Andando por Albaicin

This afternoon I went for a walking tour through Albayzin, a neighborhood in Granada characterized by its Arab influence.  It was really sunny and warm out, and we did a lot of uphill walking, so I was a little worn out by the end of it, but it was still cool.  First we went up a hill on the other side of the river so we could get a nice view of the neighborhood as a whole.  Our tour guide (one of the ISA program directors) called it "the rooftop view."

Then we went back downhill and into one of the Arab Baths.  It was nice and cool inside, with the stone walls blocking out the sun and the heat.  To get light into the rooms, there are a bunch of little shapes cut out in the ceiling, but the roof is so thick that it lights up the room without letting it get too warm.  The doorways were really short.  I had to duck in order to get through.

Then we went up the other hill to explore the neighborhood.  The streets mostly had stairs, so I guess the people who live and work up here just have to trek it every day, or else find back roads where they can take a car up. We did get some cool views of the Alhambra, though.

Soon, I found myself at the Mirador de San Nicolas, where I went on Sunday.  I didn't even realize that's where we were heading until we got there, because we went up from the other direction.  We spent some time hanging out there, because some people in our group wanted to get something to drink.  Then we went to the Mosque of Granada.  We couldn't actually go inside, but we were able to explore the surrounding gardens. (And I put my camera through the gate so I could get a look at the inside.)

 

Then we walked around a bit more, through a centuries-old passage way to a plaza.  

On our way back down the hill, we stopped to look at one of the other University of Granada buildings.  The campus is so spread out, and I have hardly actually seen any of it, despite having been taking classes here for the past two weeks.  Next week were are going on a more official tour of the campus itself, though.