granada - kind of like granadine
just the thing to sweeten up a holiday is ol' granada, which heralds the pommegranite as its local symbol (incidentally the fruit from which granadine, that red stuff they use in bars kind of like cotties cordial but with less artificial sugar).
we arrived here after a hellish busride from seville; thankfully our last on this leg of the trip - there are no-doubt more rides to come when i get up north but at least then i'll be able to complain about stinking toilet smells infiltrating the airconditioning system in english. although i hear that scottish people sometimes have trouble understanding australians (?!). anyway i am sad to report that i detailed this experience with literary vigour upon my arrival in granada but the dodgy computer at the fantastic hostel 'rambatan' (another sweet, but considerably more hairy, fruit) ate my post and refused to regurgitate it. such frustration and 2 post lost in the space of 9 days almost did my head in. i am now in the safety of 'movistar' internet cafe down in the town so my nerves are settled.
ok: begin
our bus trouble didn't stop as the directions to the picturesquely placed rambatan (read: up a big hill) recommended a bus number from the station that didn't exactly take us to the right part of town. indeed the complete opposite end but luckily taxi's aren't too pricey and even luckier that granada and the rambatam are worth it. a good indication of the style of the place was on show the moment we arrived; everyone was dressed up in all sorts of fancy dress and the whole hostel was in the middle of a somewhat drunken halloween party. we were recommended this joint way back in september at the certaldo by a lovely girl by the name of jess who arrived in granada and then left 4 months later when she picked up a job at the hostel. not a bad choice and we completely understand why; the rambatam, up its very large hill, overlooks the alhambra - the only original standing moor castle in granada and a relic of their occupation from before the 12th century. it is an absolutely stunning arabic style castle that overlooks the crawling steets of granada in the valley below. it is most especially gorgeous from the hostel's aspect on an adjacent hillside which is covered in stark greek-ish white painted houses. one of the quirkier things is that many of these abodes are very modest small fronts to 5-bedroom fully furnished caves. quite incredible and unfortunately the rambatam isn't a cave, which apparently is a real bitch in summer because they sweat it out with their man-made walls while everone else chills out inside the hill.
granada itself is quite stunning, and the moroccan quater - quite close to our end of town - definitely makes granada all the more interesting and diverse. we have spent most of our time in that area and, as a consequence, are very much scholars on the quality kebab joints. many a 'chawrma/shawarma' has been had. basically a pork based kebab but each shop creates the masterpiece with it's own style which is quite a nice way to differentiate an otherwise standard dish. the nightlife is, like most of spain, always a highlight and all of the bars are most enthusiastic about providing free tapas; which usually arrives in the form of a toasted ham&cheese bagel with hot chips but sometimes you can strike lucky with some chorizo and or seafood. alongside all of this we have met some great people who will, like us, no doubt pass on a recommendation. so 3 nights here have been great but i am looking forward to going back up to basque country and enjoying some 'kalimatchxo' *the name of the wine and coke drink i was mentioning and thank luke cheng for his inexaustable knowledge of alcoholic drinks for*. the 10pm train to barcelon will be our most expensive travel-fare so far, aside from our flights from aus of course, but 71euro each is a bit of a joke considering we've been paying no more than about 30 for every other trip and especially considering we have a flight to paris for 25!
thankgod for the airbus
we arrived here after a hellish busride from seville; thankfully our last on this leg of the trip - there are no-doubt more rides to come when i get up north but at least then i'll be able to complain about stinking toilet smells infiltrating the airconditioning system in english. although i hear that scottish people sometimes have trouble understanding australians (?!). anyway i am sad to report that i detailed this experience with literary vigour upon my arrival in granada but the dodgy computer at the fantastic hostel 'rambatan' (another sweet, but considerably more hairy, fruit) ate my post and refused to regurgitate it. such frustration and 2 post lost in the space of 9 days almost did my head in. i am now in the safety of 'movistar' internet cafe down in the town so my nerves are settled.
ok: begin
our bus trouble didn't stop as the directions to the picturesquely placed rambatan (read: up a big hill) recommended a bus number from the station that didn't exactly take us to the right part of town. indeed the complete opposite end but luckily taxi's aren't too pricey and even luckier that granada and the rambatam are worth it. a good indication of the style of the place was on show the moment we arrived; everyone was dressed up in all sorts of fancy dress and the whole hostel was in the middle of a somewhat drunken halloween party. we were recommended this joint way back in september at the certaldo by a lovely girl by the name of jess who arrived in granada and then left 4 months later when she picked up a job at the hostel. not a bad choice and we completely understand why; the rambatam, up its very large hill, overlooks the alhambra - the only original standing moor castle in granada and a relic of their occupation from before the 12th century. it is an absolutely stunning arabic style castle that overlooks the crawling steets of granada in the valley below. it is most especially gorgeous from the hostel's aspect on an adjacent hillside which is covered in stark greek-ish white painted houses. one of the quirkier things is that many of these abodes are very modest small fronts to 5-bedroom fully furnished caves. quite incredible and unfortunately the rambatam isn't a cave, which apparently is a real bitch in summer because they sweat it out with their man-made walls while everone else chills out inside the hill.
granada itself is quite stunning, and the moroccan quater - quite close to our end of town - definitely makes granada all the more interesting and diverse. we have spent most of our time in that area and, as a consequence, are very much scholars on the quality kebab joints. many a 'chawrma/shawarma' has been had. basically a pork based kebab but each shop creates the masterpiece with it's own style which is quite a nice way to differentiate an otherwise standard dish. the nightlife is, like most of spain, always a highlight and all of the bars are most enthusiastic about providing free tapas; which usually arrives in the form of a toasted ham&cheese bagel with hot chips but sometimes you can strike lucky with some chorizo and or seafood. alongside all of this we have met some great people who will, like us, no doubt pass on a recommendation. so 3 nights here have been great but i am looking forward to going back up to basque country and enjoying some 'kalimatchxo' *the name of the wine and coke drink i was mentioning and thank luke cheng for his inexaustable knowledge of alcoholic drinks for*. the 10pm train to barcelon will be our most expensive travel-fare so far, aside from our flights from aus of course, but 71euro each is a bit of a joke considering we've been paying no more than about 30 for every other trip and especially considering we have a flight to paris for 25!
thankgod for the airbus
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