It goes without saying the wine is part of it, although we are very uneducated in that regard we need you guys.

Dates me too, I have their several lps for both (they were father's) at home (no CDS just records that makes me old)

Great thread, great info -- thanks for the responses, especially Isabel. I appreciate you posting your photos and thoughts on Hotel Plaza Nueva -- am very much looking forward to reading your trip report!

From yet another Ann/Ana.

Hello,
There's lots of great info on this thread already, but I hope I can add one or two further recommendations:

- Moorish tea shops on the calles Caldereria Vieja and Caldereria Nueva - lovely for an afternoon break, especially when it's warm (or cold!!!) and everything is closed for siesta. Té maroqui (sweet green tea with mint) is the drink of choice for many, but the menus offer many wonderful teas, such as (my favourite), té pakistani, which is made with hot milk and spices.

- Eshavira, a bar and jazz/flamenco club on calle Postigo de la Cuna, just off calle Elvira (it's tucked away off the street and can be hard to find so worth scoping out the location during the daytime or with a good map). A great location for non-touristy flamenco (performances used to be on Sunday nights but worth checking), very popular with locals and students.

- If your friends like walking, there's a lovely walk they can take out to the Sacromonte area of town, as Maribel mentioned. From the Paseo de los Tristes, take the Cuesta del Chapiz uphill and then turn right along the Camino del Sacromonte, which goes past the troglodyte dwellings and gypsy area out to the more open countryside. When you get out to the edge of town you can still see some of the chimneys and doorways of the most "rustic" cave homes here and there along the grassy banks of the hillside. There are some nice picnic spots around here as well.

Quick Q for Maribel - what is it you don't like about Plaza Nueva as a location? And -- you've gotten my e-mail, si?

A bus tour is often a good way to see a city's highlights and to get the lay of the land. City Sightseeing Granada advertises a city tour with 11 stops with 48-hour validity. The tours are in a red open-top two-decker bus.

Riders are given tiny headphones which plkug in near the seats. The channel number (that determined the language you hear) was invisible in strong light. We got the agent to set it at the English channel. Nothing was heard while the bus stopped for 20 or 30 minutes to sell tickets to newcomers. We expected a comentary when we started.

Alas, nothing was heard on any channel, except a few seconds of German. We tried six contacts in three seats and heard no commentary. Other riders had similar problems. Later the agent said he hadn't heard of any problems.

A similar system worked very well in Aix en Provence, although the voice on the one on Barcelona buses was hard to understand.

We could tell from the supplied map what stop we were at, but sometimes we couldn't tell which building was the supposed point of interest.

The bus route is mostly on the outskirts of the city, probably to minimize traffic delays. Only 10 stops were made and the agent changed our ticket to 24 hour validity without explanation. In addition the bus was late. The agent failed to mention that the bus didn't leave from the ticket booth near the visitor center, but from near the cathedral.

When so mnay points of interest are within walking distance of the city centre, we'd have done better to spend our 90 minutes seeing these and relaxing over a snack afterwards.

hmmmm. that good info to know. I know the on / off bus in Madrid is great, but this sounds like a waste of money.

Thanks for the feedback.