Hotsprings, Caves and Islamic Grandeur: Exploring the Giant Pomegrante

From Tarifa we headed to Granada, our last destination in Spain.

After returning the car we headed to the hostel and checked in.

We immediately signed up for the nightly excursion to a local hot spring. That night the driver picked us up along with our new friends, Linette from Langley (Holla BC!) and Beth from Ontario. Luckily, Beth studied in Costa Rica and had excellent Spanish speaking abilities. The driver talked non-stop as he drove us out of the city and down some dirt roads in his hatchback. Beth was able to translate for us as he told her all about the hot springs.

It was a natural hot spring pool, out in the bush. Popular with the locals, but essentially deserted whenever there was a football game on. Some hippy-types even had a quasi-café on one side of the hot springs constructed from salvaged siding and tarps. He told us older people come in the day and coat themselves in the mud from the hot springs because it's good for your skin.

When we arrived at the hot spring it was a lively place (meaning there was no World Cup game on that night). It felt amazing to be out of the city and see the stars while soaking in the hot pool.

The next three days were spent exploring Granada (translation: Pomegrante). There is a lot to love about this place.


The Albaicin is the old Islamic neighbourhood. The neighbourhood itself is a UNESCO world heritage site and contains well-preserved medieval Moorish architecture that was spared during the Reconquista.

Cars are heavily restricted in the Albaicin. Which is no small wonder considering there are more staircases here than roads. If you live there and want a car your name is put on a waiting list. Also, the roads vary in width from end to end. What starts as a wide road (and wide in Europe means a one lane North American road used as a two lane European road) can get narrower and narrower as you go along until finally you'd be stuck between two buildings.

Beautiful terrace in the Albaicin.




Kitties napping by the river.



Sacramonte is the gypsy cave neighbourhood, also home to many Flamenco clubs. Our guide told us it's the neighbourhood for people who want to live a rent free "alternative lifestyle." Built way up on the hillside, along the city walls, it offers great views of the city below and has many curious caves dwellings in various states of development. Shane and I spent an afternoon exploring up there.

Cave terrace:


Granada is known for free tapas when you order a drink. You could subsist solely on tapas in this town and forgo full meals altogether. However, this tapas led to some awkwardness on our part when we received tapas containing meat or fish and then had to tell the waiter that although we like free food, we don't like meat or fish. We decided to address this issue prior to ordering our drinks but that's really just as awkward. "Hey, hypothetically speaking, if you were to bring us some free tapas, can you make sure it's not fish or meat?" It felt as if we were ruining the unobligatory generousity of the bars/restaurants with our preemptive discussion regarding our vegetarian diet.

We took a long hot walk up to the Alhambre (mid-14th century Moorish palace), which was maybe not the best idea at two in the afternoon on a hot day. We had not heeded advice to make sure we had a bottle of water before we attempted the climb so we were unreasonably hot and absurdly parched upon arrival.




Shane says he's ready to move in.



Other highlights from Granada? A World Cup donut diorama!



Finally, on July 1st we said goodbye to Granada, tapas, and the now pseudo-comfort of our Spanish speaking skills, ready to start phase two of our journey.

Cracking the spine on another language book and Lonely Planet guide, we were ready for Turkey, and more specifically, Istanbul.