So, we said bye bye Barcelona and hello to Granada, or more accurately, bye bye 20 degree sunshine and hello 9 degree rain and sleet. It’s COLD here! You would think heading 800km south would jack the temperature up a bit…maybe being next to the southern most ski resort in Europe explains a few things. We’ve been told that it is unseasonably cold this year. Not great planning but it gives us a chance to rest a bit, not walk 10km a day, and maybe spend time doing tax preparation. Always my favorite thing. Granada, from what little we’ve seen so far, is a pleasant city steeped in Moorish history. There are lots of old (11th century) buildings here, the most famous being the Alhambra, Spain’s most visited historic site – a must see if you are ever in this part of the world.
We are staying in the old Arab quarter of Albaycin, a warren of white 2 story homes located in a maze of tiny stone streets. Getting here was interesting. The flight from Barcelona arrived in the early evening. Our Airbnb host who does not speak English tells us, via email, to get the airport bus into town, get off at some designated spot and catch bus number whatever and it will take us close to where he lives. Which is where exactly? It’s going to be dark. How do we know where the hell the bus goes? Would we recognize a likely stopping point even if it was daylight? Not a lot of English spoken here. So, we email him from the airport and tell him we’re doing something different, ‘cause we know better. Right. Anyway, he replies that’s fine, get on a different bus number whatever when we get off the airport bus and that will take us to Albaycin close to where he lives. Which is where exactly? It’s going to be dark. How do we know where the hell the bus goes?
So,…we take the airport bus into town, get off not where he suggested, spot a hotel and figure we’d ask for directions and at least we’d be able to get a cab if need be. Just before we get to the hotel, different bus number whatever pulls up at the stop. Decision time. We jump on the bus, ask the driver in broken Spanglish if he goes to Albaycin, which he does, and pray it’s not some large area with 10 different bus stops. Did I mention it’s now dark and we couldn’t possibly see street signs even if there were any. We sit down, next to an older gentleman, Teresa whips out the phone, shows him the email, which is in Spanish, and we ask him in perfect English, where the f*** are we???
He got us to the right stop and we found our host after a phone call. Piece. O. Cake. We’ll do some exploring over the next week, try not to get wet or freeze, and hopefully get into the Alhambra. I have a feeling that will be another story because it’s apparently booked solid until 2022.
My weather app just buzzed me. Severe weather warning issued. Swell. Time to switch to the hard stuff.
Awesome post.