Granada Week 1 - La casa!

Week 1 - La casa, teething issues and a few too many Tapas!

After navigating the torturously narrow streets of the Albaicin in the trusty rental we were able to locate our future landlord & amigo Pablo.

Debating and subsequently agreeing on a flat contract in a language you don't yet speak certainly isn't advised but we gave it our best shot, Pablo at times certainly testing Limbsters patience, myself as ever, taking up the role of the moderator (with Google translate in one hand) did my best to assist.

It turned out to all be worthwhile and a great find, the house is incredible, has the best views of the city, countless terraces to escape & some great housemates from all over Europe, just thank god they also speak English.

The Albaicin has already lived up to expectations, traditional cobbled lanes, buzzing plazas, colour everywhere & zero cars allowed in - the dream. The most traffic in fact is the thrice daily walking tour that takes in the city's sights - of which our new house actually features!

Tapas here is amazing if not a tad overwhelming, not for your average person that is, just Ellie, so far most of her energy has been exerted on locating her 'must visit' tapas bars for the summer. I think we're nearing 100 in the new spreadsheet which leaves no room for error. If she hasn't reviewed it prior, then we're not eating there, full stop. Can't slate it too much mind, few absolute gems to date.

Having to adjust our routine again here, days are extremely long, everything closes between 2 and 6, and we're often left exhausted by 4pm from the days activities, only to realise there's still a full 6 hours of scorching sunlight left. It's starting at least to become clear why the Spanish siesta, and it's certainly a tradition we are willing to embrace, early mornings and late nights from now on.

The teething issues noted all stem from the setting up of our only planned income stream - online English tutoring . "It will be a breeze" "all my friends do it" "we'll virtually be rolling in cash craig" "the Chromebook is totally sufficient" are just a few of limbsters ever optimistic quotes I should have known to treat with some scepticism, I can only blame myself. Many hours, an adapter, colouring books, a 20m cable, a very late night and one enourmous poster later and we appear to have made progress. Update to follow next week as to whether were "rolling in it" just yet.

Went to our first language exchange this week, still niavely enthusiastic we have got this Spanish lark down. However it didn't take long to quickly be put in our place when we found ourselves nodding along with two Spanish speakers, barely grasping a word, only to find when we did get that word it was about 3 sentences too late to join in. Total mind blank session and never have I had such a feeling of incompetence before, it can only get better though right..?

It has certainly been an eventful week & watching the sun come down on the Alhambra from the roof terrace was the perfect way to top it off, I think we're going to like it here.

Some small goals for next week.

- Visit all local markets to decide best for weekly shop
- Find somewhere to swim - it's 36° next week and me occasionly splashing myself with water won't cut it for long.
- Meet with at least 3 locals for language exchange, god help us.
- Join a gym asap, or theres a danger I'll be 20 stone in 3 months time.Read more