Exploring Granada

This morning we caught a ride into Granada with another student at Bean's school and her father. All the kids were to arrive at 8:50 am at the Alhambra for a full day tour. I packed Bean's lunch and provided a plastic bag for him to sit on as required and said goodbye. I had planned to go to a cafe for a little while to have some tea and figure out the closest co-working space to go to for the half day until pick up time. I did consider doing a tour of the Alhambra myself but without an advance ticket the line ups are incredibly long so I plan to do this another day. I had also offered to volunteer with the class but they said they already had enough help.

Finding a cafe to go to proved a bit harder than I expected. I heard some North American English being spoken by two young girls walking along the sidewalk and called out to them with a "hey you guys!" followed  by a "do you know where there's a coffee shop that's open close to here?" They were two American girls studying for a semester at the University of Granada, and they were of course happy to help. They suggested a place called I Need Coffee, close to the University and they showed me on google maps how to get there.

It was a pleasant walk through cobblestone streets and alleys and when I arrived I was happy to see that they had some gluten free and vegan offerings. Exactly what I wanted. I ordered a spicy chai tea and a hunk of gluten free orange cake. I don't think I have ever eaten a piece of cake for breakfast, but the rules are different when you're travelling and the options are few. I took my time and then headed out to find the closest co-working space, taking pictures as I went and enjoying the enchanting environment of old Granada.

There seems to be quite a difference between the various co-working spaces. Some seem more bilingual and some seem to be more geared towards part time or pay-by-the-day clients than others. In Canada, if I were to do this, which I haven't, but if so, I would either just go to the library, or to a cafe where people are known to plant themselves for several hours in a row to work. I had heard about the co-working space culture though and have been looking forward to checking them out as a place to be among others and maybe meet some people while working on my computer. So the first place I went to check out was on the 7th floor of a central downtown building with a gorgeous view. I buzzed myself in and then proceeded to walk the 7 floors since the tiny elevator didn't appeal. When I got there I was greeted in Spanish by somebody using the space as a worker. I asked to see the supervisor but she said he wasn't there. She handed me a card and told me to call him to get all the details of the space and then sort of ushered me out. It didn't seem as though this was a pay-by-the-day office space. So onto the next.

The next wasn't too far away. On the way I bought myself a wool/acrylic hat to further improve my level of warmth, my ongoing effort. I found the entrance of the next work space and decided to call the manager first so that they knew I was arriving. I reached him and he wasn't at the building, however he said I could go in and somebody would be there. I found my way up to the second floor space and was greeted again in Spanish by a woman. When I asked about half day or hourly options, she quoted the fees as being 10 Euros per hour!! That would amount to 40 Euros for the 4 hours I would need it before picking up Bean. Nope, way too expensive for my needs. At this point I was tired of walking around and I decided to bus it back to my place and try again another day. I know there are some that are more reasonably priced for short term users.

Here are some pictures of Granada: