Granada, Spain

OK, this posting is a bit of a stretch for a few reasons.  First, we only spent about a day and a half in Granada with the main purpose being to visit the magnificent Alhambra, so it's not like there was a lot of time for searching about the city for great beer locations.  Second, we didn't even venture into the main part of the city...we hung out in our little medieval section of Granada called the Albaycin, so we didn't cover much territory.  And third, the places we are writing up offered only one or two beers TOTAL.  But since Atmosphere is one of the primary drivers of Pintathlon, we figured these places had it in spades and were worthy of mention.

The first spot was called La Mancha Chica Chaoen, a most unlikely spot that appears to be a small variety store at first glance.  But look a little closer and you'll see it actually has a menu, and look closer still (i.e. go in and order some food) and you'll find that they have excellent Moroccan food.  The owner was priceless and spoke enough of just about every language to make his guests feel comfortable.  What surprised me was even though they hung a Cruzcampo sign outside, he insisted on serving me the local beer, Alhambra, and when it came it was paired with the matching Alhambra mug, frosted!

The second location came after a lengthy hike through the local hills.  We simply turned left out of our hotel, and walked up: the cobblestone streets grew gradually more narrow, then turned to pavement, and then turned to dirt as we switchbacked up the hills.  We eventually walked by several cave houses, a concept we were introduced to through Househunters International although these ones weren't quite as fancy as the ones featured on TV.  Anyhow, we spent a few hours hiking, got a great view of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains (no this won't turn into a story about the Sierra Nevada brewery) and turned back for home.

Once back on our side of the river valley, we opted for Cafe Bar Bocailleria Pibe, a small covered patio for a beer and some lunch.  This place was also a cave bar, and offered a terrific view of Al Hambra...what better atmosphere?  We naturally ordered our beers first, and to our surprise, a free plate of finger food showed up.  Since the beers were served in 200 mL glasses, they were done in no time, so we order two more, and a second free plate of food showed up.  We\ decided to see how long this would go on for, and they had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of net new free dishes to offer us.  They won!