Our train was scheduled to leave Atocha Station at 0745……we're not quite used to things being pitch black dark at 7am in the morning so that was somewhat disorienting to us. And yet, it was neat watching the sun rise over the horizon on the train…at 0845 no less….
We were of course, well prepared for any pangs of hunger. Armed with the Jamon Bellota from Ferpal. Part of the "fun" when travelling are the interesting characters you see. In this case, the middle aged, somewhat eccentric Japanese gentleman who brought a huge suitcase with him, in addition he wore two watches to go with the two cameras around his neck. He stuffed the suitcase on the seat next to him….only to find out that someone had that seat reserved. He quickly moved the gigantic suitcase to the storage area……then, in a strange twist of fate, the guy who sat next to him suddenly realized he was on the wrong car! Bummer…… And yet, not all was lost as he bought a bocadillo and assumed what I consider to be the classic "bocadillo pose".
After his sandwich; I watched him bring out a huge folder with tabs and review notes….about what, I'm not sure. Then I saw him bring out a smartphone….which led me to wonder why he needed two watches?
Since the tracks to Granada are being repaired we had to change from the train to a bus at Antequera-Santa Ana Station. Our good man ended up sitting right across from another eccentric looking middle aged Japanese gentleman who had a huge file folder of notes carrying a huge camera tri-pod. Aaaah, when soulmates meet! They had such an animated conversation during the bus ride to Granada Train Station which was going thru some major road work. 
We were told to catch the bus on "LAC" – Avenida de la Constitucion, then transfer to the bus on Gran Via….of course we decided to walk.
The location of the AirBnB apartment was great, right off Plaza Nueva on Calle Animas…though we did find that so much was tourist based here. Finding a simple market or decent bakery was a bit difficult. Yet, it was so close to the Judicial Gate of the Alhambra (right up the street) and many of the popular places it was a great location.
A big plus was the location of the Alhambra Bookstore where we could print our prepaid tickets for our visit, thus being able to take the nearby Judicial Gate the next day.
Granada takes pride in still offering what we were told is "traditional tapas"……free tapas with every drink. Two of the most highly recommended places were within a short walk of our apartment; Los Diamantes and Bodegas Casteneda. Los Diamantes seemed very touristy, right on the main drag….though we did see the original location a bit later on which seemed less so. Bodegas Casteneda an alleyway off the main drag seemed to have a more local clientele…….based on the older local folks who seemed to be making the rounds after (before?) church on this Sunday.
A lot of older couples would just drop by; have a drink, then move on……perhaps to the next place.
Our free tapa…with the glass of tinto for the Missus and my beer was a rather generous portion of bacalao (preserved cod) with a very nice tomato sauce.
It was a bit early for more drinks for us so I ordered "tapa" size portions of Fabes con Jamon (fava beans with jamon) which the Missus absolutely loves and berenjenas relleno (stuffed eggplant) which was very cold in terms of temperature and in spite of looks was on the greasy side and lacked flavor.
Not quite the most auspicious first meal in Granada….yet quite worth the 12 Euro price in our mind. So while we'd probably not return it was quite reasonable for us.
It's quite amazing that the servers are able to keep track of things, but they do. Bodegas Casteneda also has a full service restaurant next door; don't confuse this place with Antigua Bodega Casteneda right around the corner….there's some familiar connection, but to my understanding, has no true link to this location.
Bodegas Castañeda
Calle de Almireceros 1-3
Granada, Spain