The bus trip from Lucena to Granada was only about 2 hours. The scenery was really interesting with high uplifts of rock appearing here and there in the agricultural landscape. I took what pictures I could as we drove through the amazing countryside. It was disappointing to not bike all the way to Granada to complete our cycle from Cádiz that we began on January 21st, a month earlier but Jim’s route investigations had not been fruitful and it looked like we would be on busy roads.
Before long, we were entering the Granada city limits and arriving at the large bus station. We exited on the lower floor, freed the bikes of their unlovely garbage bags wrappings, put them together again and ascended to the street level floor on a conveniently flat escalator, so preferable to elevators for bikes.
I can’t recall if there was an option to take a train back to Malaga from Granada, but we decided, based on our experience that day and the success of our ‘garbage bag wrap’ for the bikes, that taking the bus was preferable - cheaper, less stressful as no worries about quickly finding the right train car to get in and no panic about loading and unloading the bikes in the brief time trains stop in the stations. So, as we knew our departure date from Granda, we decided to purchase our tickets before leaving the station. With a few tries, we were successful at the machines in the station. Scanning of our passports was required.
As we were getting ready to leave the station, we were approached by a tall, well-dressed young guy who asked if we spoke English. Yes, we said. Oh, thank god, he said. I have lost my wallet, all my ID and my belonging and I need help to get to somewhere (can’t remember where). When we asked, he said he was from the Netherlands. He was very polite and pleasant and at first I felt sympathetic. But then, I thought, I have never met anyone from the Netherlands who doesn’t speak several languages besides Dutch and English. Why would he be desperate to find someone English speaking? He hadn’t gotten around to asking for money but I could see that was coming.
After our experience with a Bookings.com scam earlier in our trip that caused us angst, I had no patience for another possible scam. I said to him, that sounds very distressing and your story may be the truth, but it also sounds much like a scam to me and I am afraid we cannot help you. He immediately became somewhat belligerent and walked away. As we were departing the station, I saw him talking with another couple, and I went up to him again and said, why don’t you contact the police for help? I have he said and they won’t do anything. I said to the other couple, be careful. And then he made some insulting remark to me. The idea of not helping someone in real need bothered me but the more I thought about it, the more I thought - he is not that far from home and surely would have family or friends who could help if his story is true. Anyway, I know train and bus stations are target areas for those who are wanting to take advantage of people and we had no intention of being victimized.
Jim got our route organized on his phone to our AirBNB apartment, only booked a week prior and off we went on excellent bike lanes. I love entering a new city on bikes when there is provision for that mode of travel.
In no time at all, we were entering the old town, found our street and building, Mosaiko Homes Catedral Granada, in what appeared to be a fantastic location on a very narrow quiet street near a small square. The area is called Centro Sagrario. Our host had sent us a code and instructions that it would open the door by using it on our phones. While we were fumbling a bit with that, the big door opened and there was Luis Miguel. He introduced himself as the owner of the building and welcomed us into the spacious foyer, where we were able to park and lock up the bikes. He then took us to our 3rd floor apartment, telling us that he and his partner had completely renovated the building a few years ago, but kept the traditional features like the tiled floors. Our apartment door also opened with a code on our phone and he ushered us into a huge, sunny apartment with French doors opening our onto the street below. We had a galley kitchen, a party-sized living room/diningroom, a big bedroom & bathroom with a common laundry one floor down, and yes, lovely tiled floors..
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The views from our windows were terrific with part of the huge Granada Cathedral visible at one end of row street and the very old church and monestary, Iglesia de los Santos Justo y Pastor at the other end in small square. There was a small grocery store across the street and lots of restaurants and shops. We would be here for a week and felt like we had the perfect base from which to explore this fascinating city. Hola Granada - looking forward to getting to know you!
This featured blog entry was written by Jenniferklm from the blog Cycling in Andalucia.
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