This the 'cortijo' that I live in: El Hornillo. Yes, that is indeed a swimming pool, and yes, it is unfortunately empty! But... 

We have a very nice little courtyard. When you go into that little hall in the middle and walk 3 more steps, you enter.... 

My humble but nice studio! In the morning when I wake up, I make breakfast and eat it in...

The garden! It is insane how big it is. This is only part of it, there's different terraces that you can reach by climbing up or down different stairs. This picture only shows the right side, but if you would take a look at the other side, you would discover that...

My neighbors are cavemen: Meet the Flintstones! Yeah, there is many great things to see around here... I also like to look around and drink a coffee on...

The roof terrace. Nice place to sit and enjoy the morning sun. Plus it gives you a nice view of...

The way down to the center of Granada...

Big In Japan!

Every morning I descend Sacromonte. Usually to find the nearest internetcafe to get some work done. Sometimes just to do some groceries or get a cup of coffee, read a Spanish newspaper and sit in the sun on Plaza Nueva. The walk is always the same, but never boring. Autumn and winter here are completely different from the seasons in Holland. In Holland you do not want to leave your house after September, because it is so damn cold outside. Here I wake up and I have to go out as soon as possible, because my room is so damn cold. At night it gets pretty cold and only the rich have central heating here, so there is nothing you can do about it. But as soon as I leave my house, the sun warms me up within seconds. Walking here is a joy, every time. The sun is the central heater around here.

It takes me about 25 minutes to get to the center of Granada. The view I have while I walk is magnificent. The first 15 minutes I am surrounded by hills, little white houses, caves, fields and donkeys. When I get closer to the center, I enter the ´barrio´where you can find all the traditional Andalusian stuff that tourist dig: Flamenco bars, Spanish guitar schools, tapas bars and best of all: an incredible view of the Alhambra, which is on the hill opposite Sacromonte.

One morning, just doing the usual, I see a group of Japanese tourists in front of one of the Flamencobars. At least they look like tourists at first sight. When I get closer, I notice that the cameras they are carrying are very big and professional, even for Japanese standards. It seems to be a TV-crew. I happen to wear my Mucky Pup shirt with a large picture of Sonic the Hedgehog on it. They notice and start making weird Japanese sounds. Oooi, ieeee, aaii! I approach them.

¨Ello, is you Spanish?¨ one of them says.

¨No,¨ I say, ¨I am from Holland.¨

¨Aaaaaah, nice country, Holland, we like!¨ the guy who seems to be the head of the crew says. ¨But you live here? What you do?¨

¨I am trying to be a journalist,¨ I say, ¨and yeah, I live here, I just arrived two weeks ago¨

¨Aaaaaaah, is very beautiful here, is nit?¨ the crewleader says. Then he turns over to one of the cameramen and tells him something in Japanese. The cameraman nods and points his camera to me. The crewleader turns back to me again.

¨We want to make film of you. You say same as before. You name, you live here, you like, everything for the Japanese people!¨

Well, how could I refuse that? So I stood in front of the camera, told them my name, why I was here and some other crap they seemed to think was very interesting. At least the interviewer kept nodding enthusiastically. But I have seen Japanese people do that before. It seems to be more a matter of politeness than anything else. I bet if I told him the same thing in Dutch, he would have nodded just as hard...

¨Thank you much, Chris, you do very good.¨I said it was nothing, shook their hands and continued my walk. While the sun warmed my face, I fantasized about being a TV star in Japan. I think I smiled all the way till Plaza Nueva.

Ever since then, I got this Tom Waits song in my head:

I got the style but not the grace
I got the clothes but not the face
I got the bread but not the butter
I got the winda but not the shutter

But hey I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan But hey I'm big in Japan

Hey ho, they love the way I do it
Hey ho, there's really nothing to it