granada

This is a city I had been dreaming of returning to. I had been here 8 years ago, but only for 2 or 3 days and had hardly done much actually. I didn’t even have the chance to see the Alhambra as they were out of tickets by the time I got there. I vowed to return! And what a bonus this time… to have Pedro there to show us around in the evening and just to feel his love for this city.

We found a nice little guest house just by the city-centre; luckily too because everywhere else we checked they were either booked or what they had available was without bathroom and for the same price. So this was the first time we would be staying on our own, other than the one night in Toledo, since India! Wow! Nice change of pace for us.

We walked around the city-centre, and up to the Albaicin, the old quarter (formerly Muslim area) of Granada. There were amazing views of the Alhambra from there. While we were at the Alhambra we could hear Gitanos playing music from the city-centre, it was enchanting. We rested in a teteria (Moroccan tea and shisha café). We went out for drinks at night and discovered that when you order a drink it comes with a little sandwich or some tapa. So for 2 Euro you get a glass of sangria and a tapa. Imagine! We could have stayed at those bars forever... some people do. Then Pedro introduced us to the Italian ice-cream shop, which according to him is the perfect way to end the evening. We ordered this ice-cream that is literally a slice of ice-cream cake, put into a cone! And it’s so rich. My goodness. Nisarga went back for another every single day until the day we left Granada.

Of course, I must mention the food. No really, I must! And this time there was something for Nisarga. A place called Fresco where for 9 Euro you get unlimited salad, veggies, pizza, soup, even desert. The only sad thing about it is that Pedro introduced us to it on our second to last day, poor Nisarga. But there were also the kebabs and the crepes influence from the large Moroccan population, the fried eggplant with honey, cured ham and fava beans, and more of what we discovered in Cordoba.

We also checked out Pedro’s and Pillar’s tailor made home… almost finished. It was suppose to be completed by July but apparently the schedule is running on Andalucia time. So it’s still almost done. It’s a beauty!!! So now we know where will be resting our bones next time around. And Pedro also took us for a quick drive around the area where they like to go walking and meditate. We also visited the area where Lorca was killed by Franco’s army.

But by now Nisarga was craving beach time. So we discussed the options of heading towards Valencia for some beach. Pedro and Pillar would have none of it. They wanted to take us to their favourite beach area, Almeria. However, after endless calls there was still not a single room available that they could find through their contacts there. They usually go off season to avoid the crowds, and this was not only last minute, it is also August! Everyone is on the beach or the mountains in Spain. So against the odds, after 5 days of Granada we said good-bye to this lovely city, we packed into Pedro’s car again and headed for Almeria.

for more on granada in english: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granada

in polish: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granada_(miasto_w_Hiszpanii)