Travel guide for the South of Spain (Andalusia)

May 26, 2019
Travel guide for the South of Spain (Andalusia):
Granada , Cordoba, Malaga , Seville and Toledo




  Granada:
  • Tour bus
  • Hotel Alhambra Palace (one of the oldest and fanciest hotel, it’s on top of the mountain so it has beautiful views and short walk from the Alhambra)
  • Alhambra (great historic place but it’s big, took us two hours to fully complete it ) 
  • Albaicín
  • Sacromonte
  • Medieval marketplace
  • Riverside walk
  • Sheikh Zayed mosque 
  • Sheikh Sultan mosque 







From Granada you can visit neighboring cities such as Córdoba , Malaga and Seville. They are just 2 hours or so from each other.

                                                                            Cordoba: ( 2 hours away from Granada by car) 
  • The mosque - cathedral of Cordoba 
  • Roman bridge of Córdoba
  • Medina Azahara
  • The Calleja de las Flores, is one of the most popular tourist street
  • Historic centre of Córdoba
  • Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos
  • Plaza de la Corredera
















Malaga: ( 1 and half hour away from Granada by car) 
( not worth staying more than one day, very small city but beautiful) 
  • Alcazaba of Málaga
  • Costa del Sol
  • Museo Picasso Málaga
  • Gibralfaro
  • Guadalhorce












Seville: ( 2 hours and 30 minutes away from Granada by car) 
  • Alcázar of Seville
  • Plaza de España, Seville
  • Santa Cruz, Seville
  • Maestranza
  • Parque de María Luisa
  • General Archive of the Indies
  • Mercado Lonja del Barranco




Toledo: (3 hours away from Granada by car)
  • Mezquita-Iglesia de El Salvador, Toledo
  • Zocotren train tour
  • Roman circus of Toledo
  • Ayuntamiento de Toledo
  • Parque de las Tres Culturas
  • Puerta del Cambrón
  • Puerta de Alcántara
  • Tagus riverbank walk


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My love for Movies

March 01, 2019



Ever since I was young many of my family members would buy for me costumes, every day I would wear one. When I was wearing the costumes I would act around the house. I loved acting cause my favorite part was wearing the costumes. My love for costumes turned into a love for theatre. I was in almost every school play, I loved acting with my friends and the costumes. I had this thrill whenever I was on stage, I was never shy or nervous. I didn’t care what part I was given even if I didn’t have a line, I just wanted to be on stage. Growing up I always knew I didn’t want to pursue acting because it wasn’t aligned with my religious and cultural beliefs. But somehow I still found my way on stage, mostly as an MC in university events. My favorite part about being on stage is the applause I receive at the end. 

Naturally, as a person who loves acting, I love movies as well. As a teenager, I would always look at Audrey Hepburn’s picture and admire her beauty and elegance. I would always tell my mother that I wanted Audrey’s wardrobe but sadly Givenchy, Audrey’s costume designer, is way too expensive. The summer before my senior I got my first laptop and I started seeing clips of Audrey Hepburn’s famous movie ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’. So I thought it was about time to watch the full movie. After watching Audrey on screen, I fill more in love with the way she acted and the way she played her characters. 

After watching my first classical movie, I became addictive to watch more. I was introduced to many more Hollywood legends from the different actors and actresses to the renowned directors. The classical movies, especially from the 1920s till the 1960s, are movies that I have watched constantly. I became a huge fan of movies, from the small details to the big screen.  


That is why I have dedicated a section of my blog to talk about the movies that I love. 
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Sweden, Travel Lookbook

March 01, 2019

The Travel Lookbook includes the outfits I wore during my time in Stockholm. As the weather was nice and sunny most of my outfits were simply and I chose the colours beige and blue. Wide pants, like the one I wore in look #1 and #2, are a staple for hijabi wardrobe as it's modest and elegant.   






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Stockholm, Sweden

February 26, 2019
During the summer we went to Stockholm for five days. The weather was sunny, and the people were friendly. 


As it’s our first time going to Stockholm on the first day, we took a city tour bus to look at the landmarks of the city. As it was the summer the trees and flowers were in bloom adding colors to the street. There were many museums from the famous Noble museum to the Royal Place. Also, the city was surrounded by water and we spotted a number of beautiful boats along the deck. Once we got off the bus we witnessed a marching band, the kids and adults alike enjoyed watching the band play. Later that day we tried a seafood restaurant near our hotel. We usually don’t risk eating seafood aboard however in Stockholm seafood is a common dish and as tourists we had to give it a try. The seafood was quite different than what we were used to back home, the fish looked smaller and served cold. Regardless of the different way the fish was prepared we had a delicious meal. 

       





The next day we visited the Noble museum. The moment I walked I was overwhelmed by the decor of the museum; each noble price category was arranged in separate areas. On the ceiling, there was a train of posters of all the noble prize winners. The museum showcased the Noble prize winners, their background stories and their achievements. My favorite part was that the noble prize winners were of different ages and race.

On the third day, we took a tour boat and visited one of the many Island near the city. The first thing we did when we arrived at the Island we bought ice cream to handle the hot heat. There was nothing much on the Island except for a restaurant and a couple of restrooms. We a fun time exploring the Island as the forest environment was different from the desert areas in Dubai. The Island was relatively small, and it took us about 30 minutes to complete it. After the Island, we spotted a large antique store in the center of the city. In every antique store, I try to collect as many patches as possible to put them on my diy jeans jacket. To my surprise the lovely owner had almost 20 vintage patches, they were all colorful and unique.


The fourth day we decided to look for a more unique place to visit when we stumbled upon a post on the net about a graffiti wall gallery. The graffiti wall was about 20 minutes from our hotel. The place was interesting as it was in a quiet area with two large walls filled with graffiti. It was like going to a museum expect it's free and the people who did it is probably from our generation. You can tell just by looking at the graffiti that the person who did them was very creative. So glad we went to witness the art of this generation. Later that afternoon, we went to a theme park. Sadly, I'm scared of roller costers but my cosuins pushed me to ride all the ride. You can never have a sad day at the theme park. 



On the last day, we felt it was appropriate to spend the day shopping. The stores were mostly local, so it was nice to see the popular trends of the local area. After finished shopping in the center square, we went to a mall. The mall had a bowling alley, sadly none of us were professionals but we had a good laugh at the way each of us tried to throw the bowling ball.




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Sunny Spain

February 25, 2019




We traveled to the South of Spain (Andalusia) during the winter. Regardless of the cold weather, Spain was always sunny. The food and architecture were inspired by the Muslims from the famous dish paella to the many Mosques in the cities. Paella comes from the Arabic word بقايا  (Baqaya) which means remains. Orange trees filled the cities, giving the streets a lovely orange scent. I have been captivated of the Andalusia history ever since I was little when my mother would tell me about the accomplishment of the Muslims during the Islamic rule.




Granada

We first visited my favourite city in Europe, Granada, in the south of Spain. Granada in Spanish mean pomegranate and the fruit can be seen in almost every corner in the city. The reason Granada is my favourite city is due to its great Islamic history. In a world where Islamophobia is intensifying it is nice to be in a place where my religion is respected. The people of Granada are so proud of their Islamic history and never fail to talk about it in a positive light. This sense of proud in Islam made me burst with joy as finally, people can see what I see in my beautiful religion. In every part of the city, you can see traces of Islam with Muslim architecture and the influence of Arabic in the Spanish language.
























My favourite day of the trip is when we visited the ‘Al Hambra Palace’, which means the red palace in Arabic. We took a tour with one of the many tour guides, to tell us about the many astonishing stories that happened within the Palace. The first thing the tour guide said was “please let me clarify Islam is a beautiful religion with beautiful history and therefore let’s ignore the media lies and enjoy the tour”. This sentence alone gave me a sense of relief, as due to the horrible representation of Islam in the media I was worried that most people would believe the media and base their opinion on the unpleasant representation. The tour guided continued to talk about the way Muslims, Jews, and Christians all lived together in peace under one roof. The reason they all lived together in one roof was that the Muslims rulers did not focus on the religions of their subjects but rather cared about surrounding themselves intellectuals regardless of their religion. 

                                        




Cordoba


During our stay in Granada, we visited Cordoba for a day. The first thing we did was we visited the Mosque of Cordoba. The Great Mosque is one of the oldest structures still standing from the Muslims ruled Al-Andalus. Also, for the Mosque we booked a tour guide that spoke to us about the lengthy history of this incredible Mosque. The mosque went through many transformations from being a mosque built by Prince Abd Al-Rahman the first, afterward to a much larger mosque by Prince Abd Al-Rahman the Second. The mosque was next converted into a Church by the Christians leaders who ruled the area after the Islamic rule. Now the Mosque has been turned into a museum where tourists can see both the interior structure of both the Muslim and Christians. My favourite thing about the Mosque would have to be how both religions (Islam and Christianity) was practiced under one roof during the past.

After the tour, we were looking for a place to eat when a kind restaurateur said ‘Feliz Navidad’, which means Merry Christmas in Spanish. The thoughtfulness of the restaurateur drove us to the restaurant, and I am so glad we did because we tried one of the best paellas we ever had. The restaurant had a positive vibe and it was a loving family business.

South of Spain (Andalusia) is one of my favourite places to visit, every time I go I discover something new about their history. The weather was always sunny, and the orange trees were always blooming.
















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