Granada, day 1

My train from Sevilla arrived at the train station in Granada at about 2ish in the afternoon. The train station looked pretty run down, even the toilets were makeshift. I went to the information counter and asked for directions to the bus stop because I've been told by the hostel to take bus 3 or 33 to the Cathedral. 

When I reached the Cathedral, I had some problems looking for the hostel because the map I printed was blur. okay i know that sounded like the lousiest excuse for being bad with directions but trust me, i can go anywhere with a map. So it was stupidity on my part for not checking the ma after i printed it at home! But then again, you would understand why the hostel was hard to find because it is located at some alley only accessible from a narrow bustling arab street.

Once I got myself checked in, I dumped my bag, grabbed a map of the city from the reception and headed out for a walk around the city. I decided to take a walk up to the Alhambra entrace because I had planned to queue up early the next morning for tickets. The lady at the ticket info counter told me to come at 6am because it's a Sunday. yikes. 

Back at Oasis, I went to the hostel's bar to claim my free drink. There I met Sandra, from Toronto, who was travelling alone as well. This is her 2nd time in Granada though. We chat for a bit until a group of local flamenco guitarists entered the hostel lobby and started playing some music. That pretty much attracted everyone within close proximity and I think everyone kinda took the opportunity to mingle.

I met Adrian (too many of them in the world) from Switzerland and he was travelling alone. Like Sandra, this is his 2nd time in Granada. He was due to start a flamenco guitar class on Monday. Then we met Austin, another solo traveller from Pennsylvania, who was also talking to Sandra. We chat for a bit while Adrian played his guitar. I talked to a few others and found out that there will be an unofficial gathering at a tapas bar (with a free flamenco performance) nearby at 9.30pm. 

So off we went to a place called Cafe Au Lait (sounds french to me). Unfortunately, our group was too big and there weren't enough seats. So Sandra, Austin, Adrian and I opted out and headed to another tapas bar nearby for dinner, after which we headed towards a local, less touristy flamenco pub nearby for drinks. The place is called Eshavira and the location is awesome. 

I found out that Sandra and Austin had made plans to visit the Alpujarras the next day, and that Austin would be visiting the Alhambra on Monday. So I tweaked my plans a bit. I decided to change my train to Valencia to Monday night instead of morning so I could visit the Alhambra with Austin and go to the Alpujarras on Sunday. 

After much chatting and drinking, the group headed back to the hostel at about 1ish. I then found out that Adrian's staying at the bunk above me. What coincidence!