5 Things in Granada, Andalucía, España

   There I stood, teetering on the edge of a third story balcony railing, strapped into a safety harness at 5 a.m., getting shouted at by an eccentric Catalunyan director in a language I couldn't understand. My stunt double, Tito, non-chalantly puffed a cigarette while the make-up artist painted his hair blonde, accidentally leaving his eyebrows a dark brown, and his gray 5 o'clock shadow, well, gray. Believe it or not, I was filming the second of two short commercials for the Sitges film festival, where I somehow found myself playing one of two lead roles. The Sitges Film Festival, is a sci-fi, fantasy, and horror film festival, which premiered such films as "The Bourne Identity," "Kill Bill,"and "Aliens," among others. Disregarding my newfound, inflated ego, budding sense of stardom, and need to tell everyone about my 15 seconds of fame, the shooting of this commercial unfortunately caused me to miss my original flight to Granada. I was supposed to leave at 7:30 A.M., and arrive in Granada at 9 a.m. in order to get a full two days in Granada. However, because shooting ran three hours late on Spanish time, the producer changed my flight to later that night and payed the difference. So, this post should be more accurately titled as "5 things in Granada in under 34 hours." I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. 

   Well, as soon as I stepped out of the Taxi, Granada met my nostrils with a smell of overwhelming comfort and reassurance -- the same type of comfort when you smell a warm, home-cooked meal. The city itself sits in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, dripping with Islamic and North African influence, due to it's status as the last Islamic and Moorish stronghold in Spain. With a huge student population and streets sprinkled with cheap tapas bars, Granada blends the slow, traditional Andalusian lifestyle together with the energy and vibrance of student life, cooking up a sweet and savory Spanish city. Obviously, I'm still overwhelmed at how great the food was (at great prices by the way), so I guess I'll start there with Granada's 5 things.


1. Churros con Chocolate. Dear God almighty, these little fluffy, deep-fried golden chunks of heavenly salvation nearly made me cry tears of sugary joy. I'm a big fan of churros, and I eat them pretty frequently at home. In fact, I consider myself somewhat of a Churro-connoisseur, of sorts. Whenever I go to Costco, I always get a hot dog and a churro, and for $2.50 I can get a great lunch and a huge helping of satisfaction. The churro is always my favorite part. But, in true Spanish fashion, they take a great thing and make it better. These crazy guys add a cup of HOT MELTED CHOCOLATE to the already great churro recipe. So, without further a due, I present to you my new favorite food, Churros con chocolate.

2. Tapas, cheap ones, free with the purchase of what usually is a 2-3 euro drink. In Barcelona, most tapas bars are really expensive and kind of a 'tourist trap,' because tapas are native to Andalucía, not Barcelona/Catalunya. Here in Granada however, almost all restaurants give a pretty size-able tapa with the purchase of a beer or glass of sangría, and two of Granada's tapas have the potential of knocking you directly into a food coma. Also, Granada, because it is such an international community, has alot of tapas-fusion restaurants. Check out this delicious fried rice tapa that I ate:

These falafel and pita tapas didn't last long enough to take a picture.

We finished off tapas with some pretty traditional Spanish tapas, called 'croquetas.'

Just when I finished my churros con chocolate, Granada goes and throws all of these tapas at me for the low price of 2 euros a pop. Delicious.

3. Well, Granada is famous for it's huge Islamic and Moorish influence, so it has a few streets lined with hookah and tapestry filled shops in the Arab Bazaar. It's pretty much as close as you can get to Northern Africa without having to go to norther Africa. You can try and bargain owners, but if you're anything like me, it usually backfires and they end up raising the price and you leave empty handed.

We went to a tea shop called "As-Sirat," in the same area, and just walking into the candle-lit seating area made me wish I brought my lensless Ray-Ban's and copy of On the Road. Yeah, this place was hip, and delicious.

4. Then we went to Granada's claim to fame, "La Alhambra," the last Moorish outpost in Spain, famous for it's ornate stucco decorations, gardens, stark beauty and the tangible presence of the Islamic religion. We went at night, and didn't really get to see all of it, but it was definitely worth the hike up the hill and entrance fee, and that 8 euro could have bought a whole bunch of churros, so you know I'm not joking around.

5. Finally, our friends took us to Granada's "botellón." A "botellón" is basically a giant outdoor party, where Spanish youth go and drink in plazas before heading out the bars or discotecas. There were quite a few people, and needless to say, my blonde hair stuck out in the sea of brown hair like a nun at a Motley Crue concert.

   There was trash everywhere towards the end, and it overwhelmingly reeked of pee. Later, I found out that people from Granada have a nickname for the pee-stench of their botellón, sarcastically named "perfume de botellón." That foul stench was the furthest thing from a perfume that I have ever smelled. While the pee smell of botellón didn't quite conjure up the same smell of comfort and satisfaction of churro and tapas, botellón was still a great way to finish up my short time in Granada. Granada is a really cool city, with alot of unique stuff to see, or in my case, eat. Go fish out a few two euro coins and go eat your way through Granada, you'll have a great time. Overall, Granada was great, easily the best 30 hours I've spent outside of Barcelona since I've been here. If I had spent any more time with those churros in Granada, well, I'll spare the details, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal in a few states back home.

Word of the Day: Oler - To smell ( this guy is an irregular verb, so it gets all sorts of crazy in the upcoming sentence)

Churros y tapas huelen muy sabroso. Churros and tapas smell very tasty.