We had been approached by some very polite tour guides to take a three-hour walking tour through the Albaicín and Sacromento areas but we did not have the confidence in ourselves that we could manage that. We have found the streets in Granada the most difficult to manage so far this trip. The cobblestones are very hard on the soles of our feet, and the small stoned walkways and streets can be pretty slippery. Definitely not sandal-wearing streets.

We are, after all, on holidays and sometimes it is nice to have a rest day. So with that in mind, we headed out for a stroll.

This monument is about two blocks from where we are staying. It represents the Catholic Monarchs (Isabel and Fernando) who overthrew the Muslim Granada in 1492. They rode into the conquered city dressed in Muslim dress and set up court in Alhambra. Sounds like rubbing it in to me!

Where we are staying however, still retains a very strong Muslim population and culture. The conversations in the streets below our apartment do not sound Spanish. It is as if we are in a different country – an Arabic one at that. There are many shops in our street, all selling the same things for the same prices. I am unsure how they can make a living. We did get a giggle out of these items for sale for only €4. A definite mixing of cultures we thought.

Bearing in mind that Mick had said he did not want to do too much walking and definitely no climbing today, our first stop was easy to get to – the Arab Baths – El Banuelo.

These are considered to be the oldest and best preserved Arab baths in Spain (I am pretty sure I have read that before about another place!) This next photo is of the bath’s domed roof with skylights.

Our next stop involved only a few steps, so Mick was fine with that. We visited the Casa de Zafra, an ancient Nazarite Palace built at the end of the 14th Century. It has the typical courtyard shape around a pool. We found the displays here very interesting.

I was leading the way, and within a few short steps, we had to start climbing upwards. Mick was reluctant but agreed to go a little further through the streets of Albaicín. I had really wanted to visit this old part of Granada, with its narrow and tortuous streets, and here we were. This is considered to be an open-air museum of Muslim history in Granada.

I was following a map that would take us to the Saint Nicholas Lookout (Mirador de San Nicolás). The view was wonderful. We got a different aspect of the Alhambra, overlooking the Darro Valley, where we had visited yesterday. (Bel, is this the lookout you came to in the evening?) if it was, I don’t like my chances of getting him back here.

By this stage, Mick had gone quiet on me. I wouldn’t say he was not talking to me, but the steps we had to climb to get to this lookout were not on his program for the day.

I (luckily) found a bus stop nearby, and for €1.20 we caught the bus back to the Plaza Neuvo and were enjoying our coffee and churros in less than 10 minutes.

Mick did cheer up after this stop!

As we headed off to find the Cathedral, we passed a group of girls out on a hen’s party adventure. Check out the photo of Mick in my next post where he was caught dancing with a would-be-bride at one of the bars we went to.

The Cathedral is huge and we explored it only from the outside. There was a wedding just finishing up in one of the chapels and we stopped to to take a look.

We spent an hour more wandering through the central part of Granada with cute narrow alleyways and restaurant-lined plazas. This part of the city is definitely Spanish, a big contrast to our area a few blocks away.

So much for Mick’s rest day!

We plan on spending some time there later this evening as Mick spotted a bar that sold some interesting beers.

We catch a bus to Córdoba tomorrow where we will spend 5 days. I am also hoping there is wifi at this place, as Mick has found it pretty tough hanging out at the bar each evening while I linked into the free wifi to upload my posts each day. 😉