It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts where I write something about some of the things I’ve observed while wandering around Granada while living here.

To read previous ‘Observation’ posts, read:
20 Things I’ve Noticed After My First Month In Granada
7 Things I Love About Living In Granada Today
A Few More Things I’ve Noticed In Granada

So, here are 10 of the things I’ve recently seen which remind me why I still love living in Granada:

• We are the only English guiris in our block of flats and the neighbour’s children take every possible opportunity to practise their English with us as we walk by. There is a group of 5 girls between 4 and 11 years old and the most delightful is the youngest who takes great pleasure in saying ‘Hello’ and ‘See you later!’ every chance she gets. It so lifts my spirits every time I walk past listening to her say ‘Seeulaydah!’

• Cruzes (Crosses). I still don’t get it, but I like the fact that there are things which are culturally so significant and yet I still find utterly baffling. And don’t get me started on the music during the processions in Semana Santa! Odd, but fascinating to find in the place that you live

Though most cruzes are far more elaborate and religious in tone, this one was rather curious…

• The light here is just beautiful. Yes, there are occasional grey and wet days, but just walking around on an average day especially as the sun is setting is still such a lovely thing, making going about your everyday business a perpetual pleasure

• Salvador Dalí having a cigarette outside a hairdressing salon near my flat where he works. He isn’t dead after all, nor is he working in a supermarket with Elvis and John Lennon. He’s alive and well in Granada!

• Why are there so many pharmacies? And what’s with the ‘Open 14hrs a day’ thing. 12 or 24 hours a day I get, but why 14?

• Although there are other good tapas in this city, I’ve said it before and here I go again, lomo con ajos (pork and garlic) at Bar Los Tintos (C/San Isidro in the San Anton barrio) with a glass of Ribera is the best! You have to go and try it if you haven’t already…

• The gorgeous smell of cooking around 11am on a Tuesday from one of my student’s neighbour’s flat as I leave after class. Am tempted to pop in and offer English classes in exchange for a regular Tuesday lunch

• I’m not a fan of getting my haircut and it’s a necessary evil as far as I’m concerned, however since discovering Paco’s Barberia on C/ Fábrica Vieja near Plaza Trinidad, I can now walk in every few weeks knowing that not only will I get a good haircut, but I will also get to hear some fantastic new (and old) music based on Paco’s personal playlist. For example, old favourites such as Belle and Sebastian and Roddy Frame, as well as discovering ‘old’ Spanish bands which are new to me and which I now love such as La Buena Vida

• Ladies of a certain age walking 3 abreast with huge brollies, taking their time and having a chat. There is no way through and I have to cross the road to pass them. Personal space is still something I have to get used to, even after more than 2 years here, but I still love the idea of the ladies doing their thing, utterly oblivious to others

• Having spent the weekend in Monachil (a village outside Granada) recently, the local shepherd takes his sheep and goats out on a daily basis right by where we were staying and I even saw sheepdogs doing their rounding-up thing for the first time. A big day in a townie boy’s life!