Granada

Granada was amazing fun. We came here on a recommendation from my brother Chris and i am so glad we did. He doesn't always have the best advice but in this case he did well. Granada has an amazing history with so many different religious groups having power in the area during the centuries. Which means the city has such a diverse culture. It is divided into 4 main quarters; the Jewish/university quarter, The Christian/Modern quarter, the Moorish/old quarter and the Gypsy quarter. The Jewish quarter is filled with students and funky bars covered in street art and graffiti. The Christian Quarter is a pretty standard European area with all the department stores and the cathedral. The Moorish quarter is really interesting, it is as if you have stepped into Morocco, with narrow market streets, mosques and tea houses. The Gypsy quarter is built into the hill and has old gypsy caves from centuries ago and current gypsy dwellings, with friendly locals. Apparently Granada is the birth place of the Western European Gypsies (ie. not the Romani people but what we stereotypically think when we think of Gypsies). 

 Oscar by the river which can only really be considered a stream. lots of underground bars on the street to the left. The other selling point of Granada and probably the reason Chris raved about it is that it is one of the only places remaining who serve Tapas the traditional way, which is to offer a small plate of food with any drink that is ordered. This allowed Osc and I to bar hop and buy 2 euro beers and get a free dinner along the way most nights. Great Idea!

 Photo from Gypsy Hill (not the technical term, it was called Sacromento) out over the Alhambra (Moorsish Castle) and the Gardens.

 I enjoyed a nice chai in a Moroccan tea House in one of the back streets. Oscar had a Coca-Cola...

 One of the Market streets in the Moorish district. I spent a lot of time in streets like this. So much fun!

Baskets of Tea, spices and dried fruit. YUM!