Day 86: Granada Caves, Hikes and the end of Marisa's Spanish Getaway

Streets of Granada

Alleys of Granada

We woke up at the crack of dawn and set out on a walk around Granada city. One of my close friends
from high school studied abroad in Granada the previous year and had some great suggestions for us.

One of the things on the list was to take a walk up to the Sacromonte Caves above the city.

FUN FACT #60: I have not been able to find too much about these caves, other than they date back to possibly Roman times. In the 1590s, when the Moriscos (those of Moorish descent) were expelled from Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella, they took refuge in the caves in the hills above Granada. Since the 1960s, these caves became re-inhabited and sort of taken over by "hippy" types.

View of the Alhambra from the Caves

The city itself was dead as it was only 8am on a Sunday, so we walked through as the sun came up and hit the beautiful Alhambra buildings. We made our way over to the caves, which happen to reside just above some really gorgeous houses that have an amazing view of the Alhambra and Granada below.

Houses built into the mountain. The Caves were located just above these.

Although everything inside us told us to go further up the hill and explore the caves, we were not exactly keen on waking up anyone who might be living there. So we explored a bit and made our way back to the hostel. We got some breakfast and some Subway for the road (our sandwich artist had lived in Vermont for a few years! So cool!).

The small town we find to go hiking near.

We had a vague idea where we needed to go to go hiking, but not an actual location. As classic Vermonters, we looked out the window, said "I see mountains! Let's go there." We found a cute little town just outside of Granada that had some amazing views of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The three of us got out of the car and set off on a path through olive trees along a mountain ridge with beautiful snow capped mountain views. It was an amazing afternoon. 

Olive Trees on our walk

After a while, we decided we should probably try to find our way back to Madrid (we did have to return the car after all...) So we packed back up and hit the road back to the city. 

Sierra Nevada Moutains

The next morning, Kief took the metro back to the airport to head home. Only more adventures ahead for her as she was to take a road trip out to Colorado to start her new job. GOOD LUCK KIEF!

From left to right: Me, Kief, and Lizzy