Arrival in Spain (Granada)

by marjasisu, posted in Reflections

My oldest sister and I are here to hike El Camino in northern Spain. So what are we doing in Granada in southern Spain? It was my idea to meet here. I’ve been to Spain only once, briefly, to the U.S. Navy base at Gibraltar. You can’t exactly call that a “visit.” If you’re going to visit a country just once, you ought to see more than the ground beneath your feet — so I came a few days before starting the hike. Why Granada? I’m interested in ancient and medieval history here, especially the Alhambra. (More on that in the next post.) Plus, my sis met her daughters days earlier for a family getaway at a city just a few hours away. Here, in photos and captions, is my introduction to Spain.

Granada is near the bottom of Spain, just above the “A” in “Alboran Sea.” (Santiago di Compostela, which is the destination of our hike, is in the upper left.)
I arrived in Granada alone after the usual overnight transatlantic flight, grateful for a change of family plans which meant my niece would pick me up at the airport. Meaning I didn’t have to figure out how to find a taxi or bus, or where to spend five hours until my AirbBnB was available, while jet-lagged.
In the airport bathroom, this looked like a tiny toilet just for kids. But it might be a separate bidet, common in Europe.
Granada is at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, population 230,000.
Grand-niece Luna, sister Ginny and me in front of Iglesia de Santa Ana (church of St Anne) in downtown Granada.
The nighttime view from the tiny balcony of the apartment I rented. It might not look like much here, but it was well-planned inside and, more importantly, in the city center. Which means we can see the sights by foot.
Little did we know how hard it would be to get around by ourselves on foot! Here, Ginny is trying to figure out which way to go by using Google maps on the phone. That’s not so hard in the U.S. It’s very challenging here, even if you have a physical map, because there are so many plazas, and the streets have to work their way around them, and they also change names. And the GPS signal gets lost periodically. And then keeps spinning and telling you to turn around. After at least a day of this, we laughed about it and somehow figured it all out.
Spain is a strongly Catholic nation  — many have been killed through history to keep it so — and so, many cathedrals  and churches around. This is the main cathedral of Granada.
Many streets are blocked or partially blocked from traffic, which makes it easy to admire buildings like this.
But it surprised us how many narrow streets were open to traffic. The mirrors of this bus were inches from the buildings. We frequently had to smash ourselves against the walls to allow a bus to pass.  (Note the pebbled street, very common here.)
Some pebbled streets were in intricate designs. Ginny and I are conscious of the need to walk in these days before our long hike. Today, we did it in sandals.
These steps on the way up to Alhambra were also pebbled. And steep! We made the long trek up to the biggest tourist attraction in Spain twice (yesterday and today), even though our official tour is tomorrow. We wanted to know how to get there before the tour day, on a deadline. And it’s a good thing, because it’s a challenge to get there by foot. Of course, we don’t want to use a bus or taxi, like most tourists! 😄
You get the sense of history even before entering the building, which we will do tomorrow.
One advantage to huffing and puffing up the hill to get to Alhambra…these sweeping views of Granada.
After spending a day with us, my niece and her daughter left to return to their resort in Malaga. When you visit this kind of European city, you often need to haul your luggage for blocks. How did we do this before wheeled luggage??
A farewell selfie at the parking garage as Brittany and her daughter leave in their rental car. I would definitely not want to have a car in this kind of city.
Ginny and I kept exploring by foot. This is Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, in Queen Isabella Square. Their marriage in the 1400s unified Spain as a kingdom. Notice how the square is named after her instead of him, and how he is lower than her here. She is a fascinating (and somewhat scary) person in history.
Every time I visit a European city, I wonder why outdoor eating is so much more common there than in the U.S. The smallest streets are often lined with outdoor tables. We sat at a few.
We stopped at one of those outdoor options for a single drink at the end of a long day of walking. As the waiter was pouring the vodka in, he said (in Spanish), “Say when.” Startled, I immediately said, “When!” I’ll never know if he would’ve kept pouring until the glass was full, or if I would’ve paid the same price for one shot or three.
One other thing about traveling in Europe…it’s much harder to find ice. There is no ice in the freezer of our Airbnb, and no ice trays to make some. So I wrapped the leftover ice cubes in a napkin and took them back! I could have found a store that sells bags of ice. But this made more sense. Plus Ginny and I both love to save money. We thank our frugal parents often. It’s one reason we can afford to take international trips like this without taking on debt.

Next blog: Alhambra

6 thoughts on “Arrival in Spain (Granada)”

  3. We cycled Camino Frances from Leon in 2022 and the Portuguese way from Coimbra in 2023. Both were amazing experiences. We want to walk it one day and will be following your journey. Buen Camino!

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  4. The pictures are beautiful. I love the architecture of the buildings especially the church. Details in churches are so stunning. The intricate details of the stone streets are phenomenal. I’m in NY, USA. I know the pebbles wouldn’t work here, there are a few places that have like a brick or stone for the ground, but not many. To see places of historical significance hold true to the older ways and just keep going through the ages, it’s so wonderful that they don’t change. It looks like you had a wonderful time. Beautiful pictures.

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