The Halal traveler

We had breakfast Lleva Te Cafe (c afe without alcohol in Europe!). The friendly service, the fresh Muffin and Tostada con Mantequilla was a good start to the day. The city wall and gates takes you back a millinneum. These tourist posts are all over the city with audio guide numbers. We didn't check it out, but you should (is it an Android app?). Dar al Horra Palacio de Dar al-Horra was the residence of the last Queen, Aixa, mother of Boabdil. After surrendering Granada, they were leaving the city, and Boabdil stopped to take one last look at Alhambra. Aixa whipped him, "Don't whine like a girl about something you couldn't defend as a man". This is basically a small version of the Nasrid palace. The exhibition display was very informative. The palace is small and there's not a lot to see. But the exhibition is good and it wasn't crowded. Yet another church that was ... We had lunch at Puerta de Syria . Excellent food, cheap,...

2 things before we start day 2. Small history tangent When the Umayyads first established their rule in Spain, they chose Cordoba as their capital. Over time, many Muslim rulers conquered many parts of the region, until finally they were captured by the Reconquesta in the 1200s. After that, a small part was left, with their capital in Granada. The Nasrids were just a tributary state of the northern powers, who charged them a large amount of gold as taxes. Seeing the mighty Alhambra would remind you of the Muslim Andalusia at the peak of it's power, but it was nothing but a small palace-fortress of a local king who managed to cling on to power by paying large taxes to the actual rulers. The Orange Trees Let's get this out of the way. The first things you notice when you land in the region are orange trees filled with bright oranges waiting to be plucked. Every first time visitor must wonder - Can they be plucked? If so, why are there still so many left? ...

In this episode, I'll go through my experience of visiting Andalusia. We visited 2 cities Cordoba - the capital of Islamic Spain and most populous city outside Asia for several centuries. Granada - the last remaining strong hold of Islamic Spain. One great resource I found to study about this period is the Flash Point History YouTube channel . It's a secular source, and the narration is very attractive. I was unfortunate to find out about this channel only after my visit. We took our flights to Madrid, and travelled to Granada by train (protip: if you have a long distance train from Madrid, then the transit from the airport to Atocha is free). If you want to visit the Nasrid palace inside Alhambra, you have to book well in advance (at least a month). If you missed it, you can go for the Granada card (40 euro). This includes a public transport pass (it's cheaper to buy this separately), city train tour without hop-on hop-off (which makes it useless), and a ...