Granada, Flamenco and the Alhambra

Trev's turn to drive from Mazarron to Granada (around 260km) with me as navigator.  Again, we were driving through pretty scrubby, desert country.  I had booked 3 nights at Hotel Navas, in the centre of Granada, we knew that there was no parking available at the hotel, and when we arrived there we discovered why....

We found our street without any trouble, thanks to our trusty GPS, who we call Kate.  However it was so narrow and had signs that looked like they said 'no entry' (they didn't) that Trev decided we couldn't get up there.  So on we continued, and that threw Kate into a bit of a hissy fit... she didn't know which way was up, and neither did we.  We drove around a very big block, which of course was mostly one-way roads, till we came back to the road we thought we should be on again.  As we drove up there, a man on a moped knocked on the window - I wound it down, and he asked where we trying to go.  I told him 'Hotel Navas' - he indicated to follow him, so off we went again around the block and he delivered us back to where we had passed our street previously.  He then knocked on the window and we handed him 5 Euro for his time (which I thought was way over the top) - but then the cheeky mongrel asked for more money!!!  'Ten Euros for my bambino', he said!  You've got to be joking - we pretended we didn't understand, offered him the 5 Euro, and he insisted 'ten euros for my bambino'.  By now we were all a little pxxxxxxed off with him so we wound up our window and started driving.  He was not a happy chappie, and neither were we.  Welcome to Granada....

Trev tried driving up this very narrow street, only to find that there really was nowhere to go - he was not happy with me! He did a 3-point turn to get back to the end of the street and waited while Bill and I got out of the car to find our hotel, check in and ask where we could park.  We were greeted by a cheerful man on the desk who told us we could park in the underground carpark just where we had left the others.  But to check in we needed our passports, which of course were back in the car.  Bill hurried out, returned with the passports and we did the paperwork.  Then we went down to help Lorraine and Trev with all our luggage.  Lugging all our suitcases back up the hill was fun, but finally we were in our rooms.  They were small but clean, overlooking one of the main restaurant streets in the centre of town.  We didn't have to go far to find food!

After sorting our rooms out we went downstairs and got some information about visiting the Alhambra and seeing a Flamenco show.  We arranged to do both over the next couple of days - see my other posts for these.

Bill keeps cool under
the fine mist

Next, the serious business of what to eat ... we wandered up and down our little street, where most of the restaurants sprayed fine mists of water over the diners to keep them cool under the hot summer sun - brilliant idea.  I can't remember what we had to eat that night, but I know it was probably accompanied by a couple of Cervesas and sangria.

We walked around the town and visited the huge Catholic Cathedral.  I was accosted, not once, but twice, by women thrusting sprigs of rosemary into my hand to bring me good luck and purity (a bit late for that!).  After saying 'no, gracias', I'm sure they said some rude Spanish words to me - the second one persisted even more, telling my fortune - strangely enough, I am going to live a long life, be lucky in love, and have a strong, pure heart!  I was so happy to hear this, then she shoved the rosemary into my hand, asked for a 'donation', I shoved it back into hers, and she also said some rude Spanish words!  And in front of the Cathedral!

Granada Cathedral
viewed from Alhambra

We paid 4 Euro to go inside the Cathedral, and it was beautiful.  And huge - we saw it from the Alhambra a couple of days later, and really appreciated how big it was.  You really can't grasp the size of it from ground level, surrounded by shops and little alleyways.  

There was a beautiful spice shop near the Cathedral - it smelled amazing, and had big containers full of colourful, finely ground spices.  

A plate of fried fishes

I've lost track of the meals we had, but one of the better ones was when Trev and I shared a plate of 'fried fishes' which consisted of whitebait, small prawns, calamari, fish pieces - very tasty.  Lorraine and Bill shared a large plate of grilled prawns and they were also very happy with that.  I know this blog seems to be a succession of food descriptions, but I think half the fun of travelling is trying different cuisines - some you like, some you don't, but you have to try!

Granada has been interesting, fun, and sometimes confronting.  Being ripped off by our 'moped guide' to start with, followed by the 'rosemary ladies' and a constant stream of people begging for money while we were eating or walking the streets was very uncomfortable.  But it's a really vibrant city with lots of good things going for it.  I loved the flamenco and the visit to Albayzin and the Alhambra, and there were lots of good restaurants, with tasty food and wine at very reasonable prices.  So overall, we've had a good time here.  Next, we're off to Manilva on the Costa del Sol to stay in a 2-bedroom apartment for 4 days.  Should be fun.