Exploring sunny Granada

A day for sleeping in before heading out to find a walking tour. Our first pick didn't have enough English speakers so was only running a Spanish tour... time for a coffee before we had better luck with the 10.30am Feel the City Tour!

We had a brilliant two hours learning all about Granada and the many dynasties who have called it home, changed its structure and made it the city it is today...albeit no longer in the top 10 cities in Spain. Considering how beautiful it is today I imagine that it would have been quite a city had not so much been destroyed over the years in the name of 'modern progression'. We learnt about the changing history as the Moors were overtaken by the Catholics and saw the different influences in the architecture as a result of both of these religions having made their homes here. We saw the market place, now sadly only a tenth of the size that it used to be! Built very closely together with small windy passages to shade or shelter you from the weather, to help catch thieves, and also to sucker you into buying more

because you can't find your way out (think Ikea set ups but back in the 14th century!). Another highlight was the Cathedral (complete with some swing dancers outside!), and also a beautiful little church on the hillside called Saint Gregory's. Now this church has had a pretty interesting journey over the years. Spain was going bankrupt and needed to raise some money to help fight Napoleon. They decided the best way to do this was to repossess some of the church's property and sell it to private investors. The new owner of Saint Gregory's decided that he didn't want to change the church, he wanted to preserve it, but couldn't make the costing work with just his family, so he did the only thing that made sense and used it as a bar. Whispers among the elders of the community do point to this being a bar where "suspicious women" worked - but this didn't come out til later once the building had become a church again. There are 13 nuns who have dedicated their lives to prayer and they pray in 8 hour

shifts across the day so that their prayers are heard 24/7. Some dedication.

Typically we made friends with the other kiwi on the tour and joined her in venturing up to the area of Albaicin for a lunch of tapas, this time remembering that food comes free with the drink! As we were walking back down to town, we saw a sign for Sacromonte, the area where people lived in caves so we decided to go check it out.

After a 15 minute walk around a one lane road dodging traffic in 40 degrees, we found the Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte up a hill. This museum was all about the lives and living conditions of the people that lived in these caves. They were mainly Gypsies from India and Muslim people who had been shunned from the general population in Granada after the Moors were defeated. This combination of circumstances is thought to have contributed to the soul of Flamenco and as a result Sacromente is one of the possible birthplaces of Flamenco dancing. Great way to spend a few hours.

After winding our way back to the city, via a lookout to see the Alhambra from a different angle and some twisting shopping streets, it was a chilled night for us. A few beers and some free sangria at the hostel before heading out for a few tapas. Bring on Seville tomorrow.