Granada was an interesting place in terms of people.
The first thing we noticed was the abundance of middle-eastern style shops/boutiques selling hookah pipes and silk scarves and gypsy style clothing. The people running the shops and many of the local “street” people all had a hippie vibe going. The smell of the incense and the abundance of dreadlocks completed the scene. And it was not uncommon to see one walking down the street with djembe on his back, probably just in case a drum circle broke out.
I’m not sure what it is about Granada that seems to be haven for this bohemian group of travellers. It was like the gateway to Toon Town for those who know the Texas Renaissance Festival “rennie” scene at all.
Speaking of the renfest, there was a whole ren-fair scene going on around the cathedral. Shops set up like little renfest booths with cheesy costumes and the typical schlocky wares for sale. This guy was selling swords and shields!
And this booth was decorated like a little castle and selling Donner Kebap
All it needed was to be on a stick and it would have been renfair-riffic!
Also in abundance were the gypsies. The “shtick” these women have is that they approach you and hold out a sprig of rosemary and say “un regalo!” which means “a gift.”
Your best bet is to wave them off and keep moving. If you make the mistake of stopping and taking the sprig (we didn’t, we were forewarned) you get a fortune told and then they expect money. The quickly explain that if you don’t pay you will be cursed and they take no coins as they are bad luck so the unlucky sap ends up handing over 5 euros to satisfy the gypsy.
The most interesting character by far was this old man
When we first encountered him he was sitting on his bicycle in front of a group of people waiting on a bus and ranting (in Spanish) about the end of the world. He was really going to town.
When the bus came and collected his audience he started peddling away on his bike which started to play a very ice-cream truck style version of Jingle Bells. Oddly enough, he sort of looks like Santa Claus.
On our last day walking we encountered this fellow
I envied his medium for a moment. As a painter, he is able to illustrate only the beauty. He can leave out the tourists and the modern-ish TV aerials on the rooftops and even paint the sky as it looked the evening before.