Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, duchess of Cornualles were visiting Spain this week for three days, after visiting Portugal and before leaving for Morocco on Saturday. And during the same dates Prime Minister, David Cameron was coming to Granada with his wife Samantha as a present for her next 40th birthday, since she really likes Spain. And I have thought of making a post rescuing several anecdotes of both journeys.
Related to the Royal visitors, firstly I have to say that there are especial family knots that Spanish and British Royal families share: Queen Victoria of England was great-grandmother Queen Sofia and Prince Charles is also a second cousin of Queen Sofia through King George I of Greece.
Although his official hosts are the prince and princess of Aturia, Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall stayed at the palace of El Pardo, which in theory is only reserved for heads of state. They were received by Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia last Wednesday late in the morning. Firstly, under a hot sun (even a Royal guard couldn’t stand the sun and got fainted) they were taken to the Plaza Mayor (the center of the old city of Madrid) and to a especial delicatessen market- Mercado de San Miguel- where they declined to taste one of the most typical products of this country, cured ham (have you ever tried? I really love it!), but instead they preferred to enjoy a delicious (according to them) apricot yoghourt (perhaps because it was nearly tea time and besides, it is very well known that Prince Charles is vegetarian). Another funny moment was when a child came wearing the Spanish national team T-shirt with David Villa number. That night they had a dinner at the Royal Palace (of course, how wouldn’t?).
Then they visited (according to their own interests) a technology center where biomass fuel developed (the Prince, since he is very involved in sustainable development) and a blind handicapped Foundation to visit a dog guide program (the Duchess, she loves animals) and that night they had a dinner at the Ritz Hotel for a charitable foundation of the Prince of Wales.
The next day they left for Seville where they didn’t miss the typical carriage ride through the city and a visit to the Reales Alcazares where the Duchess asistió a un espectaculo de baile flamenco and then bought some dresses and suits for her grandchildren. That night they slept in the Duke of Wellington’s farm in Illora (about 30 kms. from Granada), since they are personal friends. And on Saturday they left for Morocco, making a very good impression on us, people thought Prince was very nice and lovely and the Duchess very friendly and simple with everyone.
Related to David Cameron’s trip to Granada, it was quite a surprise since nobody knew about it and in fact, they took a low cost ticket (Ryanair) and they reserved a cheap hotel at one of the most typical areas of the city, they stayed at Carmen de la Alcubilla del Caracol Hotel, a three star family run hotel with only seven rooms, though it is a “Carmen house” (this is a typical house in Granada from Muslim time, with an orchard and garden) with much charm and very good service and best of all, overlooking Sierra Nevada mountain and Granada city from all the rooms.
How different both trips were! Weren’t they? And by the way, I have to admit that I really would like to have a Prime Minister in Spain like Cameron in Great Britain, our politicians could learn quite a lot from him!
The Prime Minister is David Cameron, not James Cameron. James Cameron is a film director who directed "Titanic"
ReplyDeleteThanks! you have every reason to tell! Perhaps I changed the names because I love Titanic, I have just corrected it, thanks a lot again!!
ReplyDelete