Taking Advantage of the Cheap Drinks, Free Tapas, and Beautiful Men in Granada

Day 14

Few things in life have made me as happy as I felt once I realised most bars and restaurants in Granada serve free tapas with any alcoholic beverage. This is definitely my kind of city. I had already gotten my dose of formal culture, art and history through my exploration of the Alhambra so now it was time to experience the laid back Spanish life.

Without having many plans as a group, I found myself wandering the streets without a map for most of my stay here. I had no predetermined location but I was still on a mission – Must get as many free tapas during my time in Granada!!!

Spending the entire day by myself, (I needed some more andytime as travelling with 5 other people can get a little nuts) I came across a small bar around the corner from our apartment called ‘La Fontana’. Here, I saw some locals and tourists alike getting some small tapas with their beers and sangrias.

Before I knew it, my body had already sat itself down at a table outside and I was attempting to order their largest beer.

After laughing (with me, I swear) at my butchering of the Spanish language, the friendly waitress brought over a small gazpacho soup (they choose what you get for free) along with my beer. It is just what I needed on this hot and dry day. I admit, it wasn’t the best gazpacho I had, had before but I didn’t really care for I was still super excited by the fact it was free!

As I was by myself and there was no wifi, I was able to focus on the important things (aka consuming as much food and booze as possible while looking up from my glass or plate every so often to watch the people walking by). After about an hour I had gone through 3 beers and 2 sangrias but was in need of more food (small portions will never suffice my lunchtime hunger). Being quite drunk, I knew I wasn’t going to fare well by looking elsewhere for food so ordered some extra tapas at La Fontana (as seen in the feature image above). And they were scrumptious.

I was in the best of moods but my spirits were then lifted even higher by the emergence of two locals who started to play some live music across the road. They played the Spanish guitar. There was some casual rhythmic clapping and the vocalist had a great manly voice full of emotion (Yes, Spanish men are actually able to exhibit all emotions without losing their masculinity. Who’d have known?)

This is my type of living. To onlookers, I may have seemed like a lonely drunk bopping along to some random buskers on the street but I didn’t care. I had just fallen for Granada.

Later that night, (once I had sobered up a little) I decided to socialise a bit more and meet some new people. Dabbling around on Tinder and Grindr, I started chatting to this attractive American guy who was studying Spanish over here. He was bored and in need of hanging out (this is all PG kiddies) so we decided to grab some dinner together that night. I let him choose as I thought he’d know of some great local spots.

In the end, we ended up having Japanese food as he was sick of eating Spanish cuisine. Just my luck. But it wasn’t until I had my first mouthful of sushi when I realised how much I missed it. 16 pieces of sushi (all just for me) later, I was super full and getting along with this guy smashingly.

I was on a date at a Japanese restaurant with an American guy in Granada. How Cosmopolitan of me.

Unfortunately it was cut short by a call from my friends who had foolishly locked themselves out of our apartment and needed my key to let them in. Reluctantly, I pulled myself away from the handsome man sitting across from me and made my way back to the apartment to let the others in.

Walking down the quiet streets was the perfect way to end my night. I could clear my head and simply soak in all the positive energy around me. 

Soon after, I crashed on my bed, in a state of bliss, knowing it was my last night of free tapas. But I didn’t have time to grieve as we were heading for Madrid the next morning.