Ahhh...
*sigh* a lovely place, my Albayzin.
All
my pictures of Granada are nice and glossy but I refuse to take the picture of
'mierda'. Okay...I learned this word from the Spanish sitcom Aida. ^^ My real Spanish
learning curve..haha. It's a pretty old sitcom but it has helped me a lot.
Well,
as I have written before on my post of Granada mosque, you must have decent
shoes suitable for pebble-paved road if you want to explore Albayzin on foot. High heel
is a big no no. I saw a girl walking up the hill with a flimsy sandal, I bet
her heel will explode once she went down the hill.
Anyway,
a bit of the historical side of Albayzin shall we?
"El Albayzín (also Albaicín or El Albaicín) is a district of present dayGranada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain, that retains the narrow winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past. It was declared aworld heritage site in 1984, along with the more famous Alhambra.
It rises on a hill facing the Alhambra and many tourists journey into the Albayzin primarily for the spectactular views of the Alhambra from the viewing point by the church of San Nicolas." from Wikipedia
Our
Day 1 hiking Albayzin was my introductory tour of Albayzin hehehe... Our main
goal was for Friday Prayer. Albayzin is pretty fascinating with many white
houses and small alleys going up the peak. We could see Alhambra from almost
any spot in Albayzin.
Our
Day 2 we hiked up to catch Alhambra at dusk around Mirador de San Nicolas.
Magnificent and breathtaking!
Our
Day 3 we hiked up to check out the Sacramento area and took in the pretty sight
of Alhambra from another viewipoint = mirador.
First
of all, make sure you get the Albayzin map from the tourist information kiosk
or your hotel. Los Tilos Hotel's employee provided one for us right when we
arrived on Day 1 itself.
What
I love about the map is that there are many coupons that you can use for
discounts. We did use the coupon for a lunch buffet at Fresh Co restaurant - a satisfying HALAL lunch buffet.
We would love to watch the flamenco dance using the discount coupon too but three days were not
enough for us! Can you believe it? Heheh..we just love exploring Granada..on
foot that is. ^^
The
pictures below are from the Day 1 of hiking Albayzin. Enjoy!
After my beauty sleep, we headed to Albayzin for some serious exercises. Kidding! Hahaha...You can take the C1 bus from Plaza Nueva to Albayzin for 1.20 euro one way ride but if you have the travel card like Credibus or Bono; it is 0.79 euro per ride (as of writing).
The building above is around Plaza Nueva and just right after passing that building we found the stream below and was greeted with a breathtaking view of Alhambra as in the picture below.
Initially, I wonder why my husband did not want to ride the bus up to Albayzin? We have bought the BONO transport card though and I know...yessssss I did my research before coming ^^...that Albayzin topography is not flat...why oh why my husband? T_T
The city Center of Granada is relatively not so hilly but Albayzin reminds me of Seoul's topography albeit much harder.
Why? Because of this road is paved with small stones to massage my already sore feet. But I am glad because of my years walking up the hills in Korea has prepared me for this.
Me was near Mirador San Nicolas above and my husband in front of his favorite door? Okay..not my favorite though..hehe.
Grapes! What a lovely view and pretty heavenly to just grab some grapes from your own gate..you know. I would love some of those!
A pretty window after we went down the hill and my husband was faking a tired pose. Hahaha...Here there are a few restaurants but none of them serve Menu del dia. T_T
My super sun-burned skin and a pretty courtyard of a restaurant and a house.
Not gonna walk up the staircase..no..no..no!
We found this pretty neat bicycle! But I am afraid to ride one, I might fall down on my face! ^^
Labels: Granada
