Granada

I loved Granada--i think it is my favorite city in spain. It is very walkable and has a strong university town vibe. Looming over everything is the alhambra. I had bought tickets to see said Alhambra without knowing what that was, so allow me to fill you in too: the Alhambra is like a complex of palaces and fortresses. I guess at one point it was a city itself. It has the palace of the last moorish ruler, his smaller summer palace, the "red keep" (which totally belongs in Game of Thrones both for the name and the appearance) and a half-assed (never quite finished) spanish palace built post-reconquista. It is hard to appreciate how extensive it all is from the city but you can always feel it looming over you (it is, of course, on the tallest hill).

Our apartment in Granada was also great. It was in the Albayzin quarter (the medieval part of town) and was right next door to a convent of cloistered nuns. The best thing about these nuns was that they made and sold delicious cookies (trust my somewhat dessert-obsessed travel companions to notice the modest paper sign, "se vende dulces"). To buy said cookies you go through a side door and ring a bell. Then a little window opens and from behind a revolving shelf a nun's voice asks (in spanish of course) "yes, you would like sweets? How many?"  You order by the half kilo box and place your money on the revolving shelf and moments later a box of cookies revolves into view. Of course, you never see the cloistered nuns! It's like living in a dan brown novel except the treasure at the end is delicious anise-flavored tea cookies covered in powdered sugar. Best. Nuns. Ever.

Our first night in Granada we met up with some siblings of a friend's cousin's bookie who was studying abroad (or something like that) and she finally took us to a real tapas bar. I say 'real' because at this bar, as used to be the tradition everywhere, when you order a drink you get free tapas. And as the rounds progress they get better and better (or you get drunker and drunker, either way you are happy). Luckily the beers were half-servings or i'd be trashed in the interest if trying more food. It was fun and delicious and as i was paying (4 rounds for 3 people was under 20 euro, for perspective) the bartender asked how the food was and i told him in sloppy spanish "the best in spain up to this point!" So he gave us free shots of baileys for dessert!

Another fun/absurd/at least noteworthy thing about Granada is that it is full of hippies. According to Rick Steves (who has been our awesome and ever-present companion during this trip) Granada is where the children of wealthy northern spaniards go to disappoint their parents (lol). Suffice to say, there were a lot of drum circles and unwashed dreadlocks. On the bright side, that strange subculture made it really easy for lisa and rewa to find vegetarian food! So point to hippies i guess...

The last sight we saw in Granada was the Capilla Real (royal chapel) where king ferdinand and queen isabel are buried and some of isabel's personal effects are on display. All i can say is that isabel was definitely Catholic with a capital "C". Laid to rest next to them were Phillip the fair and Juana the mad. Phillip died when he was 28, Juana was found insane and locked away for 50 years while she was technically queen. The thing is, she had 6 children in 9 years by phillip and he was a major womanizing cheater. I think i'd go "mad" too.