Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Interesting train ride from Cazorla (actually Jorba station) to Granada. The Jorba station is really in middle of nowhere with abandoned buildings around it. Felt like a scene in a wild west.
We said our thanks and goodbye to Paul. A bit sad to leave as one week as a workawayer in Cazorla is too short. Could have done more to help Paul. And I have missed out on a lot of great walks.
First impression of Granada - it's definitely a city. Place we stayed was ok though pretty odd that the host is sleeping on the couch. Alex is an interesting character. Thought he would be a serious IT geek just like me but he is quite the opposite. His neighbour's cat 'Chico' is really adorable. Very vocal and playful cat whose tail will twitch before he clings on your hands with his fangs and claws.
Upside in where we stay is that it's close to Alhambra. I visited that place 4 times. Downside - it's steep uphill. Alhambra is ridden with tourists... as expected. I really wanted to like that place but I got put off with the complex tickets options and specific times to visit to limit number of people at a time. That's one rule too many. To get tickets for the day, we have to buy early in morning as it gets sold out quickly. Saw an option to get one for the night and following day which we got. Turns out we can only visit the Nassir Palace (main attraction of Alhambra) at 22:30! Great romantic setting to see it at night but with restrictions on flash usage and dim lighting, photo taking is not a great idea. But it would have been grand to have the place to yourself. Note to self - see this place in daylight next time.
After a restful Cazorla, we had to go out and have a really late one. Alex took us to a nice tapas bar. Still like the concept of buying a beer with something small to nibble on. We carried on walking while Alex went off to bask (basque?) .... like i said, interesting character. It's pretty safe to walk at night as the streets are lit well and many people about. After the Alhambra night tour, we caught up with Alex again as we are keen to stay up as late as we can! We checked another tapas bar specialising in fish - and we had brinjals instead :-p The menu was primarily crustaceans, that's why. Had a chat with people standing next to us (a habit we pick up to learn what locals are doing). We needed to know how to get to another pub to meet Alex. Engineer - but unemployed. Seems to become prevalent as we head further into the cities. He is thinking of leaving Granada as there is not enough work there.
Amazingly we found the pub. It was ok. Mojito was 2.5 euros which was affordable though I did think twice. I can buy a bottle of wine in Portugal for 1.5 euros! And not great tasting Mojito too. I think I was tired as I was not really up for a late one. Quite the opposite for Lee Kuen. Not often she says she wants more beer. We went to a local club where only spanish music was played. Crowd is a bit too hippy for me. Dreadlocks and all... Glad I got my chips and kebab in the end as that was the highlight!
More Alhambra the next morning. Walked around Granada centre for hours. Had a tinto de berano for lunch as I thought I would get some nice fatty pieces of pork. Just 2 little strips so not exactly a hearty lunch! We decided to have dinner in a proper restaurant that night. Big mistake as food was poor. Paella was mushy and calamari was tiny in size and portion. Set meals can be a bit of a gamble sometimes. Lesson learnt - never ever eat in restaurants in touristy areas unless highly recommended by locals. At least we had a nice view of Alhambra.
Next day was the day we leave Granada. More walks around the city. We did not try to be adventurous with our food ... Not on travel days. Really not looking forward to the 9 hour night bus journey to Valencia....
- comments