{"id":12273,"date":"2020-06-09T12:52:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T12:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/2020\/06\/09\/top-5-reasons-why-granada-is-the-most-magical-city-in-spain-and-the-world\/"},"modified":"2021-09-15T15:02:40","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T15:02:40","slug":"top-5-reasons-why-granada-is-the-most-magical-city-in-spain-and-the-world-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/cy\/top-5-reasons-why-granada-is-the-most-magical-city-in-spain-and-the-world-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 reasons why Granada is the most magical city in Spain (\u2026and the world)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Having returned home from my year abroad in Granada three months earlier than planned, it\u2019s safe to say that I\u2019ve been reminiscing about the incredible six months that I spent there, and in doing so I have discovered what it is that really makes it the most incredible place. So here are my top 5 reasons why Granada will always have such a special place in my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Number One<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most obvious one when thinking about Granada \u2013\nit being home to the Alhambra and having Moorish influence all over the city.\nThe Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex which was originally built all\nthe way back in the 9th<\/sup> century! (Although it didn\u2019t start to take\nits form as we know it until around 1238 after the establishment of the Nasrid\nkingdom) This stunning complex can be seen from a number of Granada\u2019s\n\u201cmiradores\u201d (viewpoints) and is an absolute must when visiting the city. As\nwell as this UNESCO world heritage site, there is Moorish influence everywhere\nyou look in Granada, from the beautiful Albayz\u00edn neighbourhood, to the Arabic\nbaths that are open to the public for a day of relaxation. Whilst wandering the\nstreets of Granada, you\u00b4ll find yourself wondering \u201chang on a minute, am I\nreally in Spain right now?\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Number two<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having said this, there are also many aspects of Granada that will quickly remind you that you are in fact in Spain, albeit an incredibly special part of it. This leads me on to reason number 2 \u2013 Flamenco. This beautiful art form can be seen all over the city, whether you want to experience it at a traditional flamenco bar, in las cuevas (caves) or just roam around and see the street performers, it\u2019s certainly not to be missed! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Number Three<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone\u2019s favourite subject \u2013 food! More specifically, tapas. Now I know that you can get tapas pretty much anywhere in Spain, but I can guarantee you that you won\u2019t find any other city where you can get so many FREE TAPAS! That\u2019s right, order a drink for around 2-3 euros and you\u2019ll be brought a free tapa, often with the opportunity to choose one from the menu. This made eating and drinking out so reasonable in Granada (so naturally we made the most of it!), being able to bag yourself 3 glasses of vino and 3 tasty tapas for no more than 9 euros! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some not so traditional, but delicious tapas!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Number Four<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This one may sound a little strange, but reason number 4 is the sunsets of Granada. Never have I been anywhere in the world with such beautiful colours in the sky, and with so many viewpoints to admire them from. My friends and I would often hike up to San Miguel Alto to watch the evening sun go down, as there really is no other sight like it \u2013 it\u2019s breath-taking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Watching the sunset from San Miguel Alto<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Number Five <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the location of Granada gives you the opportunity to combine sun and snow unlike anywhere else in Spain (or the world really!). From the city, you can see the stunning Sierra-Nevada mountains, which can be reached for a ski weekend in just 45 minutes by coach. Alternatively, if sunbathing is more your scene, you can hop on a bus to one of the beaches along the Costa del Sol, getting you to Salobre\u00f1a in just 50 minutes. If you had the time and energy, you could even do both in the same day! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chilling with mis amigos at Salobre\u00f1a beach! <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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During our weekend away in a ski chalet in the Sierra Nevada Mountains!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, it goes without saying that what really made my year abroad so special was the people \u2013 the amazing friends that I was lucky enough to make along the way. I believe that the magic at the heart of the city is what attracted us all there for University, and for that, all I can say is \u201cgracias Granada, te quiero y nos vemos pronto\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Basking in the Granada sunshine with the people that made my time there so amazing <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Having returned home from my year abroad in Granada three months earlier than planned, it\u2019s safe to say that I\u2019ve been reminiscing about the incredible six months that I spent […]","protected":false},"author":1730,"featured_media":11397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[743,741],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-opportunities-cy","category-opportunities-cy"],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1730"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12275,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12273\/revisions\/12275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}