Monday, March 9, 2009

This morning we had breakfast at our hostel.  It was a pretty good breakfast.  There were numerous types of bread that could be toasted or warmed.  There were probably twenty types of jams and butters to put on the bread.  Again, we had hot chocolate to drink.  This hostel was probably the best one we stayed at.  It was also the cheapest.  For eleven Euros each, Sara and I had a room to ourselves with a balcony and our own bathroom.  Plus, we got breakfast and free internet on a computer in the kitchen. 

After breakfast, we checked out of our hostel and went to the caves.  Fifty years ago, five men were walking in the mountains and discovered a very large cave system.  These caves are now the third most visited site in Spain.  It cost 8.50 Euros to get in which was a little pricy but worth it.  We only got to see a small portion of the caves.  Even so, it took an hour to go through.  I probably could have stayed longer but we needed to catch the bus back to town.  These caves have a world record for the largest floor to ceiling column in a cave. 

After the caves, we went back to the beach.  We stopped at a little shop to get bread, cheese, and drinks for lunch.  Today the temperature was much cooler and it was a little windy.  After an hour on the beach we went to the bus stop and took a bus back to Granada.  For a large portion of the ride we followed the cost line.  The views were wonderful.  The curvy roads around the mountains were not.  When we got to Granada we took a bus to our hostel and checked into our room.  This time we got our own room but a shared bathroom.  I didn’t see anyone else on our floor so we may have had the bathroom to ourselves.  This hostel was all right but not as nice as the last one. 

We then walked to the Mirador de San Nicolas.  Along the way, Sara pointed out sites of interest.  The Mirador de San Nicolas is on a mountain and has a great view of the Alhambra and the city of Granada.  It was a long hard climb but totally worth it.  The sun was setting and the lighting on everything was picturesque.  We then went to have tapas for supper.  Granada is one of the few cities that still has free tapas.  A person orders a drink and then gets a little plate of food.  The place we went to is known for having large tapas.  We were allowed two plates of food if we bought two drinks.  I think the drinks were just under two Euros each.  For my first tapa, I had a baked potato with ham and sour cream.  My second tapa was meat in some type of sauce and french fries.  Tapas are really not supposed to be dinner but the place gives us enough food that we used it as a very inexpensive dinner.