Granada Ooh Na Na

^Granada is known for it's tapas. Buy a drink, get a tapa!

La Puente en Granada

Once meeting up with Emma in the evening, we set off to find tapas! We were both pretty tired, so we stopped at a bar near our hostel. Granada has a great and unique tapas scene -- in Granada, if you order a drink (wine, sangria, beer...) they will give you a tapa with it! A tapa being a small tasty food piece (like above). The first bar we went to is the picture of Emma above! The tapa was a pate spread, which tasted pretty good, although wasn't my favorite. I did love the atmosphere of the bar - as you can see, it's in a tunnel like space on the side of a hill.

^(The view of the Alhambra from our hostel -- so cool!)

The next day, we both slept in; Emma being very tired from traveling from the UK, and myself being tired from skiing. We went to get breakfast (brunch, lets be honest), and by the time we had finished eating we were going back to the hostel to meet up with Willa! That first day we walked around Granada, taking it easy and exploring the town.

^(statue of a man and his donkey - we were told they brought/carried water into Granada)

^(Little artisan's market right outside our hostel with homemade goodies!)

^(the weirdest street costume I have seen so far -- I couldn't help but take a picture! It is so low quality but...so funny, weird and intriguing! The head would snap at you if you got too close...even if you were putting money in (this happened to a child haha))

^(Royal chapel of Granada)

^(Monasterio de San Jerónimo)

^(pretty flowers decorating Granada's wallways)

^(Emma love pt. 1)

^(Emma love pt. 2)

In the evening, we explored the tapa scene and had some of the best tapas! Our favorite were the tapas that I have put at the top of this post.

~ Next day ~

Most people book the Alhambra months in advance, especially if going to Granada during a holiday weekend. We didn't book early enough to get regular Alhambra tickets, but it actually worked out great! Emma and I ended up getting the "Dobla de Oro General" tickets, that included entrance to the Alhambra in addition to 7 other places:

Palace of Dar al-Horra, Corral del Carbón (missing picture of this one), Bañuelo, Horno de Oro House, The Chapiz House, House of Zafra

We spent the day going these places.

^From the Bañuelo

^(Horno de Oro House)

^(The Chapiz House - it was much bigger than this, with a garden and walkways and such, so this is just one snapshot of the whole area)

^(House of Zafra)

^(Dar al-Horra)

Willa is going to go back to Granada with her Aunt and Uncle when they come to Spain, so she ended up going to many of these places the next day because some of them had free entrance on Sundays. We also watched the sunset and saw some really nice views of the Alhambra.

^(Alhambra with the Sierra Nevada in the background)

^(sunset colors)

^(Alhambra and me)

^(Alhambra and Emma)

^(Alhambra and Willa)

These views made Emma and I even more excited for our visit to the Alhambra the next day! Of course, we enjoyed more tapas that night before going to bed!

~ Last Day ~

^(In the Nasrid Palaces in the Alhambra)

The day came at last! Alhambra!

Before getting the Alhambra though, we explored a market called "Alcaiceria" and went souvenir shopping. We also saw the Corral del Carbón this day. While making our way to the Alhambra, we saw some amazing street art and stumbled across one of the best, most beautiful finds we could have imagined: Carmen de Los Martires -- a beautiful outdoor, magical landscape.

We didn't stay long, as Emma and I were anxious about getting to the Alhambra at the time our ticket indicated, because if you miss your time...oh well! The ticket lets you into the. Alhambra, but the time specifically lets you in to see the Nasrid Palaces. Although we got a little sidetracked due to Google Maps not taking us quite the right way (which is why we found Carmen de Los Martires - so that really ended up being a good thing), we did get to the Alhambra in time!

We even got there a little early, so we went inside the Palace of Charles V and walked around:

^(inside)

^(outside)

Then we entered the Nasrid Palaces! Here are some photos:

^(featuring the Court of Lions Fountain)

^(you can see the Arab influence in the decorations)

^(wouldn't mind a nice backyard garden like this)

Lastly, we went to the Generalife part of the Alhambra. I think this was the most beautiful part of the Alhambra. We also had a little fun with some photos.

^(too beautiful)

^(amor at the Alhambra)

^(model)

And of course, we got a few more tapas before I headed out that night (I left a night earlier than the other two. I took another night bus back to Madrid, which was a good thing because Erin's friend Caroline came in and no one would have been home if I hadn't been there!)

^(Alhambra at night!)

Granada is simply a magical city. I can't believe that Emma and I almost considered going to Granada and not seeing the Alhambra. 10/10 recommend. I'm sure living in Granada is very different than visiting, but I couldn't help but think how amazing it must be to live in that city. History, nature, tapas...half of my heart is still in Granada.

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