The Albaicin - Gird your loins!

Yup, that is indeed a reference to The Devil Wears Prada. It was just the first thing that came to my head when I thought about this tour we took through the Albaicin, which is the old Muslim quarter of Granada. It is very different from the other parts of Granada. Firstly, it's a bit more dangerous (that's why I used the quote). There are a ton of gypsies that live in Granada, and most of them reside, either legally or illegally, up here in the Albaicin. They are generally always trying to sell you something, and people say that theft is super huge. So far, I have yet to really feel at danger at all up here, but I do tap my pockets often to make sure my wallet/keys are still there.

It's also quite different because of the layout of the buildings. Where as the Jewish sector/downtown area is somewhat spread out, very few of these "roads" can fit cars down them. They were originally designed like this as a defensive tactic when Granada housed a number of different military battles. Not only did the tight quarters provide for easy defense, but the elevation here certainly helped. I find the easiest way to get to the Albaicin is just to "go up." Nearly every walkway is on an incline. Pretty treacherous on the knees, but an amazing sight for sure, and it leads to some amazing views (as you'll see!)

The first glimpse of the Alhambra, as we walked up the windy Albaicin roads. 

The tour was given by a director of our program - a guy named Christian. Funny guy for sure. He claims that this is the smallest window in Granada. We're all gullible and believe him. Not really sure what the purpose of this is, other than having people like us all want to grab a photo of it.

Orange tree 

 (Blurry) lemon tree

 Christian in the flesh, describing to us how you can tell the difference between a bitter orange and a sweet one without tasting it. We've actually had this lecture in 2 or 3 other places (and I may have mentioned this already). If you pull a leaf off the tree (like he has in his hand) you'll notice it may have a secondary leaf at the stem, much smaller. If that second leaf is there, it's bitter. If not, it's sweet. Sadly, all of the orange trees we've come across have been bitter ones. That doesn't stop the stray dogs from eating them though!

 A decent picture of what I mean when I say there is a lot of elevation here. Quite a few staircases like this.

 Finally at the top, we get the award winning view of the Alhambra. Photos don't do it justice. Sadly, this day was somewhat overcast and there was a decent fog covering it. Still though, it's pretty crazy. Takes your breath away.

I should mention, this must be the most dangerous part of the Albaicin as far as theft is concerned. It's a big plaza, tonnnnns of people hanging out looking at the view, generally a band or two playing flamenco music. While you breath is being taken away at the view, so is your wallet/purse by the thieves behind you. According to Christian, you shouldn't even come up here at night with a group as big as 15 people. I'm not sure about the legitimacy of that statement, but I still have yet to be there at complete nightfall.

 Probably going to talk about the Alhambra as my next blog entry. I've been there two times now and have a bunch of photos to show. In this one above, you can see the large squarish building - Palacio de Carlos V.

 A very peculiar piece of graffiti found here. 

 The Albaicin and Alhambra overlooking Granada on a hazy evening.

 I may have posted this one before, but everyone wants more photos of me. So here you go.

 This is the view looking away from the Alhambra. This is the plaza where we were all taking the photos. Quite pretty up here, with the church in the background, restaurants just behind it, and the quintessential amateur flamenco band.

 Here we are descending down from the Albaicin. Lights begin turning on.

Here there are tons of little teteria's (tea shops) and little shops carrying tons of knick-knacks, from pashmina scarves to little jewelry and Granada souvenirs. There's about 100 of these that seem like mirror images of one another. Not sure how they make money.

Next visual trip - La Alhambra. Cuidaos (take care).