Granada!

We arrived in Granada on a train to find a rainy, dreary day ahead of us. We got to our hostel in the afternoon and since a lot of touristy places were closing, we decided to SHOP! But first, we needed to find some food. It was too early for dinner, so we just wanted something small… and to our luck we found churros and chocolate! We had been looking all over for churros and when we stumbled upon them, either they were closing or didn’t serve churros at that time. So we were sooo happy to find a place that was open AND serving churros. They were so delicious and perfect for a rainy day. Our tummies were all warm inside and we were ready to shop. We found some great stores! When we were tired of shopping (or ran out of money) we went searching for a tapas bar that came highly recommended by our hostel. We found it, and it was packed! We decided to go in and try to find a spot to sit. We had no luck, so we crowded around a little round table and had to stand. We got a huge plate of some yummy (and interesting) tapas. While eating, we had the pleasure of meeting some lovely older men who came over to talk to us. One man asked where we were from, and when we replied Minnesota, he must have thought Minnesota was like the old wild west because he said, “Ohh Minnesota.. Pew Pew Pew!” And had his hands at his hips pointed like guns. We found it pretty entertaining. 

On Friday we woke up and went on a walking tour of Granada. The weather was pretty gloomy, but the rain held off while we were on our tour. Our tour guide was an interesting fellow… his sense of humor reminded us of Jane Schuck. J   Interesting fact we learned: People started driving on the left side of the road because before there were cars, people would walk on the left side so their right arm was free to either fight, shake a hand, or tip a hat to a lady. Well, Napoleon was left handed, so he switched it so that people walked on the right side of the road.  The British, however, stayed on the left side of the road because they did not like Napoleon.

After our tour, we walked up the hugest hill in the world to see the Alhambra. Right as we started walking around, it started raining. Luckily Ashley had an umbrella, so 2 or 3 of us could use that. Chelsea had a rain jacket, and Alyssa had a half-broken umbrella she found on the street, so it sort of worked for 1 or 2 people. Nevertheless, we all got wet and it wasn’t too fun walking around in the cold rain. We saw a sign for a café, so we followed it…to find some vending machines in a little hallway. We tried to warm up in there, but it didn’t really work so we found a souvenir shop instead. We stayed in there and looked around until we felt warmer, then decided to brave the weather and keep going. Well, we didn’t last long. We were bummed, but we got to see most of the Alhambra. We walked back down the hugest hill in the world (with Christa tagging along 20 yards behind the group) and went back to the hostel to shower and warm up. 

After a good nap and shower, we were ready for Friday night in Granada! First we went to Babel, another recommended tapas bar. After that, we went to a flamenco show. It was a hole-in-the-wall little place that was pretty cozy. There was a singer, a guitarist, and a dancer. The show was spectacular. That lady’s feet could MOVE! We were all impressed, and on our walk back Libby and Chelsea had some fun testing their flamenco skills out on the street! Of course they were great. We were hungry again, so we decided to go back to Babel! This time we ordered fajitas…which were gone in .4 seconds. So Sam, Chelsea, and Libby ordered another tapa. We didn’t know what to get, so we kind of just let the waitress surprise us. She came back with what looked like a shrimp cocktail, but instead of shrimp, it was calamari, little beans, and a baby octopus! Sam had no trouble, but Chelsea and Libby were a little hesitant to eat the baby octopus. But, we toughened up and tried a little bit. It wasn’t bad, but I felt bad eating a helpless little baby octopus! Anyway, Granada was a great place; even though it was cold and rainy… at least it’s better than snow! ;)

-Chelsea