“Holy shit it’s him!“

Who was him? Vin Diesel? LeBron James? Generalisimo Franco?!

No: our hero, the bus driver from Lisbon to Sevilla. You remember him. We sure did.

The Sevilla to Lisbon bus was leaving shortly before our bus to Granada, and apparently he was driving it. We kept low and out of sight, lest he remember us from three days ago. You should never meet your heroes.

Getting Settled In

What struck me about Granada as we came in by bus was how compact it is. There were no real suburbs, or gradual urbanization, as you approach. Just beautiful countryside, and then suddenly, bam you’re in the middle of it: a dense, busy, crowded European city. It felt huge and small at the same time, and I loved it immediately.

We had a great apartment right in the middle of it, too. There were plenty of great bars and restaurants a short walk from our place. But, really, the whole city is very walkable, and over our three days we’d walk most of it. Though, being at the base of the Sierra Nevadas, it’s quite hilly, and so quite the workout.

We took it easy the first afternoon when we got into town, opting to catch up on some laundry at the apartment. Then, for dinner, we kept it simple and went to the bar right underneath our apartment. This is the life!

Alhambra

Thinking about visiting the Alhambra? Great! I highly recommend it. You should get tickets. Like now, go get them. Just thinking you might possibly go like 2 years from now? Yeah get tickets now.

We didn’t think about it until just a couple days before we were going to go, because I mean, that’s how we’re traveling–few plans. And even last minute, there were tickets available for the main grounds and gardens. But if you want to see the Nasrid palaces–the gorgeous, opulent homes of the Moorish rulers–well, you gotta get those tickets pretty well in advance.

We did not, so sadly we wouldn’t be seeing the Nasrid palaces. It made us think about another attraction that tended to sell out of tickets early–Leonardo’s The Last Supper, in Milan. Hey, we’re a few weeks away from Milan, we should look and… oh okay, all sold out already. Well, maybe next time.

As I said, there were plenty of standard tickets available, so we didn’t bother buying those ahead of time. So in the morning we set out for Alhambra, which first involved a beautiful hike across town and up the big hill on top of which it watches over all of Granada.

We got to the entrance and went to the ticket stand, asking for two, and… no tickets. Huh? I just looked this morning, there were a ton. No tickets, there’s a waiting list… it’s that line over there. Sigh. We went and stood in the line, and I pulled up the website on my phone, figuring I’d at least go ahead and buy tickets for tomorrow.

And there, I saw tickets available for today, right now. Uh… add to cart? Okay… checkout? Okay, I seem to have tickets for today. What the hell?

We stepped out of line laughing to ourselves, and as I worked to download the tickets onto my phone, they made an announcement to the people standing in line that there’d be no more tickets today, come back tomorrow. “There’s more available online!” I wanted to scream. We marveled at our luck and headed for the entrance.

Touring Alhambra

The standard ticket gets you access to the Palacio de Generalife, which gives you just a taste of what you’re missing in the Nasrid palaces. The gardens are beautiful, and lead to the palacio itself, which was the summer palace for the Nasrid rulers.

The detail carved into the walls and ceiling of the palacio is absolutely stunning. I wish we could have toured the Nasrid palaces to see even more of that carving there.

As I mentioned, Alhambra is on the top of a tall hill, meaning you have excellent views of Granada and its surroundings.

Mirador San Nicolás

When you visit the observation deck of the Empire State Building, you can see almost everything. There’s just one thing you can’t see: the Empire State Building itself.

Similarly, you can see everything around you from Alhambra–except Alhambra itself, naturally. That’s what the Mirador San Nicolás is for.

The neighborhoods just north of Alhambra wind through the hills and offer a number of spots where you can get great views of Alhambra. One of those spots is the Mirador San Nicolás, so one afternoon we went hiking through those neighborhoods, up to the mirador.

Climbing through those neighborhoods, while tiring, is great fun. Narrow alleys and tight, steep stairways get you up the hills. The whole way, you pass other tourists doing the same thing.

The mirador itself is just a small plaza, packed with tourists and local teenagers. From there, you get a nice, sweeping view of Alhambra spread over the hill in front of you.

Los Diamantes

A fun, unique tradition exists in Granada, with bars giving patrons a free tapa when you order a drink. Sit down, order a wine, and the waiter surprises you with a tapa of the bar’s choosing. This is pretty well universal in Granada, and happened everywhere we went.

When we went out for tapas and wine in Granada, our first stop was at Los Diamantes, a bonkers bar on the bustling Calle Navas. Popular with tourists, Los Diamantes is a tiny little place with people spilling out all of the doors. Getting space there, and getting served, are a challenge. But when you do, they have some great fried seafood.

We ordered a couple glasses of wine and a small plate of fried shrimp. Per tradition, they gave us our surprise free tapa. And what a surprise:

Fried anchovies! Yuck! What am I supposed to do with this? That’s a fully intact fish looking up at me.

Sigh. Ah well, when in Granada, right?

Erika still says this is the most surprising thing I did on the entire trip.

Stag Do

It’s the perfect place to stay for your hen party or stag do!

Emma, Florida

“This review is fake,” Erika said dismissively, as she looked for our place to stay in Granada. “What kind of person from Florida calls them hen parties or stag dos!”

Right? Also… why is that a point in a review? Seems kind of random.

What, didn’t you know Granada is the hot spot for bachelor and bachelorette parties? No? Neither did we!

But it is, and we were there over a weekend, so we saw it first hand. Armies of bros marching loudly through the narrow streets, taking their space and yours too, and that lady’s over there as well. Half a dozen matching “Not the bride” t-shirts crowding the tiny bar of the place where you’re trying to get a drink, surrounding a lone “I’m the bride” shirt. It was stunning how much of it there was.

Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Yeah, the Granadans aren’t so sure either. It’s not very surprising that hordes of wannabe Wolf Packs, looking to create their own rendition of The Hangover fueled by cheap wine and tapas, have started to wear on the locals and make them think hey, maybe we don’t much like this kind of tourism?

Indeed, that seems to be the case in a number of cities in Andalucía, not just Granada. And as articles like this one discuss, these cities are looking to do something about it. Chiefly, they’re increasing enforcement of the more unruly behavior, by levying more and heavier fines.

Tourism: exporting your biggest douchebags since time immemorial!

Next Time

We desperately needed to slow down some, and next time we’ll do just that. We stay in Andalucía, and head down to the Costa del Sol for some amazing beach time in the beautiful town of Nerja. Grab your swimsuit, and we’ll see you there!