A traveller's reflection: Spain/Morocco 2012: 04 Granada

My Travel Journal

"There isn't much I haven't shared with you along the road and through it all there'd always be tomorrow's episode" - Elton John

I started traveling around the world since early 80s when I had the opportunity to combine business trips with vacations. Then later when my rezeki is in abundance, there were numerous other trips along the way for vacations, most of the time with hubby and the kids when the timing is right. I have also started to compile the journal and photo-pages covering almost more than 45 years of world wide travel. Some destinations I visited just once, others many times. Many of those places are the obvious famous places people would like to visit but some, the casual traveler doesn't even think to try. I have placed links to my travel at the side bar of my personal page, My Life Reflections, and will be updating them from time to time.

My wish is to continue my travel and complete circumnavigate the globe, insyaAllah…

Thursday, 15 November 2012

Spain/Morocco 2012: 04 Granada

"To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it..."

(The Alhambra, a UNESCO site)

Day 04: 15 Nov 2012

GRANADA

Early morning, the bus took us to Alhambra where a local guide was already waiting for our group at the entrance. We took the 0930 entrance ticket and had a walking tour of Alhambra and Palacio de Generalife.

(Alhambra secret windows)

Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid 10th century by the Berber ruler Badis ben Habus of the Kingdom of Granada in al-Andalus, occupying the top of the hill of the Assabica on the southeastern border of the city of Granada. The Alhambra's Islamic palaces were built for the last Muslim Emirs in Spain and its court, of the Nasrid dynasty.

(Quranic verses on the wall)

After the reconquest by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492, some portions were used by the Christian rulers. It is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions, exhibiting the country's most significant and well known Berber Islamic architecture, together with 16th-century and later Christian building and garden interventions. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the inspiration for many songs and stories.

(Reflections on the water)

After the walking tour, the bus dropped us at the city square and the group had to walk a distance to Arrayanes Restaurant for a very late lunch. The journey would have been made easier if the tour leader had a map or the address of the restaurant with him.

(A long uphill walk to the mosque)

After lunch, the group had to climb up the steep narrow gravel stone path in Granada Old Town, known as the Albaicin to the Mezquita Mayor de Granada or the Grand Mosque of Granada.

(The courtyard of the Mezquita Mayor)

The striking new mosque is a structure of subtle beauty, incorporating designs found in the Great Mosque of Cordoba and the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. A white brick building, built on 2,100 square meters of land, with a red tile roof and a thick, square minaret, is set in the middle of a public garden. The mosque’s prayer room is large enough to hold several hundred people. There is also a library and a study centre for scholars, located in separate outbuildings. Later we had our Zohor and Asar prayer in the mosque.

(A nice view of Granada town from the top)

Next to the mosque is El-Mirador de San Nicolas. We could have a panoramic view of the city of Granada and the Al-Hamra with the Sierra Nevada mountains in the background from the square in front of the cathedral. There are also a number of bars and restaurants in the vicinity if one feel in need of refreshment. When we were there, there were gypsies selling bracelets and costume jewelleries and musicians playing Spanish guitar which added joviality to the atmosphere.