Granada: God Save the Nun Cookies

The next stop on our voyage through España was the southern city of Granada. Brief history lesson: Spain was originally conquered by the Roman Empire, followed by Muslim invaders, and recaptured slowly for about 800 years by the Catholics. Granada was one of the last Muslim strongholds in Spain until 1492 when Boabdil, Sultan at the time, sold the city to King Ferdinand for a handsome price. Late that night, Boabdil gave the keys to the city to Ferdinand’s forces and the next morning, the residents awoke to church bells instead of the rooftop call to morning prayer. “Granada” is Spanish for pomegranate, which is the symbol of the city.

That being said, Granada is an extremely diverse and beautiful city with much history. Within a few blocks from each other, there are Arabic, Jewish, and Gypsy quarters, not to mention the center city commercial district and a mountainside gypsy colony (see below). The different types of architecture and culture that meet inside the city, as well as the mountains surrounding the entire city, make it a picturesque and striking sight. And that doesn’t even include the paella and sangria, which was the best we found anywhere in Spain. We spent Halloween in Granada and our hostel put on a very impressive party, featuring traditional decorations and costumes, as well as homemade paella in a huge dish and sangria in a giant cooler. Delicious.

One of the most impressive sights in Granada is the Moorish palace on the hill, La Alhambra. Built while Granada was still in Muslim control, the architecture is unique from any castle I’ve ever seen, with intricate and detailed décor throughout. La Alhambra was also the place where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella gave Christopher Columbus permission to embark on his journey that would lead him to discover America. With the conquering of the city and the discovery of America, 1492 was a pretty big year for Spain.

My goals in every city I visit is always to make it to the highest point, whether it be natural or man-made. In Granada’s case, the highest point was the mountain on the north side of the city known as Sacromonte. Sacromonte straddles the remains of the old city wall atop the hill, around which a village of gypsies have dug out caves in the mountain for housing. Yes that’s right- gypsy colony living in the mountains. Naturally, I decided that climbing this mountain for sunset would be an awesome thing to do for my “get to the highest point” quest, and so began the trek through Gypsyville. We began following the roads up through the civilized part of the city, after which we took to the winding dirt paths that ran through various gypsy front yards. We came across one such gypsy who, after looking extremely confused as to why a few Americans were racing the clock to climb the mountain at sunset, asked us for a cigarette. Being confident enough in my Spanish after a few days in Spain to respond, I told him “No fumar. Lo siento.” What I tried to say was “I don’t smoke, sorry.” What came out was, “You’re not allowed to smoke, sorry.” Good thing I continued running after that. Needless to say, we made it to the top for an awesome sunset.

One of the biggest surprises in Granada came in the form of cookies. Made by nuns. Secret nuns who never show themselves to the world. We were given the tip by the guide on our walking tour and decided to check it out. We followed the signs to the “dulces” (sweets) and entered the small foyer of a stone building. Inside: one chain connected to a bell on the wall, an intercom, and a turnstile window. After following the directions posted outside the window and communicating via intercom with the nun inside, we suddenly saw the turnstile revolving and out came our bag of cookies, guided by one solitary nun-hand. Unsure what to do with the money, we signaled that it was on the turnstile already, after which Sister Mary Mysterious turned the window back and disappeared forever. Experience: awesome. Cookies: delicious. Thank you, baking nuns.

Final stop: Barcelona.