tues Granada: exploring downtown

I walked away from my hotel, trying to follow my map and looking for a bus to take me into town. They don't have a metro! I thought I was lost, but came to a bus stop. I saw a sign earlier for cars saying "centro" (I assumed that meant downtown) so I asked the bus driver that and he nodded and waited for my money.
I got off when I thought I recognized the cathedral. I was planning on going there, but I had to wait until 4 for it to open again. I decided to look for lunch in the meantime. I hadn't seen much food on the main street, but went there to take pictures anyway. It's really cute with buildings in all different colors that curve down the street. The sidewalk is a checker pattern!


I quickly came to the conclusion that there wasn't much in the way of food on the main street-- it was almost all shops! So I went across a side alley that I'd seen from where the bus let me off.




And wound up in a square with a big fountain and more colored buildings-- these ones were pastels.

I wandered around the square, reading menus. I wanted a paella or a risotto for a decent price. I found an empty little restaurant called Alhambra with all of the A's shaped like minarettes. It had paella on the menu del dia out front for cheaper than the other paellas AND I got an appetizer and dessert! I have to say my Spanish is really improving. I know more and more things on menus and I can even ask for a few things in Spanish (like la quenta and the servicios). I noticed this was especially true when Tom and Young-ja were around. There were SO many things that they didn't know that I really felt like a native Barcelonite.
They had to come open the door for me to come in. I wasn't convinced that they were open! I got a salad as my appetiser. It turned out to be all iceberg lettuce with onions and loads of corn on top and tomatoes places around the sides. The paella was like normal rice more than paella. I was mildly dissatisfied but hungry. Then I really didn't have room for dessert, but I let them serve it to me anyway. I chose Catalan Creme. It was burned on top like creme brulee. It was pretty good.

After lunch, I went back across the main street to take pictures of some of the cute squares (and a couple more of the fountain square).




In this square, there was a man SCREAMING and crying. He wasn't directing it at anyone but was quieted when someone gave him some money. Then he held his hand open to someone else for money. From there, he tried to cross the street and was almost runover by a motorcycle. Coo-coo!



I went up an alley by the square and found an interesting building and lots of motorcycles and a dead end.







Here's the view back across the main road-- just a slice of life sort of scene. Two people minding their own business and a totally normal alley with a cathedral in the back. I like this picture even though it isn't really OF anything.






Then I went to another square that I'd seen from the bus. It has a statue with a fountain around it. It appears to be a queen with someone kneeling in front of her. I don't get it. It's called Plaza de Isabel Catolica.





I continued up that street because there were signs for the Officina Tourisma (or something like that). The road opened to show off a big building and prove room for diners.



Along the way, there were lots of shops and I couldn't help but by a pair of big silver circles with flowers and a design engraved in them. My radar for shops and cute things was turned up to high for the day. I'd been eyeing things all over!
At the end, there was a neat old church, which I'm guessing was St. Ana due to the name of the square by it.





On the way up to it, I spotted a hilarious fountain (and some hippies and dogs).



I almost kept walking, but looking back at the church, I saw that the building next to it was the tourist office. I went in. My guidebook said it's wise to get advanced tickets to La Alhambra and I wanted to see what they thought about that if they could tell me where to get them. I told the girl at the desk about the concept of advanced tickets. She shook her head, grabbed a map, and circled the ticket office next to the entrance. I asked her if I could take a bus there. She showed me which road to WALK up and then the square where the bus goes to. Thanks, I'll be taking the bus up the hill to walk around all day.

TBC...