By bus to Granada: And exploring the city, Monday and Tuesday, 10/16-17

October 16, 2017

I got up in the morning, had breakfast in my room, checked out and rode to the bus station. I was there at 9 to buy a ticket for the 10:00 bus to Granada. There was one person in front of me, and he was being helped. An older woman showed up and pushed in front of me. It was a little weird. I couldn't get her to look at me or acknowledge me, and without physically pushing her, I couldn't preserve my place in line. So I let her in and she got her ticket before me. When it was my turn, I had barely said "a Granada con bicicleta" when the first guy came back and cut in to fix some problem with his ticket. All the while, a queue had been building. After the guy got his ticket straightened out, I got mine and then went to head over to the area where the bus would come. Someone said something to me that I didn't understand, and then someone else asked if I speak English, and then proceeded to tell me off for having my bike in the way. Well, my bike wasn't in the way when I got started, and I wanted it within sight, and I wanted to be able to show the ticket seller if he didn't understand. If I hadn't been cut in front of twice, I would have been long gone. And telling me when I was leaving the area was less than productive. This person, another older woman, went as far as telling me that I shouldn't come back to Spain. To which I responded, or I should say reacted, and said I didn't want to come back to Spain because people are not nice and are nasty like her. Whoops, I was arguing with a little old lady in Spain. It got the day off to a rough start.

When the bus arrived, the driver opened the luggage area and pointed for me to put my bike in. He didn't offer any help, but fortunately I didn't need too lift it very high. The bus ride was about 2 hours with around a dozen stops. We arrived at the Granada bus depot, I unloaded my bike, and found my way to the hotel I had booked for two nights. The hotel is Hostal Veronica and it is in a very old building in the old part of town. My room is a little tomb-like, in that it is tiny and quite dark. There is a window out to the street with a large dark wood door over it. The door keeps it quiet but excludes all daylight. There is a dental office directly across from my room, and since the street is narrow I can see right in if I open the door.

I went off to explore town. I stopped by the tourist office, where I was told that tickets to the Alhambra are sold out through mid November. Hmmm, I'm not surprised since the Alhambra has the largest tourist draw of all of the attractions in Spain, but I was disappointed that there was no sale of same day tickets. A tour salesman at the bus depot had turned me off of going on a tour. I walked around for several hours, including the uphill walk to the neighborhoods adjacent the the Alhambra. I had an okay dinner, and retired early by Spanish standards.

The pavement on the small streets is often decorative and made from marble.

The door is wider than the street. This was supposedly done as a sign of opulence.

On Tuesday I got up and took the bus up the hill to the Alhambra. I couldn't get in to the part that required a ticket, but I wanted to see what I could. It turned out to be chilly and overcast, and was sort of spitting rain all day. With my limited view of the outdoors from my room I hadn't really noticed, and left in shorts and a t-shirt.

The part of the Alhambra that is open without a ticket is interesting but not spectacular. You can see the outside of the fortress, and the inside of a couple of buildings and a bath house. You can see some of the Moorish architecture that the Alhambra is famous for, but not too much.

Statue of Isabel the Catholic. One of my reference points for navigating around the city.

On the road leading down from the Alhambra.

I walked from the Alhambra back to my hotel, stopping enroute for coffee.

Coffee stop back in town. What all good bars should look like.

I rested for a bit, and then went out and visited the Arab quarter and the Cathedral. The cathedral was quite elaborate, and is supposed to be the design inspiration for other churches around the globe. The entrance fee included an audio guide that explained the design and highlights of the artwork, and was worthwhile.

Then I tried to get some dinner. It was in that break between 3:30 and 7:30 pm when the restaurant kitchens commonly close, so it took some wandering to find someplace open. I did, eventually, and had a good meal of the local soup and fried calimari.

Today's ride: 7 km (4 miles)
Total: 153 km (95 miles)

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