We made it for our flight to Granada, and I’m tired by then already. lol. Half of me wished the trip was about to end. I call this signs of ageing. lol

Don’t be mistaken. This was 8pm. And yes, it’s very bright in the European continent

The friends were quite doubtful about Vueling Airlines but we survived. And I think all of us slept on the plane. lol

About 1.5 hours later, we landed at Granda airport

It’s a small airport and only a handful waiting to collect their luggages, like yours truly. Hey, we were flying for 3 weeks. Can’t blame us. lol

The driver found us, or rather we found the driver easily since there were only 2 drivers waiting at the arrival hall with the other one picking up a Korean family. Glad for once, the driver arrived earlier than us. He was abit confused and thought we were going out of the city until we told him the exact location of our hotel and he said our hotel was quite similar to the one he thought we were going. Glad we clarified else it would be memories for a lifetime

Hotel for the night – La Bella Granada. Yup, we were only there for one night, and that’s to see the main attraction of the city

The rooms were quite basic and clean though the friend went on and on about having no blanket and we were like.. there was, just that their blanket was on the thiner side. And then we showered and knocked out

Early morning yet again. Sometimes I wonder if I was really on holiday. lol. The tiredness was really hitting me and I wished I didn’t need to wake up but nope, we have to reach Nasrid palace at 9am. So tired me dragged ourselves out of the hotel and went downstairs to get some breakfast

Conveniently located just below the hotel – Gran Cafe

Apparently, they seemed to be quite famous for their churros but I guessed we won’t have a chance to try it ever again. lol

Our time was really tight cos it was a 30 minutes walk to the palace but the friend wanted to dine in

So we wolfed down our ham & cheese croissant and had the coffee for takeaway. I had to say this ham & cheese croissant was quite tasty. Unfortunately, the friend seemed to be very dissatisfied with their normal plain croissant

And it was a 30 mins upward climb. Up, up we go!

You can’t tell from the photo, but it was an upslope. I asked the friend if we were on a hike or what!?

But okay, one for the photo

To be honest, the map was confusing for us first-timers. To add on, we were really short of time and we didn’t want to take the wrong route only to detour and miss our time slot. Then a local saw that we were struggling and enthusiastically offered to bring us there. We thought, wah our saviour is here! And so we happily followed him only for him to ask us for coffee money at the end of the journey There is really no free lunch. Pfft. But okay, we considered that money well spent. At least we didn’t need to waste time hiking some more

So Nasrid palace here we go!

They scan your passport / identification for entry so please remember to bring them

And it was actually quite crowded in the morning already

But I have to say. Okay lah, this looks really pretty

Featuring The Court of the Myrtles

The sunlight did accentuate the details a little, giving it some glow

We finished exploring the Nasrid palace in 30 minutes cos we had no guides/audio guides so it was just snap and go. Yup, we were super efficient. lol. So we went on to see the Alcazaba next

I remembered we climbed many steps to finally reach this Watch tower. And then imagined Hyun Bin & his fighting scenes. lol. Anyway, please wear proper shoes for the entire walking tour

Yes, we walked alot, and climbed alot. But the sun was also getting warm and that means it’s time to climb down

So as we exited Alcazaba and headed towards our last attraction – Generalife, we gasped when we saw the long queue that was waiting to enter Nasrid palace at 10.30am. Good thing we arrived early then

Whoever said the weather was in the low 20s..

There was a large group of people infront of us as we made our way towards Generalife, students (on excursion) and tourists (on excursion too) alike. So we did not need to worry about getting lost. Essentially, we just need to follow. Great.

and we finally reached the last attraction of La Alhambra – which was a leisure place for the Kings of Granada when they wanted to get away from the official affairs of the palace. It’s a huge garden, filled with fauna and flora

And I managed to find myself 🙂 Even the friends were like hey! your flower! lol

I was expecting a stellar view from the top but lets say I wasn’t very impressed. lol. Moving on

Exploring the final stretch of the property before we exited and decided to make our way towards Mirador San Nicholas. And there was just so many people as we exited Alhambra. I’m glad we went early, although at the expense of our sleep. It only took us 2.5 hours to explore Nasrid Palaces, Alcazar and Generalife so we had plenty of time to spare after that

We found another way that could lead to Alhambra but thankfully we were going downslope this time. If you thought the hike up in the morning was bad, this was worse (if you are going upslope) cos of the pavement and it just felt more slope-y

The friend decided to abandon us on the way Mirador San Nicholas where you could have a viewpoint of Alhambra cos the route there… was another workout on its own. But J and I persevered in the heat no less and 30 minutes later..

We were finally here! Yay

To be honest, I wasn’t very impressed by the view. lol. But, it was actually a nice place to catch your breath cos there was a duo strumming guitar and singing live and people were just enjoying to the beats. It felt really relaxed and nice to soak in the atmosphere

After resting enough, we decided to make our way downhill to find the friend and through the pathways and winding routes, we also explored part of the neighbourhood

Just a nice sunny afternoon

And cos we were too early for lunch, the friend decided to google filming sites for Memories of Alhambra. lol. We took a walk along Calle Calderería Nueva which is famous for tearooms and shops that sell jewellery, pottery, clothes and other wares from Morocco, Nepal, India and Syria among others. We didn’t buy anything and I was getting tired so we found a bench under nice big tree and spaced out till the restaurant opens at 1.30pm

Restaurante Coreano Miso seemed like a very popular place cos there were many signs of reservations on the tables. I was glad we were first in the restaurant cos we didn’t make any reservations

How do you know if a restaurant is good?

Well, when you see pictures of Korean stars and autographs hanging on the wall, at the least the food would not be that bad

The friend jokingly mentioned their pictures should be hanged on different places since they were no longer together. lol

Banchan to start. Glad they tasted pretty decent

Samgyupsal 350g €36

We spared no effort with our orders. The staffs must have been shocked at how much can eat. Lol. The friends wanted the grilled pork belly and they seemed pretty happy with their meat. I stole one to try and was glad I didn’t join them in their party. I felt their pork seemed a little different, texture-wise. It was a little bit too fatty and bouncy

Which came with a mountain of vegetables, and the friends left it untouched. lol

Dolsot Bibimbap €12.5

Because the friend needed her rice, we had bibimbap. The bibimbap was actually not bad. And so the rice was gone in no time

Kimchi Jiggae €13.5

We decided to share the kimchi jjigae as well. The hot and spicy soup was satisfying. It was simply comforting to have something familiar overseas. And I had to say they were pretty generous with their pork belly

Pollo Chicken Fritto €8

Last on the table, fried chicken!

Yes we could really eat. The chicken had a little bit too much flour but flavour-wise was okay. It went well with our soju I guessed

After a food coma-inducing lunch, we slowly made our way back to hotel. I wanted to see if there was any coffee on the way but didn’t manage to find any. So we decided to just go back to hotel to chill instead before calling a taxi to get us to Granada station which was about 15 mins away

At the very simple-looking bus station waiting for our ride to arrive

The bus ride took about 3 hours and soon we arrived at Seville bus station where we took a taxi to our accommodation for the next few nights – Casa Del Rey Sabio. The friend chose a bigger accommodation so that each of us had a bit more space in case we get into a fight during these 4 nights. Lol

which was honestly rather pretty

We had the main living area which converts into a sofa bed

Small dining area

And the master/master toilet

We ended the night with cup noodles just cos #IYKYK

Good Morning Seville!

It was finally our rest day after many days of early mornings. I wished every other day was a rest day in my opinion. Lol. And Seville was just really, really warm. But we took up the challenge and decided to walk 30 minutes to Plaza de Espana, under the heat. By the time we reached the plaza, I wished we didn’t walk there in the first place. Lol

It was a very warm, warm day

We spotted a flamenco busking session in the distance and watched for a short while before exploring the rest of the property. The place was just stemming with people

And came across a guy who was just providing entertainment to everyone, filling the space with romantic tunes

Last shot of the place from the viewpoint upstairs

Then we made our way back for lunch at El Traga where we over-ordered again. The one bad thing about having late lunch was we were always left so hungry we ordered like we haven’t eaten for 3 days. Lol

Glad it was air-conditioned

It was a first try with Spanish wine cos I really wanted to try something

Free bread basket to start the meal with

Boletus Croquettes & Truffle, Bacon Veil ‎€1.60/pc

The croquettes were done very well. Crisp fried on the outside with a hot flowy filling on the inside

Seasonal Mushrooms, Algarroba Crumble, Bud, Autumn Truffle €21

Mushrooms were pretty meh in my opinion. Well, they tasted exactly like mushrooms, nothing spectacular

Roasted Octopus, Avocado, Crispy Kimchi & Venere Rice €18.90

Love the doneness of the octopus. Thought it was a little bit salty but overall still pretty delicious

Garlic Shrimp, Gazpachuelo, Toasted Brioche €14.90

These shrimps were really appetising, and we liked them very much

Marinated Roast Iberian Pork, Ras El-Hanout Cream €8

Didn’t like the pork. I thought it was too fatty for my liking

Deconstruction of Cheesecake €6.90

This was so good with the mascarporne icecream and cookies & cream crumble. So good we finished them even though we were really full by then

And then food coma hits and I really wanted some coffee

So I randomly googled and found this Syra coffee within walking distance. To my surprise, it actually tasted decent with a good balance of coffee and milk and so I decided to get the beans for my coffee-loving friends back home

And cos we were still early for our Metropol Parasol entry, we decided to return to our hotel to hide from the heat for abit

Cues doing nonsensical stuffs. lol

The friends wanted to check out the rooftop. The intention was to soak their feet and just enjoy the afternoon but after being in the heat for one minute, we changed our mind and decided to chill in the comfort of the air conditioned room 😀

And so it was time to make out way to Metropol Parasol which was a short walk away. Known as the ‘mushroom of Seville’, this was quite an interesting architecture. It is the largest wooden construction in the world and you could have a bird’s eyeview from the top

It was so glaring and hot we just did a walkthrough and exited. lol #cannottaketheheat

So we decided to come back when it’s cooler since apparently the ticket allows us for re-entry within 48 hours 🙂

And so what we did with the shortened itinerary? We went back to our hotel to chill some more lol

After some time when we decided we could finally walk out in a reasonable weather, we made our way to the other side of the river where we had a booking for a Flamenco show since Seville is known to be one of the best. The show we booked was at Baraka Sala Flamenca which I found online (and quite highly rated). But apparently after chatting with our receptionist, she mentioned this place wasn’t one of the popular ones and was surprised we decided to go there

The pretty streets of the other side of the river. Also helps when the weather was much more desirable

It’s a small place and you would be told where your seats will be at

Our ticket includes one drink each where I ordered a Sangria. But it was pretty meh

And then the show started. We weren’t allowed to take photos/videos for the first half of the performance but it was allowed later

To be honest, I thought the performance was interesting. I wasn’t bored at any point even with the singing. I could feel the the performers were giving a show that was full of passion, which was commendable

It was definitely an experience to have

We decided to take a slow walk to our dinner place which was 15 mins away and enjoying the sunset while at it

Isn’t it pretty? This was 8pm. lol

Dinner at Mechela Arenal which was known to have one of the cheapest seafood around. The friend decided to abandon us since she wasn’t feeling well, probably cos of the heat and since 2 of us were still full from lunch, we decided to just order a few dishes and share

It’s a nice place though and it was actually quite crowded

Beetroot appetiser on the house which we left it untouched. lol

Crispy Big Prawns w Cashew Nut ‘Ajoblance” & Herring Roe €6.80

The friend wanted the prawn so we got one to share. The portion was small so suggest one person get one each instead. But if you are full like us, then one portion is enough. lol. That being said, the prawn reminded us of chinese dim sum. It was good and we thought the sauce went nicely with it

Seafood Stew €9

While I wanted something soupy. The stew tasted different from what I had expected. It was a little too herb-y and it had tanghoon-like texture in it. I guessed it was doable but not something I wanted to order again

Bay Scallops w Vichyssoise of White Asparagus, Croutons & Smoked Pork Belly €7.80

And the scallops tasted like scallops. We thought the smoked pork belly added a nice flavour it it

And so, that marked the end of our dinner and we took a slow walk back to our hotel which we showered and crashed shortly since we had a full day of itinerary ahead of us

Read here for the rest of my travels

Travelgoue: To Paris & Beyond – Bonjour!

Travelogue – Ola Barcelona!