My friends Lindsay and Amanda, my roommate Lauren and her friend visiting from NYC, Rachel, went to Granada (meaning, “pomegranate” in Spanish) in Andalucia for the puente (a couple weeks before winter break). Granada is most famous for The Alhambra, an old Moorish/Islamic palace…but more on the Alhambra later.
When we first got to Granada, we headed straight to the Christmas markets, where we immediately stuffed our faces with chocolate covered bananas and roasted, sweetened nuts (almonds, sunflower seeds and peanuts).
Since we were close, we took our first stroll through the Moroccan markets, where it literally feels like you have been transported to Morocco (well, at least I think so). Walking through the narrow passageways, are stores selling loose teas, pretty lamps, leather goods, genie pants and other hippie-looking attire (haha), hookahs, various glass textiles and lots of other odds and ends.
After, we decided to go to our first tearoom. Someone had recommended Pakistani tea; a black tea made with milk instead of water…it was delicious!! We also shared a hookah (shisha; no worries, it was tobacco free), which was really fun and relaxing too.
(yum, tea!!)
Lauren and Rachel had signed up for a special tour of the Alhambra, so they toured it in the morning. Amanda had signed up late, but through a special company so she was also in a morning group. Linds and I had tickets for the afternoon. The two of us slept in a little bit and then spent the late morning wandering an area of Granada called, the Albicin (or Albayzin), a neighborhood dating back to ancient times.
In the afternoon was our turn to visit the Alhambra, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Visiting the Alhambra takes a half-day. It is split up in to four zones: the Palaces of Nasrid, the Alcazaba (military zone), the Medina (city), and Generalife (the villa), all of them surrounded by woods, trees, gardens, parks and vegetable gardens. Click here to learn more about the history of the Alhambra. Linds and I had a wonderful time exploring the ancient and unique historical city. We had a lot of fun taking photos of each other with all the cool architecture and landscapes.
(at the Alhambra!)
(typical Muslim arch architecture)
(The Court of the Lions...sans the lions because it was under construction, boo...still cool though)
(favorite fountain in Generalife)
Another thing Granada is known for are their cheap and huge tapas! You only had to order a small beer for two euro, and got a giant tapa…more like a meal for free. It was awesome.
("tapa" for 5 of us..if you order another 2 euro beer, they give you ANOTHER plate of food just as big as this but with different stuff on the plate..pure craziness!!)
The rest of our time in Granada we spent enjoying other sites such as the Jewish area; there really isn’t much left of it, however there is some pretty cool graffiti. We also went to a cool lookout point called Sacramonte (past the Albaicin), with a wonderful panoramic view of the Alhambra. We went out for many more cañas and tapas as well as tea and hookah! Overall a great trip!
(my favorite graffiti ever: "I was tired of not finding an answer, so I decided to change my questions")
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