Welcome to Tapas Heaven... aka Granada

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Oh my god.... I've finally found it... the best tapas city in Spain... no wait... make that Europe!

Now I know thats a big call, but let me explain why.. I just spent a week in Granada and I did not buy a single meal or scrap of food for the whole time I was there??? How you ask? Well you see the whole city of Granada has a special local tradition that you won't generally find anywhere else in the world. Whenever you buy a drink such as beer, wine or spirits you get free food in 99% of all bars and cafes in Granada. Its very simple, one drink equals one plate of tapas. Hence two drinks equals two plates of tapas and so on. Sounds to good to be true right.. well it is!

You see there is a down side... its called alcoholism! You see after two or three beers for lunch your full and that’s ok. Then you do some sightseeing and have a little siesta.. (when in Rome right?). Then you go out around 9pm and have a few more drinks (and a few more plate of tapas of course) and then next thing you know your begging them to stop bringing you out plates of food around 1am in the morning and 8 plates of tapas (and 8 drinks to boot!). And the interesting thing that I couldn't work out is the drinks are not too expensive (around 2 euro each on average)... so I',m not quite sure how they made money.. but hey that’s not my problem right... I'm just a niave consumer!

And I must tell you some of the plates of tapas you could get were great especially if you knew where to go. You see each place had its own special dish and when you went there that’s what you got each night etc. After 6 nights of this I became an expert at navigating my way around the little cobblestone streets looking for what I wanted to eat. You could get everything from Hams, Cheeses, Olives, Mini baguettes, toasted sandwiches, prawns, breads and so on... basically Granada is just one big "Picky Lunch". Needless to say I loved it.

But wait there's more. Granada also has lots of other thing too offer. Its beautiful little city with a classic 'old town' perched on the side of a hill overlooking the mighty Alhambra ( see below). Some great Moorish and Arabic architecture fused into a modern Spanish city and an endless array of cafes, restaurants and shops. The weather was great when I was there and of course the back drop of the city is the awe inspiring 'Serria Navada" mountain range which pretty much has snow on it all year round. I met a fellow backpacker who know lives in town and he told me why he likes it so much.. it went something like this... there’s no other place like it... if you get up early enough you can snow ski in the morning, go to the beach in the afternoon and then party all night with free tapas." I think he is onto something.

And then of course there is the Alhambra. I would go as far as to say it probably the biggest tourist attraction (and deservedly so) in Spain. Its a huge Arabian come Moorish Castle perched on the side a hill over looking the city still in its original form. It's beauty on the outside is only matched by the sheer detail of stone carvings on the inside. It was the perfect location and as such was never 'conquered' in a war sense and no 'blood' (as in battle) has been shed within its gates. There was however a very controversial 'handover' by one of its kings to its enemy but I'll leave it up to you to find out that details on that one when you go there one day.

I also stayed in two different hostels. The first one was pretty average but the second one was great. It was called Oasis and was aso one of the biggest hostels I have stayed in to date. I'm pretty sure they had over 100 beds in it which made for some great parties and night life. The hostel even had its own bar, courtyard and table tennis table which made for some added fun. Oh if you stay at Oasis one day, make sure you do the walking tour of the old city. It's free and very interesting... just make sure its not to hot or its really hard as there is lots of up and down hills.

All in all a fascinating city and I really enjoyed my time there. Its the kind of place you could just wander round for days and keep finding new stuff all the time. I have included a lot of pics to try and show you all what its like. Enjoy!

PS. I also went to Madrid on the way through to Granada for a few days. It was ok but after Barcelona and this place… not worth blogging about.. maybe I’m just getting fussy hey! I met lots of other people who loved it, so I guess it’s each to their own.

P.P.S I've got a funny story to tell those of you who are game one day.. I couldn't publish it here as its a little 'R' rated and involves two people in the dorm from my first hostel and a load of alcohol. One of those you had to be there situations... Remind me one day and I'll tell you if you’re interested.

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