I had another long weekend here in Madrid so I wanted to use
it as another tourism opportunity. Flying somewhere was out of the question and
I had yet to see the Alhambra (in Granada) and my cousin had told me very good
things about Granada as a city so I figured that would be a good option,
especially because a bus there was only $50 return. Even better was the fact
that an hour from Granada is Malaga where several of my friends live from when
I went on exchange in Amsterdam as an undergrad. So we could have a mini
reunion there! So off to the south of Spain I went.
Granada is famous for the Alhambra but there are some pretty
cool other other things there as well:
--Student town--
Granada’s medical and dental schools are apparently very
prestigious and big meaning Granada is a student town. Meaning cheap food! Fun
parties! Huray!
--Los Reyes Catolicos--
The king and queen of Spain from the late 1400’s to early
1500’s, Fernando and Isabella, (known as “los reyes catolicos” or “the catholic
king and queen”) are buried here. Why is this noteworthy? Well they united the
various regions of spain under a common flag, began the spanish inquisition and
sponsored columbus’ voyage to the new world. Pretty influential monarchs! In the church they are buried, you can see their actual tombs!! It was pretty cool to see these actual monarchs who were so influential in world history.
--Tapas- -
When I read in my Lonely Planet guide that Granada was
notable for its sizable tapas, I knew I had to see this for myself. And boy
was Lonely Planet right! In very commercial establishments in Spain and
elsewhere, you have to buy tapas separately and they are small plates of things
like olives or tortilla española or whatever. In traditional Spanish
restaurants the tapas come free with your drink, mimicking the traditional
manner of serving them (which you can learn more about here)
For some reason in Granada tapas are almost like small meals
and the more beer/wine you order, the bigger the tapas.
Example 1: I bought a
small glass of beer for 2EUR and got a ham sandwich and fries for free!
Example 2: I was with a group of 5 people and we each got a
beer for 1.80EUR. With it we got a PLATTER of burritos!! WHAT!!??? Awesome!! (and they weren't gross burritos either!)
As an MBA student I was curious to know how this could
possibly be a sustainable business practice. My friend Jose from Malaga (who is
a recent MBA grad) informed me it is funded through people buying lots and lots
of alcohol at a time at the bars. Oh Spain…how I love it. Haha
--Moorish-themed stuff—
Because Granada was such an important part of Moorish Spain,
there are muslim-themed things everywhere. The Albayzin (old Moorish quarter)
feels like you are in Aladdin or that
part of Raiders of the Lost Ark when Marion is hiding in a basket while Indy is
getting chased by bad guys. It is very
crowded and everyone is trying to sell you tacky carpets, Moorish tiles, hookah
pipes, etc.
The Moorish influence combined with Granada being a student
town means there are maybe more shawarma places per capita than in Ottawa (my
hometown). So much shawarma! And so cheap and delicious!! I loved it.
--The Alhambra--
This was a fortress that began in the 900’s by the Moorish
rulers of Al-Andalus (the Moorish name of Andalucia) and grew over time to
become the giant fortress it ended up as. The architecture, design, etc. is
awesome and is a MUST see if you visit Spain but rather than talk about stuff
you can see for yourself in person or Wikipedia, I wanted to touch on a few different
things I found notable:
-For a few hundred years, the Alhambra was a dump, used as
barracks, a place for bums to hang out, etc. It may sound hard to believe but
what helped me envision what this place looked like in the past was Assassin’s
Creed II (the videogame). This may sound silly but that game takes place in
early renaissance Italy where you get to see, for example, the Roman Forum
being used for the same dumphole purposes. People just didn’t really care about
managing and preserving classical architecture at very points in history. I
guess they had bigger problems on their hands...The Alhambra was "rediscovered" in the late 1800's by American writer Washington Irving. He stayed in the Alhambra for some time and was inspired to write about it (The Tales of the Alhambra). This led to renewed interest in the fortress and it becoming the tourist destination it is today.
-The only thing I never liked about Lonely Planet guides was
that there are few pictures for each tourist attraction. So it was sometimes
tricky to follow what Lonely Planet was describing because you had to rely on
the book’s description and assume you were indeed looking at the correct thing
the book was describing. To tour the Alhambra, you have to follow a fixed
pathway through the various parts of the fortress. Lonely Planet’s descriptions
of the Alhambra follow this route EXACTLY!! I was very pleasantly surprised
about this and it made it a lot easier to understand what I was looking at
when, in each part of the Alhambra.
-Entering the Alhambra is a big chore. You MUST buy a ticket
in advance online and your ticket is only valid for a set period of time of the
day. And because the Alhambra is on the top of a hill, you need to walk for a
while or take a bus up there. Worth it, but different from what I am used to
where you can just go and walk into whatever tourist destination you want,
whenever.
So that’s the gist of Granada. Now for Malaga.
I should note a few things first: I had been to Malaga
before as a tourist so didn’t need to do much touristy stuff this time and I
went to Malaga this time around to visit friends, not do touristy stuff. That
being said, there are some worthwhile things to note about my visit:
-If you really want to go to Malaga as a tourist and have
never been, I strongly recommend going in the summer. Outside of the summer,
the city is chilly and/or rainy and all of the tourist stuff there is pretty similar
to Granada but better in Granada (i.e. muslim architecture, churches, etc). In
the summer in Malaga you can go to the city’s beach (called Malagueta) and
eat/drink on outside terraces all day and night which is super fun and
fantastic and worth it, time permitting. (which you cannot do in landlocked Granada)
-Malaga has completely redone its waterfront. The redo was
completed like a few months ago according to my friends. Now on the port is a
long promenade of nice restaurants and stores.
-You might have read in your tourism book about “teterias”
which are basically restaurants that specialize in serving tea. Because I am
not really a tea guy, I never would have gone to one on my own initiative. But
because I was with my Malageño amigos (that is, friends from Malaga) I followed
their afternoon routine. So after a big lunch at one of the most famous
restaurants in the city, “El Pimpi,” they took me to El Haren, one of the most
noteable Teterias in Malaga for some post-lunch chill time. It was SO cool!!
The place is a converted very, very old house. Inside it felt very bohemian.
Cool scene to chill out on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The place had tons of
varieties of tea, none of which taste like the “typical” stuff we are used to in
North America. My friend recommended “la jamiacana” (the Jamaican) which tasted
sort of like tea mixed with a warm pina colada. The perfect way to organize my
stomach after our giant Spanish lunch.
While I didn’t do any “typical” touristy stuff, catching up
with my friends I hadn´t seen in 6 years and spending an day like a typical
Malageño was a pretty fun experience.
Good times in Andalucia!! I am pretty sad I have to go back
to Canada in a month and a bit; I could really have spent more time in the
south for sure. Such a cool place.
