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Published: April 2nd 2016
Andalucian Olive Fields
Terrible pic from inside the bus*Part 2 of Andalucía trip. Read previous entry for info about Sevilla and Semana Santa processions!
We headed to Granada by Alsa bus on Saturday morning. Our trip there passed through dry, hilly landscape, with a lot of red earth. What you see a lot of are olive trees. Apparently, Spain produces 40% of the world’s olive oil, and most of the production in Spain is in Andalucia.
As we got closer to the city, we could see the snowy Sierra Nevadas behind the city. I wasn’t expecting such a beautiful, dramatic landscape! We left our bags in luggage lockers at the bus station and then took a city bus to near the Cathedral. We stopped at CaixaBank to print our tickets for the Alhambra (which my friend had bought online a couple of months earlier—and which you should also do!). Next, we walked up through a beautiful neighborhood called Albaicín, passing lots of tourist shops and touristy, but delicious-looking, restaurants (of more “North-African” style than “Spanish” style) along the way. Bargaining is a thing in those shops—don’t be afraid to ask for a much lower price!
I have to say, even
from being in Granada a short time, I was in love with it. First, it was a much more diverse selection of food than I’ve seen in Spain (except in Madrid). Secondly, it was hilly with interesting architecture. And, it was relatively less crowded than Sevilla, even though they also have processions.
We arrived at a viewpoint within the Albaicín neighborhood, which we thought was Mirador San Nicolas, but which turned out to be Placeta Cristo Azucenas. It didn’t matter; the views were magnificent—I could spend an afternoon there, staring across at the Alhambra with a snow-covered mountain behind it. The sunshine and blue skies didn’t hurt either. We stumbled upon a bustling plaza for lunch, where a roaming flamenco band, which played for tips, appeared.
After recovering some strength, we continued our uphill climb to the Hermitage of San Miguel el Alto. Even more nice views! On the way there, we passed through part of Sacromonte, which is a neighborhood mostly made of homes built into caves. I can’t emphasize enough how cool Granada is! So many unique cultures have made their marks here. In this case, historically, Sacromonte was inhabited by Roma
(Gypsies), but recently there are more and more hippies moving there. There is also a unique flamenco style that was developed in caves there.
After the Hermitage, we continued walking through Sacromonte, mostly on dirt paths through cacti until we got to a main road that intersected with a path to the Alhambra (Cuesta del Rey Chico). And with that, we were headed to the huge fort/palace complex of the Alhambra. We had a ticket to see all the parts (you can also buy a ticket without the Palacios Nazaries). For some inexplicable reason, they decided to run a procession through the complex, which blocked access to the fort section (Alcazaba). Once we finally passed through, we found that it was closed the entire day anyway, due to the procession. We were all disappointed and thought it was crappy that they charged the full price despite not being able to see a significant portion of the site; we had already had our share of processions.
We did see the gardens near the Palacio de Carlos V and the Palacios Nazaries. Lots of the architectural features really reminded me of Mughal forts and palaces I’d
seen in India, but in the Alhambra, there were these ‘stalactite’ decorations that were amazing to me. Although it is relatively well-restored (and better restored than most of the sights in India), it’s clear that when it was built, it was even more remarkable and colorful. There were also barely any informational signs, in any language, which was surprising. We couldn’t even find maps or brochures when we arrived. Luckily I had hauled my Spain travel book, which had a great section on the Alhambra, but otherwise you’d be SOOL for info.
Something a bit strange was that there were all of these ceramic bowls throughout, and we couldn’t figure out the point. We thought maybe there were that many leaks in the ceiling, or maybe that it was a throwback to when people who lived there rinsed their hands before eating. Finally we asked a guard, who told us they were garbage bins . . . weird. Unfortunately, it got dark before we could actually check out Generalife, but we did enjoy the sunset from the Alhambra. Although we’d done a lot of walking that day, I wish we’d arrived earlier to be able to see
the Generalife stuff as well.
After the Alhambra, we went to a tetería. These are local tea shops that are decorated in North African (?) style. They also have hookahs. It was beautiful inside, but at least double what I would normally pay. It’s nice for a treat, but don’t expect great value at most of them, especially the ones in the most touristy areas.
We then started our voyage to where we were staying that night. My friend’s roommate in Pittsburgh is from Sevilla and lived in Granada, so he set us up with a couple who agreed to let us sleep at their apartment. The catch was that it was 16 kilometers outside the city in a pueblo (town). Originally, we thought they were going to come to Granada and have dinner with us and then drive us to their apartment. What actually happened is that they decided to have a party, so we had to take a taxi there.
When coordinating by phone, I was even more aware of the distinct accents Andalucians have. I had heard tales of their accent before, and occasionally would hear it on
the radio or on tv shows, but I for some reason thought it was exaggerated for comedy. No, it really is different, and it was hard for me to understand. It’s not only that they change ‘ado’ to ‘ao’ or drop ‘s’ at the ends of words (the pueblo ‘Las Gabias’ became ‘La Gabia’ in our taxi driver’s mouth), but they just speak much more quickly than I’m used to in Galicia. Anyway, we made it to their apartment, where they were in the midst of a fiesta, as stereotypical as an Andalucian party could be. There were guys playing flamenco guitar and drums while some women danced flamenco-esque. Others smoked pot in the kitchen. Of course there was also a happy year-old baby hanging out throughout as well. People were super friendly and spoke to us in a mixture of English and Spanish, which became more English the drunker/higher they got.
The next morning (Easter Sunday), we had planned to take them to breakfast, and hoped they would maybe drive us back to Granada, but unfortunately, they were both really hungover. We said goodbye, and walked to a bus stop the next town over. After realizing
we had missed the bus, we ate in that small town, and headed to a different bus stop to catch the next bus. We asked people in that restaurant to make sure it was the right bus stop, but they told us that on the weekends, the bus only comes to a different bus stop a kilometer or two down the street. So we walked very quickly toward that bus stop.
Once there, and once we’d been waiting a while, we considered that potentially the bus wasn’t coming. Even on Easter Sunday, I think it should have come, but we would have seen it at some point of our journey. We started to plan an alternative, because my friends had to catch a bus at 5pm in Granada, and we were still around 15 km away. We called a few taxi companies, which all said there were no taxis nearby. So, yes, we started walking. Quickly. With our bags. I won’t lie—it was rough. Luckily it was flat, and the landscape was rural and pretty. We were pushing it because Google estimated we could get to the bus station exactly when the bus left. Finally, we got
sufficiently close (around 5 km) to hail a taxi, who took us the rest of the way to the bus station. They successfully caught their bus to Málaga, and I stayed in Granada on my own for the evening. I went to my hostel, then did some wandering near the Cathedral. I returned to my hostel, avoiding yet more processions (possibly the last of them because it was Easter Sunday).
For a city of only 200,000, there’s a lot to see in Granada. But, I was also dismayed to see sooooo much directed at tourism. I came across at least three major areas of (very similar) touristy shops during my time in Granada. I could have used probably two more days in Granada. It would be an easy place to just hang out in as well. What may be more difficult would be to find areas that are less touristy and more local.
The next morning I took an early Samar bus to Jaén, where I had to change to another Samar bus to get to Madrid. I had a little over an hour layover in Jaén, so I walked around the small city.
On that Monday morning after the Semana Santa holidays, people were headed to school and work, and lots of cleaners were out in the streets scraping wax off the streets (all the wax from the processions which had occurred there as well). It was more mellow, like Ourense. It’s perched on the side of a hill, and although I wouldn’t exactly say it’s beautiful like Granada, it was charming. The sun was just coming up, and the views were also amazing. I think a day there would be sufficient to get the vibe. I could imagine living there, and it would be nice to be so close to Granada, but not live there. I’m glad I got the chance to explore it a little. With that, I headed north to Madrid, where I took a train back to Ourense. It was a long day of travel, but more bearable than the long bus ride to Andalucía.
I’d love to return to Andalucía. I had tempered my expectations, but it’s just as beautiful as people say. I want to check out Ronda, Cordoba, and possibly see Cádiz or Málaga, and I would definitely go back to Granada. More
updates soon!
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