having lived in Glostrup near the Danish viking capital, he was impressed.

Granada, Spain, September 2008

Inside the palace we found the most amazing Moorish architecture. Roger had a look around and realized there were people looking at us.
"I am not sure," Roger noticed, "who is the target of most of the admiration here today: Us or the architecture..."
As per usual, Roger didn't seem to mind the admiration.

Here we are admiring the faboulos palace, Palacio Nazaries.

Granada, Spain, September 2008

The walls were decorated with amazing artworks and we discussed the Arabic influence on contemporary astronomy and astrology in medieval times.
"Did you know, that most of the famous stars on the night sky like Betelgeuse and Aldebaran are actually named by Arabic astronomers - well, apart from my own star, Regulus, which is a latin name." Roger asked McBear.
"Wonder how they treated toy animals back then - if they did have TA's," McBear wondered.

Back at the science park, Roger came across a well known face....
"It's Einstein," McBear said.
"Oh, yes. I knew I had seen him somewhere before. Famous bears and people should always remember each other's names, so I didn't want to reveal I had actually forgotten his name..."

Granada, Spain, September 2008

Here we are at another science work. This solid and heavy ball is actually floating on water at high pressure, so when you touch it with a finger, it turns around. McBear wanted to try, but got his paws wet.

By the end of the week it was time to return to Ireland. We enjoyed a lovely last dinnner and we tried the delicous local olives, yummy-yum!

Granada, Spain, September 2008

After a fine week - well, apart from being denied entrance to the conference itself - but other than, we were sad to leave Granada.
"Next time, we'll be snowboarding down the Sierra Nevada!" Roger said.
"Excellent idea!" McBear agreed.