Friday -- Special Edition: European Hotels are Weird

So, before I get into the Alhambra, it's worth a brief digression on the surprises of the hotels. This was particularly the case in Granada, although the two major items were the same at Juries in Bristol as well.

Minor Item 1: the bidet. Seriously, you'd think that a place catering to foreign business travelers would have an explanation for how to *use* the damned thing. (I mostly ignored it.)

Minor Item 2: turning on the shower. Okay, this one may not be a general European thing, it may just be that the AC Palacio (like the Conrad a few months ago) is too high-end for its own good, fond of elements that are pretty, fancy, and impractical. In this case, the big button-like knob to turn the water from "tub" to "shower". We spent about five minutes trying to get it to do *something*; I finally had to call down to the front desk and get an engineer to show me, feeling like a right idiot. Turns out that it pulls up like normal, but it is so *stiff* that I have to grasp it hard and pull so hard I worried I was going to damage the spigot; with Kate's wrist issues, she couldn't get it to work at all. Fine example of form utterly crushing function.

Really Weird 1: the shower door. The shower looks like this:( Read more... )

Really Weird 2: your card key controls the lights. When you enter the room, you *must* do this with your key:( Read more... )

On the plus side, the last weird thing about our room is that, instead of blinds, it had thick wooden shutters. These were remarkably effective, keeping the room pretty close to black until we opened them. Very useful for sleeping that first night.

Next: up to the Alhambra

Signal Boost -- Lunch with Carolingia Fundraiser

Some of you have already seen this on the Carolingian mailing list or Facebook group, but for those who haven't -- we've got a big fundraiser going, to raise money to buy some official Baronial Coronets. It's a clever idea: a bunch of folks have volunteered to prepare lunches for lucky winners of the opportunities. It's a great collection of cooks, including LJ friends tpau, ladysprite and learnedax.

Here's the official blurb -- I recommend checking it out:

What day is not improved by an excellent lunch? For only a $5 donation, that day could be *your* day!

Unlike most of the rest of the Baronies in the Kingdom, Carolingia does not have hereditary Baronial coronets. In order to raise money to make our Barons and Baronesses all shiny and heraldic-y, we are offering the chance to win one (or more) of twelve beautiful, delicious luncheons prepared by some of the Barony's most accomplished cooks and delivered to an upcoming event of your choice. There are lunches of all kinds, and you may donate as often as you like for as many different chances as you would like - roast goose from the cook's own backyard...Roman market finger foods...a dessert feast...and many more, most for 4-6 diners. A bargain at $5!

The fundraiser runs right up until September 30, and the drawings for the winners will be held at Council on October 1.

Donations can be made through the fundraiser's website at http://www.lunchwithcarolingia.org - bid early, bid often, and good eating!