Friday, Day 27 – Started off early. catching the train to Granada. Let me start by saying that the city (Almería) has a shared bus and train station. Busses on one side where probably something like 20 busses can park at one time waiting for departure (or upon arrival), and on the other side is the train station. Now, the train station has been undergoing a transformation since May 2024 and therefore it is closed. It is not expected to reopen until 2026! The picture below is actually taken from the apartment window where I’m staying. It’s so close, and very convenient.

The train terminal, an old lovely building is open where you can buy tickets and there is a small waiting area. But to take a train from Almería, first you have to take a bus that transports you to a nearby train station. It’s about a 30 minute ride. When you buy a ticket departing from Almería, the time of departure and arrival takes into consideration that bus ride to and from. It was about a 3 hour ride into Granada with one stop. The train was not full and it was very comfortable.

Again, as in my other short trips, I found a hotel close to the train station (about a 20 minute walk). It was very convenient as it was only about a 20 minute walk into the Downtown area (in the other direction from the train station). Another nice, small hotel; for a small fee they included a full breakfast buffet, which I opted for. They had scrambled eggs and bacon, bread, donuts and other sweet breakfast breads and muffins, juices, yogurt and fruit. It was quite good. It’s hard to find eggs for breakfast in Spain, it’s just not common. 😲

Once I got checked in to the hotel and unpacked, I headed out to find some lunch. And what did I find? A Mexican restaurant of all things. It was called Mi Mexico. A nicely decorated restaurant with a small bar area. I ordered a Paloma cocktail (one of my favorites: tequila and grapefruit soda), a classic in Mexico. For lunch, I ordered a taco de chicharrón and a “keka” (quesadilla) with rib eye filling. Both were very good. 6€ each. 🤯

The tortillas were home made, it appeared. Both of the tacos were served a la carte, no sides of beans or rice. I wanted some guacamole but it was a large portion (9€), so I ordered the small “gaucamole salsa”. And that was just a very small dish of gaucamole. Funny, huh? They served a green salsa with the tacos which was good and not too spicy.

After lunch, I walked for the rest of the afternoon and evening! Granada is a lovely city, big and crowded. A tourist destination for sure. It was very cold out. Much colder than Almería. But I enjoyed walking about, finding the little streets full of shops and so many “tea parlors” throughout. The Arabic influence is still very strong in this city. I found several plazas and a Christmas Market.

I found the Cathedral of Granada in the Downtown area and paid the entry fee to tour it. It is quite large and beautiful, though I must admit rather worn down. There is a bit of renovation going on, and understandably so.

Once evening arrived, the Christmas lights were everywhere. I was pretty tired by this time and decided to retire early. I stopped by a Pastry Shop and picked up someting sweet and decided that and a cup of tea in my room would be enough ¨dinner.¨ Good night!

Day 28: Saturday- it was 36 degrees fahrenheit (2C) this morning. So I was in no hurry to go outside. I started my day around 10:30am walking to Downtown. I found the pick up spot for the City Tour Bus. It´s one of those on-off busses that takes you around the city and makes (in this case) 13 stops at popular locations. It is a great way to see a city and I have taken these types of tours in many cities in the USA, and I also took one in Malaga, Spain when I was there recently. The difference here is that it is a very small bus with open windows, and in this cold, not very enticing. BUT, it was very busy. I bought my ticket and waited in line… almost 2 hours!

It was in the shade and very cold. I caught the 4th bus that stopped, as the others were full. They could only allow us to board the number of people getting off the bus. Makes sense since there are only so many seats available on each bus. What I determined, along with my fellow riders waiting in line with me, was that due to the cold, people were not hopping on or off anywhere. The only “hopping” that was taking place was with those of us in line… due to the cold. 😂 Anyway, the passengers were obviously riding the entire tour, which takes a 90 minute ride around the city. Once a bus arrived that I was able to board (along with 10 other passengers in line) we all agreed that we were not getting off anywhere and would be riding the entire route and “hopping off” at the very same location where we “hopped on.”

I did not appreciate the wait, they really should have put another few busses out in the city, but once I saw the route, and the narrow streets, I figured it was the best they could do. There are a lot of narrow, winding roads in Granada; it’s very hilly, too. So the two decker busses you see in other large tourist cities would NEVER work in Granada. They would never be able to navigate the narrow roads. I’m glad I took the tour. The city is beautiful. There is the older section and what they call the modern city. In one of the pictures below, you can see where our tour started, at the Paseo de los Tristes (Road of the Sad Ones). Named as such many, many years ago as the funeral processions took this route to the cemetary. Yes, the tour bus took us up this narrow road, while pedestrians hugged the curb so as not to be hit. But I´m telling you, we were surrounded by people on both sides of the bus and in some cases the bus passed them with only an inch or two to spare. Really!

After the tour, I was so cold and hungry. I found a restaurant just around the corner from Plaza Nueva where the tour bus started and ended. It was a Moroccan restaurant. I’ve never been to one, but decided to give it a try! It was very crowded and I was given the last available table. The service was excellent and the food, too. Firstly, I requested a white wine, only to be told they don’t serve alcohol. Of course! So I ordered a (somewhat sour) lemonade. I then ordered a Lentil soup to try to warm up. And a Tajin, there are many, and it’s like a stew. i ordered one with chicken, vegetables (& olives!) and lemon. The lemons are actually cooked in the stew along with the rest of the ingredients. It was very good. And I had to order the house specialty dessert. I’ll describe it to you as it was listed in the menu: orange slices, cinnamon, sugar icing (powdered sugar), honey and orange blossom water. It was delicious!

My lunch ended right about the time I had to leave to walk just a little ways to a Flamenco Show! I bought the tickets yesterday. I had previously found this place on line using Google, and to be honest, what drew me was the name: Casa Ana, Centro Flamenco. It was a very small theatre, and unlike some others, there is no table service or food served. No tables at all, actually. And that was fine by me, since I had just eaten. There is a small bar to the side, but no beverages are allowed in the theatre. It quickly filled up, probably seats 100 people. The show was terrific, my first! There were 5 performers: a female and male dancer, two singers and a guitarist.

My initial reaction was surprising: why do they seem so angry? Why is the dance so agresssive? I don’t believe the female dancer smiled once. I had to research it a bit to find that not only is the dance improvised according to the way the music moves the performers, but it is meant to instill in the audience their passion, joy and sorrow. Very interesting and what a talent. The way they move their feet, wow! So fast and such intricate movements. So impressive. We were not allowed to take pictures during the performance, but for about 5 minutes after the performance, they did some small movements and allowed us to take pictures or video. And that is what you see here. I did love it and was very moved by the music and the dance.

After the show, I had just enough time to walk over to the Cathedral, find a Chai Latte (nice and hot) and make it to 8:00pm mass at the Iglesia del Sagrario, attached to the Cathedral (but a separate church). It was built in 1704 over what had been the prayer hall of the Great Mosque of Granada. After mass it was now almost 9:00pm and time for me to call it a day. I headed back to the hotel to rest. Tomorrow is another day!

Sunday, Day 29 – Check out time at the hotel was 12:00pm. I had breakfast, stored my luggage at the hotel front desk, and headed out for the day. My train didn´t leave until 3:00pm and I planned to see more of the city before I departed. It was cold out, but off I went. I walked towards Downtown and walked along a beautiful promenade along the Carrera de la Virgen (a large boulevard). From there I walked along the Genil River, where there is also a lovely promenade for walking, biking, etc. And that is where I found the giant ferris wheel (much like the London Eye – only smaller). It´s called the Mirador Princess Granada. Although there were a lot of people out, it was empty, unfortunately. The cost of 7€ is a bit high, I think. But I decided, why not? You only live once. There was another family that boarded when I did. So it was just the two cabins. We made 3 rounds. It was great. Awesome views. I´m glad I decided to check it out.

I started back walking along the river. This is where I found El Corte Inglés. Spain´s largest department store chain with a full ¨fancy¨ (gourmet) supermarket on the bottom floor. I went in to take a look, but only ¨window¨ shopping for me!

On my way back to the hotel to pick up my luggage, I stopped near the Cathedral (downtown) and sat at one of the cities oldest and most famous ¨Churrerrias¨. It´s a cafe that sells a full menu in addition to churros. So, of course, I had to have my churros and hot chocolate before boarding the train. Since this was considered breakfast (it was around 1:00pm), I was also served fresh orange juice.

I walked from the hotel to the train station about 20 minutes and didn’t have to wait long to board. It was almost empty really. This train made 4 stops before arriving in Almería. We got back around 6:00pm. I was tired and called it a night. I stayed in, unpacked and did laundry. Stay tuned for more tomorrow! 😍

Day 27: 15,657 steps

Day 28: 11,013 steps

Day 29: 15,798 steps