Sunny Spain

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.