The Alhambra

I woke up by my new Saudi Arabian friend saying, “Hey Matt, wake up, we’re in Granada”. I took a moment to make sense of my bearings and then grabbed my stuff. Now, all I needed to do was find where bus #33 stopped. I walked a short distance to a busy road and asked a driver of another bus, “número tres tres?” and he pointed me in the right direction. At the next busy street I found where the #33 line was, but I didn’t know which way to go. I asked a girl nearby and she explained to me in perfect English that she was going to jump on the #33 and would tell me which stop to get off. I got off at my stop and now I need to find my street. I found it, but didn’t know which way to head down. I asked a guy setting up an outdoor café where the “Granada 10” was since if I found that (the biggest disco in Granada) I could find my hostel. Well, the guy not only pointed me in the right direction, but gave me a map too. Awesome! So far, I like Granada!

I walked past Granada 10 into an Arabic part of town with all these really funky shops, tea houses, and hookah bars. I made a turn off the market street and my hostel was close by. My hostel (or casa) for the next couple of days is a converted Spanish-style home. Very cool! There is a really nice common area, kitchen, bar, outdoor patio, roof-top patio, and so fourth. It is also in a residential (kind of) part of town. I like it!

Well, my room wasn’t ready yet so I decided to head out and explore the town. I first had to walk back to the train station (now that I know the layout of the city) to make my train reservation to Madrid. I didn’t do it earlier since I had to make sure that my hostel could extend my stay a night. They could, but I would have to change rooms. No worries! Anyway, I got a morning train to Madrid and then I explored the town. I like Granada very much. Many cool little shops and TONS of side streets to explore. After walking around for a quite a while I headed back to the hostel and got into my room. I took a little siesta and prepared for my long day that still lay ahead.

My goal for the day was to get to Alhambra which is like a fortress on a hill. Now, I’m going to Alhambra because back in November I was at a friend’s birthday party at her parent’s house. On the wall was an incredibly nice painting of a fountain in a patio-like setting. I asked about it. The artwork was from Alhambra and we got into a long discussion about Granada and how I should visit Alhambra. It sounded great so I decided to visit if I made my way to Granada. Well, since I’m here I decided to go. Keep in mind that I know very little about the history and culture of Spain. It was never anything I really studied in school or had any interest in. I just didn’t know a whole lot about it. I walk all the way up this large hill and found some nice areas along the way.

Yeah, that's me taking a bull by the horns. It's how I handle business. It's a metaphor. But that actually happened, though.

The Park

When I arrive at the ticket office it’s now about 3pm; the place closes at 8:30pm. I see a big sign that reads, “Tickets are Sold Out!” I see a man trying to make his way in but is being turned away. Thankfully I had ordered my tickets yesterday so I just handed the man my print-out and got my tickets without any hassle. Apparently this is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Europe….sadly, I’d never heard of it until recently. I got the audio tour so I would know what I was looking at. Also, Alhambra is so HUGE! Sadly, as I would come to find, the audio guide was not helpful at all. It assumed that I knew the history of Alhambra and Granada already. It did describe things in the fortress very well, but there was no context for what time period all the descriptions were in. The good news was that Alhambra is giant and beautiful! I was in Alhambra for about 4 hours in total just walking around. Alhambra also provides some stellar views of Granada.

Alhambra

Alhambra

Alhambra

Granada from Alhambra

Alhambra

Alhambra

Alhambra

Me in Granada

After, I was exhausted from walking and being in the sun all afternoon so I headed back to the hostel. While I was in the common area the hostel chef comes up to me and asks, “Do you want to go to a Flamenco show tonight? I’m trying to get a group together.” I said, “Absolutely!” I still had plenty of time so I headed up stairs for a more formal siesta. About a half hour before the group was going to leave I headed down to the bar. I met two girls: Claudia from Germany and Belinda from Tasmania. We chit-chatted for a long while and joked around. At one point I made Belinda laugh so much that she spouted, “You know, for an American, you’re all right!” I was humbled.

When our group was together we headed to a local dive bar called, "Booga Club: Groove Dance Club". We chatted for a while before the Flamenco show started. Then the best line on the night (if not my trip) was uttered. We somehow got on the topic of David Hasslehoff and Balinda said to Claudia, “In Germany, how come David Hasslehoff is so popular?” to which Claudia replies, “In Germany we have stupid people too”. I just thought that was funniest thing!

The show started. The two male guitar players start strumming and then a female begins to sing. After a song a guy (a drummer I suppose) joins them on stage and started drumming on a box. After a couple of songs the Flamenco dancer joins them on stage. She was incredible! She was dressed very similar to the one of the Spanish “Can-Can” kids from the “It’s a Small World” ride at Disneyland. Her rhythm to the music and her coordination with her hands and feet were immaculate. They break after a couple of songs and then come back to finish the evening. It was cool. Honestly, I couldn’t listen to Flamenco every night, but I’m glad I got the opportunity to see a live performance while I was in Spain.

Booga Club: Groove Dance Club

We walked back to the hostel and all went to bed. Claudia and Belinda invited me out for tea tomorrow so I think I might just join them. Sounds like fun!