To get to Granada, the four of us booked two BlaBla Cars, which is a ride sharing service used throughout Europe. Tiffany and Gina had to go to a set location to get picked up by theirs, but Katie and I were lucky enough to get picked up at our hostel. Well, actually, Francisco, our driver, was right around the corner and a little hard to find at first, but all was good after a minute or so. He was about our age, had a friend with him in the front seat, and told us we had to pick up yet another one of his friends. He drove a little Volkswagen Golf, so five people was going to be kind of a squeeze, but we were cool with it. After we picked up the third friend, we had to go to another place to wait for his other friends who were going to be in another car (try and follow this if you can). They told us it would be a few minutes, so we could get out of the car if we wanted to. We got out, and guess who we saw! Tiffany and Gina were waiting right there. It turned out that the other friends were in the car that they booked, so the four of us ended up traveling together, more or less (with six Spanish guys).
It was definitely an interesting trip. I kind of tried to understand their Spanish conversations, but really only picked up on all the cuss words. I sat in the middle between Katie and one of the guys who was just DYING to smoke (thank God the driver said no). Instead, we stopped at a gas station so he could smoke, which was fine because Gina, Tiffany, and I had to use the bathroom anyway.
Saw this at the gas station. So cute!
All the guys, minus the one who sat next to me. The shortest one was our driver, Fran.
The two cars got separated as we attempted to enter Granada. We got a little lost, and eventually Katie and I just got dropped off on some random street because you can't drive in the historic center of the city where our hostel was. It was just about a fifteen minute walk there, though, so that wasn't bad. We also luckily ran into Tiffany and Gina on the way, so that worked out well.
The hostel was really cute (I think I'll put pics of it on the next post). We had booked an 8-bed room, but it ended up just being the four of us in there, which is always nice. We dropped our bags and instantly went out looking for lunch.
In Granada, at most restaurants, when you order any kind of drink, you get a free tapa. Most places won't let you pick what food you get, or will limit your choices, but it's all good anyway. The place we had lunch at, Babel, said we could only order two different kinds of tapas, so Gina and I got cheese risotto, and Katie and Tiffany got Tandoori chicken. We also got a plate of spicy potatoes to share between the four of us. It was all so delicious!
Afterward, we did some shopping. The stores were similar to those in Morocco, but nicer. I bought some cool lipstick and my new favorite headband (it's awesome). Gina kind of started to feel like she was having an allergic reaction in her throat to something (we think it was the incense in one of the stores), so we ran off to find a pharmacy to get some Benadryl. By the time we did find a pharmacy, she was already said she felt back to normal, but we forced her to buy some medicine just in case it happened again.
We then went back to the street with all the shops to go to a tea house because I really wanted a milkshake. I was not disappointed! It was fabulous.
Our next stop was the Cathedral of Granada, where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (and another king and queen) are buried. Pictures weren't allowed inside, but it was really cool in there. The relief behind the altar featured a super graphic beheaded John the Baptist, which we thought was really weird. There were also some pretty interesting paintings, including one of Michael the Archangel that looked a lot like Emily Blunt. We also decided that King Ferdinand looked exactly like Lord Farquaad from Shrek.
The cathedral from the outside
We chilled at the hostel for a little while and then headed out to go tapas bar-hopping for dinner. In the end, we went to four different places! It was so fun. The first place let us pick two different dishes, like the place we had lunch at, but the others chose for us. I had a different drink at each place, and they were all delicious. I wish I could spend every Friday night getting cheap drinks and free food like that!
Food from the first bar: Katie and Tiffany's cheese & tomato bagel sandwiches and mine and Gina's toast with cream cheese and guacamole. Also a little bit of yummy pasta salad.
Drink at the third place: we all got sherry! I felt just like Frasier. It's cool because Jerez, where sherry is made/originates, is also in this region of Spain. It was also cool because a glass only cost 2 euro and was surprisingly big.
Back at the hostel, we showered and instantly went to bed. After all, we were about to wake up again in just a few hours.
So far, though, I loved Granada!
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