Ahhh… *sigh* a lovely place, my Albayzin. One of the few places that I wish to visit again, Albayzin in Granada,Spain. My only two grudges are..the pebble-paved road and the dog’s ^^.
So many dog poop…a statistic says that there are about 4.8 million dogs against 40 million people living in Spain. Not a shocker there.
I have nothing against dogs as I love animals myself but can you (irresponsible dog’s owner) just please clean *them ie. the dog poop* up after your dog did the business? I want a clean and pretty Albayzin. Please…
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 learning Spanish a lot.
This is a 3-part post. You may read the continuation here:
A bit of History
The Albaicín (Spanish pronunciation: [alβajˈθin]) or Albayzín (Arabic: ٱلْبَيّازِينْ) as it was known under Muslim rule,[disputed – discuss] is a district of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It retains the narrow winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past dating back to the Nasrid kingdom of Granada. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1984, along with the Alhambra.
-Wikipedia
Location of Albayzin
This is our route from where we stayed – Los Tilos Hotel. It is not that far, about 30 minutes walking up the hill. Ideally of course. It all depends on your strength and will power. Me? I walked up for around 1 hour and a bit more. 🙂
Precaution
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 hurt her so much once she goes down the hill.
Why you need to visit Albayzin?
Albayzin 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.
–Wikipedia
Primarily, the whole city of Granada is like a grand museum of itself. You just cannot help yourself marveling at its exquisite beauty and when you look at one you feel as if you just found a piece of hidden treasure!
There is a long list of places of interest in Albayzin that you can visit but I leave it for you to decide which one. Read more here.
Our Visit to Albayzin
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Step by step to Albayzin
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
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.
