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| View comments | Add comments | E-mail this to a friend | Print this article |   Page  [1]  2  3  4  5  >>   Granada - Moorish Legacy! Text by Eugene Khoo Photos by Eugene Khoo and Jeffrey Chok Moorish Doorway inscription © Eugene Khoo "You do well to weep as a woman for that which you could not defend as a man."     A phrase almost any tour guide in Granada knows. When the Christian armies encroached upon Granada, Boabdil, the last Moorish King realized all was lost so he decided to surrender the city to spare it and its inhabitants. When he rode out to meet the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabel, it's said he turned back and wept. The phrase was then uttered by his mother when she saw him weep. I thought it was a bit harsh and rubbing it in but then again, against the combined might of two Christian kingdoms, it was a wise thing to do. By doing so however, he preserved the Moorish legacy in Spain which otherwise might be destroyed if the city is invaded. When you visit Granada, you'd be pleasantly surprised to see how strong the Moorish influence is. The Albaicin quarter especially features homes with inner courtyards and Arabic inscriptions. The first problem we had with Granada was the fact that there is a Granada province and the city of Granada. As a result, the hotel we had booked two months earlier and when we're eight thousand kilometers away was in Almunecar in the Granada province. A hundred and fifty kilometer roundtrip wasn't ideal but we had little choice. Now how do you suppose they get in that door? © Eugene Khoo We pulled into Almunécar early, dump our bags and head north on E-902 to Granada. We arrived slightly past noon into a crowded town and so we make our way straight to the Alhambra. It was packed full so we decide that we'd better leave really early the next morning. Since we couldn't get to the Alhambra, we decided to check a local hotel downtown with affordable rates. The Hotel was the Carmen on Acera Del Darro (the name of the street) and they had available rooms. We book a room and frantically call the hotel in Almunecar to cancel the room. So back down again to Almunécar to grab our bags and up the road again. So we learned to be careful about where the hotels are actually located. The Alcaiceria! By the time all that logistics got settled it was getting late so we pay a visit to the old Moorish silk market, today known as the Alcaiceria. Located near the cathedral, it forms part of the old city center. It's still contained within narrow alleyways and is filled with street side peddlers, souvenir stores, and gypsies trying to sell you twigs of rosemary for exorbitant prices. Once they pestered someone until he exploded and roared "Por Favor!" (or Please!). Fortunately, we never get pestered enough to try that method though. You can get typical tourist souvenirs like t-shirts and spaghetti tops but you can also get things like ceramics, glassware and flamenco dresses. Next to the Carmen was a very inviting ice-cream store. So, throughout our stay in Granada, we'd end the day with a delicious cone.    © 2001 Eugene Khoo.   Page  [1]  2  3  4  5  >>   E-mail this to a friend    Print this article   Add comments This article is over a year old. Comments are no longer accepted. [v1.0]

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