This one’s long. I apologize. But it’s worth the read J
I looovvveedd Granada!! Just leaving on an overnight train now to Barcelona. Luckily, this one is not hot and I don’t have to take off my stinky boots and bug everyone around me bc I’m wearing my good ol’ cheap shower sandals.
My friend Michael that I met in Sevilla is on this train too, so it was pretty relaxing to get to the train station this time and hop on. He’ll come to Barcelona with me for at least the first day, then I’m supposed to meet some guys I met in Lisbon who are backpacking. Very cool and from San Francisco.
So back to Granada. Took me forever to write my last Spain blog bc I caught up so soon in Granada. I stayed at the best hostel—Makuto Hostel up near the Albayzin area of central Granada. That’s where the rhasta folk and gypsies live. At first, I was weary bc it was up in a crazy maze of small streets, but after meeting others in the hostel, I found my way quite easily and became quite a tour guide. It has a hippie kind of style to it, and they were playing regee music or sweet Spanish music all the time in the central terrace. Hammocks dotted the place and a bar with mojitos, cerveza and other goodies was always open. The people who work there don’t work for pay, but for accommodation and free food all the time. It’s a pretty sweet deal bc they get a good amount of time to travel. They were all super friendly too and very chill. My bed was part of a 3 bed bunk contraption. I picked the middle one, thinking it would be easy to get to and found out the opposite. I literally had to jump in from the ladder and somehow slide out and over the ledge while hoping I would find the ground below somewhere along the way. Weird, but only for 2 nights. A very family feel place though. It was small, so it was quite easy to meet people.
My time in Granada began by meeting Jeanne and Andrew, a couple from Minnesota on my bus ride from Sevilla. After settling into my hostel, I randomly ran into them on the street bc that’s Granada—the city center is so small that you see the same people all the time! Very cool for such a big city. So Jeanne, Andrew and I got some food—hamburgers, I know I know, but I was realllllly craving one for a while now. We went up to the Mirador de San Nicholas (the View from San Nicholas Church) which is up above my hostel’s maze and overlooks a good chunk of the city, including the Alhambra. It’s great for sunset. Lots of tourists, but still a cool vibe with the Spanish guitar in someone’s lap and a flamenco dancer doin her thing. We parted afterward, and it was a warm way to spend the first evening there, esp cuz I hadn’t met anyone yet.
Then, I get back to the hostel and meet two girls, Jen and Kate. Jen’s from Wisconsin and Kate’s from Germany. We hit some tapas bars and they are AWESOME. La Reviera was my favorite. In Granada, they are known to give you free tapas with your drink order, whether it’s a Coke, a beer, or a Tinto de Verano. At this particular place, they not only give you free tapas with your 2 euro beverage, but they let you choose from a good menu which one you want. Usually, they just serve you the one of the day, and they get better with the more drinks you buy. So we tried a bunch and shared them and I was fuller than ever bc I had that burger before. But hey, I only spent 4 euro and I got tons of food and 2 drinks.
We went out and about, meeting people and checking out the area and bars near our hostel. Felt refreshing to act socially normal, even though Sevilla gave me that chance.
Next day, we had lots of plans. Kate and I went on a walking tour offered by a girl in our hostel. There was one other girl, Mary, from Quebec, so it was very small and unique. She took us around Albayzin for 2 hours, and we checked out not only some amazing views unseen by the normal tourist, but also a cute market where I bought strawberries and other fruits. We sat and ate them at the best view I had seen the whole time of the Alhambra and the rest of the city. Such a nice moment with just the 4 of us girls, eating strawberries in the sun. We went to the Cuevas de San Miguel next. These are the caves where people live. Normal looking holes in the mountain with a cute door here or there and maybe some lawn furniture. And a clothesline. People live here year-round and even have cable TV and internet. Guess they are pretty elaborate inside, just like houses, but we didn’t go in one bc the homeowners like to invite you in merely for a tip. Still, very surreal to imagine living there, in such basic conditions, but with the best view in the city. Quite a hike too. Definitely not feeling guilty about keeping my running shoes clean and unused on this trip.
Near Albyzine. Gypsies live in this area.
Lots of cactus.
Cave House.
Cave House.
View of Granada and Alhambra area. Alhambra on top left.
Later, Kate and I met Jen and Jen took us to some graffiti art she found out about the other day. AMAZING. This local artist, El Nino de Las Pinturas, paints graffiti art, mostly contemporary, around the city. Lots of streets in a specific area have one or two in random places, but there are a couple with lots of pics. Think I’m gonna frame some….We went shopping after we got a second wind, despite walking around the city for almost 6 hours by now. Bought lots here bc it’s cheap, Barcelona will be expensive, and bc it’s probs my favorite place on the trip.
(BEGINNING-All the graffiti by El Nino de Los Pinturas. Lots bc I lovvveeed them)
Two men who took our pic on a bench. SO cute and funny.
Later, my friend Michael, whom I met in my hostel in Sevilla, arrived to my hostel and Kate, Jen and I went to Chinese food. We were craving it. And it was de-lish. Ate tons of food, but it was worth the fullness. We went back to our hostel bar because it’s so cool and met more people staying in our hostel. Michael was in heaven—so many girls there!
View from the Alhambra of the hill where my hostel was. Right below the church towers.
Today, Michael and I left early for the Alhambra. It’s one of the most popular places to visit in Europe, so lines are long and reservations are highly recommended. We made reservations online for 9:30a and had to leave our hostel around 8:30a to get there on time. We barely made it!! The property of the Alhambra itself is so large, it took us 45 minutes to get from the bottom of it’s hill to our final meeting spot where they lastly check our tickets.
The Alhambra is a former Moorish town. A palatine fortified town. According to my brochure, “between the XII and XV century, it was used as the residence for the Nasrid Sultans, high commanders, civil servants of the royal court and soldiers of the elite. It’s HUGE. Took us about 2.5 hours to navigate through the place. It had some incredible views and of course, some very elaborate architecture, fountains and rooms as it was very Arabic and almost Asian in style. It was way more enjoyable to have Michael with me as I could point to something cool and someone would be there to agree or disagree with me. And take my picture.
Inside the Alhambra.
Stuff.
Inside Alhambra.
Cat in Alhambra.
Inside Alhambra.
Washington Irving lived in this room for awhile in the Alhambra.
View from one Alhambra tower.
The floor at the Alhambra in one room.
Pretty garden area.
Alhambra.
On one of the towers. The main one actually...
I showed him the graffiti art, bought a small rolly suitcase for all my latest souveniers, then headed to tapas. I took him to the same place Kate, Jen and I liked-La Reviera, which made it my 3rd visit in 36 hours. Very cool moment as we noshed on local cuisine and sang along to Miley Cyrus. HA.
We next met up with a friend of Michael’s, Victor from Cornell too, and his friend Justine. They were so fun and easy going. They were both on Spring Breaks (so is Michael). I took them to a tapas bar I visited the other day because it had such a cool atmosphere. Found out about Justine more. She graduated from Johns Hopkins and is now getting PAID to get her Masters etc. in Saudi Arabia. It is the first year of this program that a King/Sultan started. It is very international—300? Students from 70 countries. They get PAID $25,000 to go to school here and everything is included and super high tech. It’s for science majors and environmental majors only. Counts me out completely…..
Anywho, she is completely immersed in the Saudi lifestyle and loves it. She made me realize it’s not risky, but just different. I loved hearing about all the details of how she lives. For instance, her weekends are on Thursday and Friday, not the usual bank weekends of Saturday and Sunday for us. She has met many of the Kings and royalty of Saudi Arabia because of her school connections and lives in “The Kingdom”. In restaurants, there are two rooms: one for “Families” and one for “Males”. They can’t really legally party, but instead they can go to sha-shish bars (Huka bars). Just very interesting details in general.
I took the 4 of us up to the Mirador de San Nicholas bc it was about sunset. The view was amazing bc the morning rain cleared. Lots of people to watch and Victor and Justine brought snacks: 1 euro 50 cent wine, baguettes, cheese, apples and salami. SO yummy. A guy named Max ran into us from our hostel, and we all hung out and played Uno. Justine’s Uno deck was the Disney “Cars” theme. Very neat.
So here I am. Nice and cool and wearing shower sandals and very excited to be on my last city of this leg of my trip. Gonna be a big one, an expensive one, but I can’t wait to see Jess and Richard again. Will be nice to relax with family (yes, Dick you are officially my international brother now), and of course, unload some of my HUGE backpack at his place J
Hasta luego!
PS. I hope I get sick of chorizo soon. Eat it WAY too much. Good thing Granada had some hefty hills near my hostel…..
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