Granada

We took a bus from Seville to Granada, having reserved a room at the Itinere Hostel. It was a great place, with a super comfy living room that we took full advantage of as we needed some relaxation time before hitting our next stop, Morocco.

While Seville was composed of houses painted and tiled in many colours, Granada was a study in white and brown with old fortress walls, surrounded by the green vegetation of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The first day we wandered the neighbourhood of Sacromonte, with the infamous hillside homes and businesses in cuevos (caves).

During our meanderings we happened upon a small cozy plaza, where we enjoyed a great deal on very good food at the La Parrona restaurant patio and live music by three talented local female artists.

As you may have noticed in the pictures, Ben decided that his flowing locks needed a trim and we went to a barber to get his hair cut. Ben’s family on his mother’s side is named Samson, which could explain his deep rooted fear of haircuts. There was some to and fro with the hairdresser, who stated he preferred short hair, but we thought we had finally convinced him in our limited Spanish that long was still the way to go. Unfortunately something was lost in translation, and Ben’s hair emerged looking like a cross between a mullet and a preppy collegial schoolboy do, which made for some interesting photo shoot opportunities outside the barber shop.

On our last day we went to the Alhambra, which is a World Heritage Unesco site and a marvel to see. Some of the buildings date back to the 14th century, and are a captivating mix of Moorish and Spanish style. We spent many hours strolling the grounds, enjoying the parks, intricate stone and wood carvings and beautiful views of Granada through keyhole arches.

In the afternoon we saw the Semana Santa parade go by our hostel window, with ornate religious floats and marchers dressed in crazy pointy hat outfits. Very strange and interesting. The Semana Santa is a catholic festival that is very popular in the south of Spain.





At night we went in search of a bar that served “free tapas” with drinks, which apparently is relatively common in Granada. We found a great place called Babel, where for 10 euros we had four glasses of wine and four tasty tapas! It was obviously popular with both locals and tourists alike, and we toasted our good fortune.

Now it is off to Morocco, which we plan on reaching by taking a bus to Tarifa on the southernmost coast of Spain, from where we will catch a ferry over to Tangier.