Granada, Spain

I took a three hour bus ride from Seville to Granada. I arrived in Granada before check in time at the hostel so I dropped my bag off and set out on a walk. I walked down a street called Calle Calderería Nueva - one of the most famous/significant streets of Andalusia.  It is located in one of the oldest parts of the city in the historic center and is also referred to as 'the street of the tea shops' or 'Little Morocco'. It is known for its Moorish tea houses and shops. It very much reminded me of when I was in Morocco, it was a cool street to visit. I wandered the streets near Plaza Nueva and stopped at a tapas restaurant called La Buena Vida. Granada is known for its tapas and most places serve you a tapa with your drink - some let you choose, others bring you something random. At this place you could choose your own tapa. I ordered a tinto de verano and got a tasty piece of bread topped with goat cheese and caramelized onions along with some potatoes with a tasty sauce. With the tapas included, you only pay for the drink so the whole thing cost me €2.50. 

After my snack, I visited the Cathedral. It cost me €4 to get in using my student ID and once inside you could use your phone to listen to a self guided tour. Inside the cathedral there is the most stunning altar  have ever seen, it was incredible! 

Next, I went into the Basilica de San Juan de Dios which cost me €6 using my student ID. There was virtually no one there and the audioguide was a bit long and boring (or maybe I was just a bit tired at that point...) but overall it was a very beautiful building. The altar was extremely beautiful - I think the Baroque style is really neat! After visiting the Basilica I headed back to my hostel to check in and cool down - it was ridiculously hot walking around in the sun.

I stayed at Eco Hostel in a 6 bed mixed dorm. The room itself was not the nicest, the top bunk was very high up and a bit wiggly. The rest of the hostel however, was quite nice. They offered lots of social events everyday and I met a lot of very friendly people there. I relaxed for a bit after checking in and chatted with a super friendly girl in my room from the UK. 

I then took myself out for another walk. I got some pomegranate gelato and learned that granada in Spanish means pomegranate. I read my book in the park Plaza de los Lobos for a while then I strolled around La Alcaicería o antiguo mercado de la seda - an Arabic-style bazaar (or old silk market) featuring vendors selling clothes, purses, souvenirs, jewellry, etc. in a labyrinth of narrow streets. 

Back at the hostel, I chatted with my roomates and then we went up to the 4th floor for a complimentary glass of Sangria and we chatted on the adorable little balcony with stunning views. We enjoyed some tapas and the hostel workers cooked us a chicken paella dinner. I met a guy from Vancouver that I have mutual friends from High School with. We visited, had some drinks, Nina played guitar and then we all headed to bed. It was such a fun, chill night! 

The next morning, I woke up early and walked to Plaza Nueva. I stopped at Artesanos de Granada (because it was pretty much the only thing open that early) and had a cappuccino and ham and cheese croissant. 

Then I 'hiked' up to the Alhambra for my guided tour. My tour guide was fantastic - very entertaining, funny, nice and informative. We visited the Nasrid Palaces which were incredible and then the Alcazaba and then the Generalife. Everything there was so incredibly beautiful it didn't feel real, I was awestruck the whole entire time. It was fascinating to me how plain the outside was versus how decorated the inside of the complex was. Again, the mix of Muslim/Christian history and architecture was amazing. 

I noticed many bookstores around Granada. There are also many Gypsies around trying to hand you rosemary and read your palms for money. I went to Bar La Riviera and got a tinto de verano and a croquette with a few fries for a snack, it cost €2.30. I wandered some more streets and shops and got some coconut gelato. I headed back to the hostel to shower, cool down, read and rest for a bit - SO HOT!

I went back to La Buena Vida later for a snack - I lived on 'snacks' the entire time I was in Granada - I tried the spinach croquettes and a york y queso rosco - yum! I met my walking tour group at 7:30pm and we toured around the Albaicin neighbourhood which is full of hills and pretty buildings. We visited a beautiful (secret) sunset viewpoint and then continued up to the famous/very busy Mirador de San Nicolás. We learned so much fascinating history and had great conversations with our tour guide, she was super cool. We continued through the beautiful streets into the Sacromonte neighbourhood. I found it really interesting to learn that it is much cheaper to live in the Sacromonte neighbourhood than in the Albaicin neighbourhood even though they have the same views of the Alhambra and original houses. This is because the Sacromonte neighbourhood cannot be considered a UNESCO world heritage site because the Gypsies live there. I loved this area and enjoyed learning more about the Gypsies that live there and their connection to Flamenco music and dancing. We went to a place near the Mirador de la Vereda de Enmedio where we saw lots of interesting people hanging out, enjoying drinks and watching the sunset over the Alhambra. We saw the cave like Gypsy houses that are built into the hillside and saw some famous Flamenco caves. If I had the time, I would've loved to catch another Flamenco show here.

After the tour, three Australian girls and I decided to go for tapas together, they were so nice! Official tapas time in Granada is 1-4 and 8-12. We went to a place where you order a drink for €3 and get a surprise tapa. For €9, I had three glasses of tinto de verano and three tapas. The first tapa was a swedish meatball type thing served with fries and a plate of chips, the second was a fried eggplant dish with honey or molasses (very tasty), and the third was some sort of fried fish. After tapas we ended up at Hannigan & Sons (an Irish bar) where we met up with my friends from my hostel for karaoke. We drank a bunch more tinto de verano - so cheap! - chatted, sang, danced, and stayed up way too late. I went to bed at 3am and woke up at 6:30am to head to the airport - I slept the entire way to Barcelona (very short flight). 

Overall, I absolutely loved Granada. Everything was super cheap, I met amazing people and I loved my walking tour and visiting the Alhambra! Also, I think Calgary needs to get on this cheap drinks and snacks (tapas) thing.