Just wait for these people to move... Right, say ‘cheese’!

On our very first night out in Granada we met Oscar at a bar where he invited us to join him and his mates in a game of killer. Oscar is great fun - your typical geezer but a nice guy nonetheless - and we have seen him many a time ever since. He seems to know everybody that’s worth knowing in Granada, and for that reason, we just hop between the bars where he knows the staff and usually manage to come away with at least one free drink from each one! So, when I was in the Irish bar watching the City v Wigan game, there he was again speaking with Paddy, the landlord – I agree, his name almost sounds like I’ve just made it up to fit the Irish stereotype, but no, it really was his name. With the Chelsea match and Gaelic Football occupying the 5 TV screens in the bar, Paddy managed to get the City game on a dodgy website on his laptop. So I, along with the other 2 city fans that there were in the bar, sat in the corner and huddled around this laptop to watch a video that was so poor quality it was as if someone was taking photos every second and putting them on the screen. Still saw the goals though, both of them!!

So when we first arrived in Granada, we allowed ourselves to be tourists for the first two weeks but then after that we would have to just crack on with life. With us now having indeed been here for a fortnight, we crammed in the touristy bits in a day and just went round everywhere that we knew was nice and took a photo of it, sometimes with one of us in the photo holding that awkward, tourist pose. It’s a good job I don’t get embarrassed easily... One of the highlights of our day as a tourist was visiting the square of San Nicolas at dusk where you have a perfect view of the Alhambra (as far as I’m aware it’s just a big Mosque type place, but an old one!). Then at 9 o’clock, after it’s been dark for about 20 minutes, the lights come on and the whole place is lit up - it’s pretty incredible to say the least. With us having absolutely no idea where the Mirador de San Nicolas was, we had to just guess and walked through what appeared to be a dodgy part of Granada, through alleys no wider than 3ft, eventually (and luckily) stumbling across the square packed with people!

Prior to our trip up through the Albaycín, we bumped into an artist drawing on a large canvas on the floor in one the main squares in Granada, Plaza Nueva. He had a caption written on his drawing saying that he was a British artist that works for a charity and would like any spare change that we could offer. You know what it’s like when you’re abroad and you meet someone else that’s British, straight away you feel like you know them! So we got chatting and found out that he was waiting for his passport to be renewed and appeared to be without a permanent place of residence – hmm suspicion. Anyway, we got his number and may be going for a drink with him soon!

I’m now in my flat – it’s awesome, I love it. Mercedes, the landlady keeps stressing about us keeping it clean, but if you get literally everything in white, it’s going to be a tricky job! Daní seems to be the name of choice for Spanish folk as they struggle saying Dan so I’m slowly getting used to it. When Mercedes was showing me around as I moved in, she changed it to Daní herself - I was in no position to argue so it’s stayed! I’ve now met all of my flatmates but only Anabel and Azahara are here at the minute, who both seem really nice. I spoke with Anabel for quite a while last night about allsorts but it’s ridiculously frustrating knowing what you what you want to say in English but just not being able to say it as you want to. I’ll get there, just slowly! I think Azahara thinks my Spanish must pretty damn horrendous, so for the time being we stick to the phrases of ‘hi’ and ‘how are you’!! I haven’t had chance to speak to her yet as she was out last night, but I’ll have to show her that I can actually progress past the level of a 3 year old child – all part of the fun!

We start uni tomorrow but for these first few weeks you aren’t assigned to any classes, you just have to try the ones you fancy and make your choices. I think my choices will be made more on timetable hours than quality of the class, but we’ll have to see. I’ve got a ‘level test’ for my Spanish Language course that I’m taking tomorrow morning at 9.00 am so will be able to find out for sure what my level really is. Not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing to be honest...

The best way to understand a culture is to embrace it... Beer and Tapas, 1€ - OK then!

Getting around the city is now becoming a little more straightforward with fewer wrong turns being made on a daily basis. Meeting friends of friends seems to be the best way of getting to know new people, and we've made a couple of good mates this way so far. Obviously the good, old-fashioned conversation starting in random bars has come up trumps too! Armed with the usual phrases of ‘where are you from?’ and ‘what are you studying in Granada?’ we were unstoppable!


After being warned by several people that some restaurants take advantage of tourists with their prices, we made sure that we went for cheap! And cheap it was - order a beer for a euro and you get some free tapas with it... winner! However, there is only so much thin pieces of ham on bread that you can eat before you need something a little more substantial! So, map in hand, we went to find somewhere for some food. Apparently a rosca is what we were after... the size of a pizza but a round baguette style snack - could've fed a family, it was huge! 


Trying as many different types of food soon became more like a hobby than something that we needed to survive! The bars on some of the squares offered food at pretty good prices along with entertainment from some of the homeless folk that come and sing flamenco at your table. Awkward to start with as every time you look at them they seem to be trying to stare you out whilst wailing to their tune. Nevertheless, it was worth every penny of the 40 cent I gave him along with the rogue 20p that was still in my wallet.


With food and music now out of the way, we decided to move on to more important things and check out the city's nightlife. We met up with a friend from Nottingham and met her friends, who took us to a typical Spanish bar well off the beaten track. A litre of rum and coke for 6 euros was just what we were after. Boy was it strong too! The bar itself was surreal - one that was built during Franco's time and the toilet was still just a hole in the ground. A talking point absolutely, but maybe not for the right reason!!


One of the other bars we visited summed up the Spanish laid back/last min attitude perfectly. It was only a small bar but we were meeting some Spanish friends there and they assured us it was worth the visit! You order your drink for a euro and then your equivalent to a Spanish Subway for a euro as well. Incredible. The best part being that when you order your drink, you see the bar man run out the back door and down the street to buy the alcohol from the shop! Would make too much sense for him to be prepared so he just waits till we order before he buys it! Maybe a cash flow problem, but 1 euro a drink isn't going to help solve that!


Finally, the Chupitería (shot house) is quite the establishment. With 120 different shots to choose from, there's literally every combination you could think of - from whipped cream to cinnamon, you name it! So we thought we'd be the big dogs and order a number 29. As soon as we said it the barman asked if we were sure - obviously that made us want it even more! This seemed to go down well with him and he was keen to get them poured. Needless to say, the combination of Rum, Vodka and Tobasco is not one to recommend. Although at least that's out of the way. We've ticked that one off and plan to complete all 120 before we leave, not looking forward to the coffee ones...

Hi, I'm Dan and I've just seen your advert about the flat....

After spending my night with 9 Germans in Sweat-ville, Spain, I began the hunt for my humble abode. Knowing where to start is half the battle but after raiding every Flatmate website related to Granada, I had a list of 10 suitable candidates. Now all I had to do was make the phone-call, simples. No, not at all. Even the first word you hear from a Spaniard on the phone is daunting. With 'yes' or 'speak' being their warm greeting, you really need to get your A-game on straight away. So off I went and tried to explain why they shouldn't just hang up on me! With the occasional set-back of someone not really taking the time to listen, or them telling me to call Miguel, their flat mate, it was relatively problem free!

With my confidence high that I can actually speak a bit of this language, I strolled out to view my first 3 apartments with optimism. They were grim. When you go into a flat that has windows coming apart with rust, and a kitchen that looks like it's from That 70's Show, you try to think whether you could imagine yourself living there. After I casually dropped the 'how much' question, Isabel kindly made my decision for me! On yer bike son! As it happened, she did exactly that and pottered off on her Vespa...

Introducing yourself to a Spanish Landlord/lady (or any Spanish person for that matter) is not the easiest of tasks for someone that couldn't look less Spanish if he tried. As soon as my mouth opens I get that look of 'I have no idea what you are asking me' - that is until I baffle them with grammatically perfect Spanish and that little bit of charm. Ye that very rarely happens but I try, and they appreciate that!


After being disappointed by all 3 of Isabel's flats, I was a little less chirpy going to my next viewing. This was with one that I had found on Facebook and so immediately appealed to me because it was someone who seemed to live in the 21st Century and not rely on plastering dodgy photocopies to phone boxes. Arriving at the flat, I was quite nervy but I was welcomed by Sara who seemed really friendly and showed me round. Aside from the bathrooms and kitchen, it was hard to imagine what it was going to look like with there being no furniture but the brand new flat screen TV in the lounge sealed the deal! So that was it, I was to be the new flatmate of three Spanish girls - couldn't believe my luck when she dropped it into conversation! I'm yet to meet the other two but I don't really care to be honest, how bad can it be?!

Fail to plan... plan to fail! Well, nearly at least.

I'm new to this whole blog thing but thought I might as well give it a go, so here it is....

Leaving home for a long period of time was never going to be easy for me as I'm a bit of a momma's boy at the best of times! I didn't help matters by leaving things last minute (as I always do) and eventually finished packing on the morning of my flight - at 5.15 a.m. to be precise. At 5.45, after weighing my bag on the bathroom scales, I realised that my bag was heavier than my allowance and so on the way to the airport I hung myself (not literally, although it crossed my mind...) over the back seat and made a few 'last minute' changes to my travelling attire. With Mum suggesting that I wear 3 jumpers to Granada to minimise weight, I now decided to take 3 hoodies on the plane with me and wear jeans instead of shorts - turned out to be a wise decision! 


Being greeted at Terminal 1 by stalemate traffic wasn't what I had in mind for my big send-off at 6.00 in the morning, but nevertheless, that's what we had. So, with 6 minutes until my bag drop closes, out of the car we got! With my brother carrying my case on his head like some African woman, we straddled the cars and eventually arrived at the building. Stress over! Well, not quite...


Jet2.com is known to be nowhere near any of the other check-in desks at Manchester so we had to figure out how to get downstairs- a problem in itself - but I got there to be surprisingly met by my Grandparents and Uncle who had taken a cheeky route to avoid the traffic, as only my Granddad would! With very rushed 'hello's, I put my bag on the weighing bay to be informed by the incredibly miserable, and arrogantly unhelpful check-in clerk that this was in fact the Ryanair check-in not Jet2... Awesome! I'm sure you are well aware of the state of the queue for Jet2. Mahooosive! After being thrown to the front of various queues I eventually managed to get my bag sorted and then had to face security. Excited wasn't the word... I stood in the queue for security and was beckoned aggressively by all 6 members of my family as they'd managed to get me in fast track - a deceptive name to say the least, but I could well have still been there now if I stayed in the normal queue!


After running through the airport like a nut-job (in jeans and with 3 hoodies!), and nearly mowing down a woman with a walking stick, I arrived at my gate out of breath. As stressed as the stewardesses were, they appreciated that I had run there unlike everyone else, so at least that got half a smile! 'Thanks for running, Daniel' were their first words I think, before I had even opened my mouth, not that they had been waiting for me or anything!!


Well I arrived to 38 degrees of heat (around 100 degrees old money) so was glad I had my jeans and hoodies with me. Two hours on the bus left me at Granada bus station. Now what? I hadn't thought this far ahead... I managed to get my hands on a map and find out where the hostel was, or at least where the tourist info guy thought it was. It wasn't there.
With a stressful call back to my worrying mother, I got the details of the hostel - the same details that I had printed that morning but forgot to pack. After touring Granada on foot, and with suitcase, I arrived at what appeared to be backpacker-central. Everyone looked like they were auditioning for Cast Away, in their wife-beater vests that they had got from Thailand and other far-out places from their travels. Not really my scene, but I tried to mingle!


Well, that'll do for my first post I think, especially considering that both the people that I think will read this, already know what I've been up to!! I will get some more up soon about my flat and some of the interesting sights that I've already encountered....