Granada Nov 12-14

So as I mentioned in my previous post, on Friday after class I went straight home to eat since I had to be at the bus station at 4:00 so we could catch our 4:30 bus to Granada.  By we, I mean Katie, my professor Ana, and me.  Katie and I had paid for this trip through tuition so basically it felt like it was free since we didn't have to buy any of our meals or pay for a hostel and whatnot.  But anyway, the bus left at 4:30 and got in around 9:30 to Granada.  Once we got there we took a taxi to our hotel because it was quite a distance away from the train station.  Once at the hotel we checked in and put our bags in our rooms and got ready to go out to eat.

Palace of Carlos V

Our hotel was amazing.  Nothing like the hostels Katie and I have been staying in on our other trips (though those were not bad, they just don't compare to a nice hotel room). It was an old house and still retained all the charm that it once had.  It was basically formed like most old spanish homes in a rectangular shape with a big open patio in the middle.  Katie and I shared a room on the first floor that looked right out over the patio.  It had exposed wooden beam ceilings which I love.  The room was small, but comfortable with a lot of charm.



On Friday we went out to a local tapas bar.  Let me tell you, the tapas in Granada were some of the best I've ever had. Yumyum.  The bar was pretty packed but we managed to sneak a spot at the bar.  We ordered chorizo in cider, some type of ham, salmoreja (which is a thicker version of gazpacho usually with ham pieces in it), manchego cheese, and pork.  We got a free tapa of chicken wings in some sort of delicious sauce with potatoes.  The food was great and the atmosphere was even better.  We spent our time finding all the good looking men in the bar and giving them a rating of 1-10 (this was Ana's idea!). Once we finished it was almost 1 am and Katie and I were wiped. So we went back to the hotel and slept.

On Saturday we had to make sure we were ready to meet our tour guide at 9:30 so we had to haul our tired bums out of bed and make sure we ate a little breakfast before we left.  Our tour guide then brought us all to the Alhambra which is the old Islamic village.

If you put your left hand in the
water you're supposed to
return to Granada with your lover.

A bit of Spanish history.  In the end of the 5th century after the fall of the Western Roman Empire the visigoths invaded from the north and assumed power. However they were not very strong which gave the Arabs the perfect opportunity to conquer the entirety of Spain.  The Arabs ruled in Spain from the end of the 7th century AD to 1492 (remember our good friend Columbus?) when Ferdinand and Isabella married and reunited Catholic Spain. Ok so, how does this all relate to Granada? Well, Granada is only about 40 km from the coast.  So it was one of the FIRST towns conquered by the invading Arabs, and since the re-conquering of Spain by the Christians began in the north and took oh just 800 years to finish, Granada was one of the LAST cities to be re-conquered.  Therefore, the Arab influence is clearly evident in Granada.

The tree is supposed to have
relaxing qualities.

So back to 2010, Saturday November 13 to be exact. In the Alhambra our tour guide took us to all the important places such as the Palace of Carlos V, Palace of the Lions, Hall of the Two Sisters etc.  The place is architecturally fantastic (but don't tell my Art and Architecture teacher I said that) and it's location on a giant hill allows for amazing views of the city and the Sierra Nevada mountains.  If you want to know more about the Alhambra here's the website link!  http://www.alhambradegranada.org/


After the Alhambra we went out to lunch at this place our tour guide recommended.  The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the tapas from the night before.  Once we had finished eating we went back to the hotel to rest for a little bit. We contemplated contracting the tour guide to take us to other places around Granada, but she was wayyy to expensive.  So instead we came up with our own plan.  After a lovely nap (minus the whacky dream) we took the bus up to el miradora de San. Nicolas (ie view point of saint nicholas).  It had an amazing view of the Alhambra on the left with the snowcapped mountains in the background then the entire city plus the sunset stretched out on the left. Absolutely gorgeous.

After that we took the bus back down (it was a long walk with windy roads and we didn't have time to waste walking) and we went and visited the Cathedral.  It was already 6:45 by that point and they closed at 7:30 so we only really had about 35 minutes once we bought the tickets to look around.  It was a lot simpler church then others that I have been to here in Spain, but it was still nice.

After the cathedral we went shopping. Well mostly Katie and Ana went shopping. I didn't really want to get anything so I just tagged along and did some window shopping.  After a while we decided it was time for dinner since we knew we weren't going to be awake much longer if we kept walking around and shopping.  We went to another local tapas bar (but this time we got to at least sit down!). No one was very hungry so we split half a ration of cheese, a plate of iberian meats, and more salmoreja.  It was good, but not as good as the night before.  After that we went to this delicious frozen yogurt place since we were craving something sweet.  We nearly froze eating icecream while walking back to the hotel, but it was worth it.


On Sunday we didn't really have a lot of time because we had to leave our hotel around 3 to catch a 4:00 bus.  Since we were really tired however we slept in and packed up our things in a leisurely fashion. First we went on a walk along the old canal right by our hotel.  It was so pretty. Like being transported back in time a few centuries.  Then we walked to the Cathedral again so we could see the Chapel where Ferdinand and Isabella are interred. After that we went to another recommended restaurant and had more yummy tapas. Tapas all around! We had the biggest croquets in the world.  Carolyn would be sooo jealous.  After we ate though it was time to get ready to pick up our bags and head to the train station.  The bus got back to Madrid around 9 pm.  It was a lovely weekend!!