What an amazing place. Chris and I got on the 3hours+ Renfe train Altaria to Granada this past Friday, hoping to arrive in yet another beautiful and historic Spanish city. Beautiful, indeed.
First, let me start with this amazing picture which I am proud to say that I took with my crappy camera. 🙂 It was at the Alhambra.
Breathtaking.
You can’t go to Granada and not go to the Alhambra. We visited it on the very last day of our trip (Sunday), but before that, we had to get tickets at a tourist ticketing place some twenty-minute walk from Alhambra. We were hoping to catch the bus instead of walking since you have to walk uphill (and I wasn’t feeling that). But, as it tends to happen on the day least expected, there was an “Unfair Labor Laws” strike in Granada and the roads were closed. We had no choice but to walk.
By the way, there were thousands of people peacefully marching on Gran Vía , the main street.
If there’s one thing Spaniards organize themselves well for is strikes. And they like to speak out. Gotta give it to them.
So, other than the strike, there was a lot of energy in that city. I think I’ll add Granada to the list of my favorite Spanish cities. Well, I do love the whole Andalucia area. In Granada, though, there is a huge Arab influence. It is said that the region “has further experienced Phoenician, Greek, Punic, Roman and Visigothic influences.” Its history fascinates me.
We visited a few little Moroccan shops which are spread all over Granada. They have really inexpensive items at these shops, usually every store carries the same thing, but they’re worth checking out. (The Moroccan influence was also easy to see everywhere.) It felt as if we were in a foreign country and not in Spain. It was great though.
Since Chris is a tea drinker (I mean, the guy loves his teas), it was obligatory that we stopped at a tea place–we visited about three tea houses and drank yummy tea after midnight, poured in our teacups from ceiling-high heights by our super talented waiter. I am seriously intrigued, amazed (and everything bizarre) by the way they pour tea. If I tried serving tea the way Moroccans do, there would be tea all over our table AND the table next to us! haha It is so…fascinating.
Then we decided that we had to own one of these cute little sets:
Like I said, we had everything but Spanish traditional things in Granada. I ate Moroccan food for the first time and it was delicious. I still think Spaniards and Moroccans alike overdo it with the bread, but at least they don’t force you to eat it.
So we spent the weekend in Granada walking and eating and shopping and walking…it was a great time. The weather was nice, but I guess due to the geographic position of Granada in relation to the rest of Spain, it was a bit windy almost the whole time. Other than that, it was awesome. Oh, and we found a little OK-cocktail bar right on Gran Vía! mmmmm… How do I miss a good cocktail.
Bueno, here are pictures from our trip to Granada.
Vado a Spain 
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