Street Art and Realejo Tour

Friday March 6 was another blue sky, sunny day.  The temperature climbed slowly to 21C.  Alano started the day with his second run of the trip.  His first was in Barcelona last week.  I worked on the bog and he ran 8.1 km.  We had a bite to eat for lunch in the apartment and then went to the Mercado to pick up dinner.  

The market is very clean and there are a number of tapas restaurants besides the meat, fish and vegetable purveyors.  Everything is high quality.  We have been buying our fish from one stall.  The woman gives us a handful of parsley with our fish order.

Our fish lady  - every booth is well signed and very clean

Our favourite ham place

We stopped for a cone of fried fish at La Frieduria de Tere, owned by Cunini, where we had tapas the other day.  The fish was very fresh and we were handed a very generous cone for 4 euros.  Lots of locals were stopping to pick up treats.

Our cone of fried fish

Getting ready to eat

We went back to the apartment to drop off our food and then headed out to the rendezvous spot at Plaza Nueva for our third walking tour with Guru Tours entitled "Street Art and Realejo". We stopped for a coffee first before meeting our guide and fellow walkers at 5:00 p.m.  The tour lasted two hours. It is a wonderful time to be out walking in Granada-- sunny and warm with wonderful light.  The sun doesn't set until around 7:30 p.m.  

Our guide was Nicholas from London, who has lived in Granada for the last five years.  We were joined by a very nice young couple from northern Belgium who were traveling around Europe in a camper van with their two dogs (who came on the tour with us), and two young women from Germany.  It was the smallest group we had taken a tour with, but there are always interesting people to chat with.  Nicholas first stopped at the Santa Ana church, which was built in 1537 in place of the mosque of Almanzra.  It is a mix of Moorish and Renaissance features.  This time we stepped inside-- a truly beautiful and very ornate interior.

Iglesia de San Gil y Santa Ana

Inside of church

Beautifully decorated

Another view

We then headed up to the Realejo area of Granada.  This area is not frequented by many tourists, but it has a rich history.  It was the old Jewish district before 1492. The area is now full of beautiful Carmens (houses with gardens) and there are a number of important churches.  There are many restaurants and bars in this 'hood as well.  Part of the tour focused on the street art, which had been more prolific in the past as the authorities have recently clamped down on it.  A number of key works remain.  Another cool area of Granada to explore.

Star of David in pavement

Narrow street 

Nicholas under blooming tree

Lots of beautiful pavement designs in this 'hood

There were many beautiful trees and plants in this part of town.  We passed an almond tree, bay leaf tree, and rosemary plants.  The gardens are lovely.

Flowering almond tree

View of houses and gardens

Another interesting pavement

I was able to get a good photo from a high point of the church and city wall we had visited on Thursday just above the Sacromonte caves.

View of San Miguel and Sacromonte

We passed a nice looking Granada cat.  They seem pretty healthy.

We started to pass lots of street art.  This piece had kisses added over the years.

Nicholas pointed out where salt has leached out of the walls of houses.

White salt stains on houses

 We saw an abandoned tower that had overlooked the old Jewish quarter.

Tower overlooking Realejo

We passed what had been a public water basin.  It may be the only one left in the city.

Public water basin

Alano with jasmine

Most of the street art we saw was done by Raul Ruiz, who tagged as Sex when he was younger and as he got older, as El Nino de las Pinturas.  He lives in Granada and started painting on walls in the 90s.  He has done street art in many countries around the world.  We think we may have seen some of his work in Buenos Aires.  He was in New York recently.  He signs his work- sometimes with both Sex and El Nino de las Pinturas.  His visual signature is a bike gear (round with edges).

We stopped at  Iglesia de Santo Domingo.  The church was originally part of the Santa Cruz convent. Construction began in 1512, using tombstones from former Jewish and Moorish cemeteries.  The shield of Fernando and Isabella is on the wall.  This was where the Inquisition court used to be held and Torquemada, the first Grand Inquisitor, lived here.

Iglesia de Santo Domingo

                                                                 Snail-- a popular food in Granada

Courtyard of  University of Granada building

We passed a building with a key imbedded over the arch, perhaps belonging to a family who had been expelled (Muslim or Jewish).

Nicholas showing us building with key above door

There was one area with a number of wall paintings by El Nino de las Pinturas.  They were very sophisticated and some were recent works.  His signature bike gear was evident.

Dog and Man

Piano man

One piece of art portrayed a tram next to a street that had a tram line pulled out.

                                                                                     Tram picture

We passed a more recent piece by El Nino de las Pinturas- a take off of Rodin's Thinker.

The Thinker - translated tag says "Tired of not finding answers, I decided to change my questions."

We passed a new building housing the University of Granada's School of Architecture.  The building took four years more than expected to be completed and was the site of student demonstrations.

Banner regarding the School of Architecture

We stopped at Iglesia San Cecilio, completed in 1534 on the site of a former synagogue.  San Cecilio is the patron saint of Granada. 

Alano at the church door

More El Nino de las Pinturas 

In front of Frederico Garcia Lorca painting

We passed a fountain that Nicholas said is supposed to have "magic water".

Magic Water

On the way back to Plaza Neuva, we passed a number of houses where artists had lived.  One house is now a museum and garden with the works of painter Jose Maria Rodriguez-Acosta (1878-1941).

We then headed down a road we had walked up on the way to the Alhambra.  I liked the pomegranate tiles (the symbol of Granada).

Pomegranates on tiles on wall

After the tour, we wandered around town a bit.  We came across a beautiful baroque building just beside the Cathedral.  It was a Madrasah founded in 1349 by Yusef I, one of the Nasrid monarchs.  The contents of its library was burned by Cisneros in 1499.  In 1500, it became the City Hall.  It was subject to major modifications during 1722-29 at the height of the Baroque period, so today it is essentially an 18th century building with elements of older buildings.  The building has belonged to the University of Granada since 1976.

Baroque and Renaissance building near the Cathedral

Our final stop was our favourite bakery, where we picked up some treats for dessert.

A great bakery with lots of treats

 Alano made a delicious dinner.  We even used some rosemary we had picked on our tour.  I am posting this on Saturday March 7, our last full day in Granada.  On Sunday March 8, we take the train to Cadiz.