The Power of Travel

[Matt]

I recently returned from our first family international trip – we travelled through Spain, starting at Madrid, and moving South to stop at Toledo, Granada and Cordoba. It was a fabulous trip, and I highly recommend all of these towns.

We booked this as I typically do – with a one way to somewhere, (MAD in this case) that we would figure out how to get back from, and what we would do there later. This time, Granada became our goal. We elected to stop off at Toledo on the way down and Cordoba on the return in order to break up the 4hr drive.

The Alhambra Palace


The Alhambra was completed in 1353 by Muhammed V, though its earliest references were from 889 to the fortress of Alcazabar, which was later restored and the Alhambra we now know is built around it.

Inside The Alhambra


The Palace was truly exceptional, you can see my photo album here.

The Book


We needed to fuel up on caffeine on the morning of our Alhambra tour, and the surly security wouldn’t let us pass with our Cafe con Leche, so we browsed the giftshop as we finished them. A book struck me, it was called Islamic Geometric Patterns. These patterns are a massive design feature of the Palace (and many other Islamic buildings) and truly are beautiful. I intended to tweet a photo of the cover, but as I did the fear of repercussion struck me.

That same day the news was covering the Sydney cafe terrorist event, which was driving home the message of fear. Fear that terrorism was now affecting other countries, and that home grown terror was emerging, and almost impossible to prevent.

The sad thing is, these days people are increasingly associating Islam with terror. So much so that when I looked at this book I wondered how people would react to the word Islam.

I was lucky. By being there, on the ground in Granada I could see a beauty in Islam, in its designs and patterns, and appreciate its rules of Halal and Haram these terms often we think of just restrictive diets, but they are actually laws that mean ‘Permissible’ (Halal) and Sinful, and forbidden (Haram). As a non religious person, I had always thought these rules a little restrictive and illogical,however, seeing them implemented in a different way made them make sense. In this journey I could learn to appreciate Haram through the Gardens and Palaces of the Alhambra. Some of which were ‘Allowed’ to have people mingling together, others were not. This Halal and Haram struck me exactly as I have thought of the times of old in Britain.

We have to be careful not to allow the mainstream media to taint our view of the world, and to challenge our understanding of it through travel, therein lies its power.

The post The Power of Travel appeared first on Travel.

Continue reading...

 

[sriki]

I heard good things about these places of Spain. How was the drive? How many days did spend there?

In regards to your other point, there is a lot of truth in it. Travel can alter some perceptions about people and places that someone did not come in contact until then. This can be a double edged in that a bad experience at a particular place or with a particular group of people will leave a bad taste for a long time. I am glad you got to witness the good and hope it stays the same.
On a similar note, publicsing terror by tagging a religion is easy esp. when the actors perpetuate it under that guise. It would make for a great service to separate them when talking and dealing with them. But, it's easier said than done and for people who are affected by terror, it's difficult to look past the religion aspect of it. Case in point, the sydney cafe attack. While reading the initial reports as it was going on, I started scanning the article for any indication of the religion of the suspect & as soon as I found what I was looking for, I thought "Why am I not surprised". I might catch some flak for saying that out loud but that's the truth.

 

[Matt]

I heard good things about these places of Spain. How was the drive? How many days did spend there?

Our Itinerary was:

Friday 8am Madrid,
Sat Madrid
Sun to Toledo (1 night)
Mon to Granada
Tues Granada
Wed to Cordoba
Thurs Cordoba
Fri returned to MAD to fly out.

Very much recommend all of these places, we enjoyed Granada a lot, Toledo was great (old city, very beautiful) Cordoba was fun too - they all shared great walking and food which was our plan.. wander from place to place eating Tapas and drinking Wine (well just me on the latter). The drive from Madrid to Granada is 4hrs.

One thing - driving in Spain is pretty bad at times, especially inside Madrid, I really wouldn't advise it - they have high speed trains so if you can travel without a car I would do that for sure.

In regards to your other point, there is a lot of truth in it. Travel can alter some perceptions about people and places that someone did not come in contact until then.

Yeah, I was just thinking about how the news stations were pushing the terror angle and how that extrapolated into 'home grown' terror. In reality, Spain has its own terror issues with ETA, so they too are no stranger to it.

 

[smittytabb]

Our Itinerary was:

Friday 8am Madrid,
Sat Madrid
Sun to Toledo (1 night)
Mon to Granada
Tues Granada
Wed to Cordoba
Thurs Cordoba
Fri returned to MAD to fly out.

Very much recommend all of these places, we enjoyed Granada a lot, Toledo was great (old city, very beautiful) Cordoba was fun too - they all shared great walking and food which was our plan.. wander from place to place eating Tapas and drinking Wine (well just me on the latter). The drive from Madrid to Granada is 4hrs.

One thing - driving in Spain is pretty bad at times, especially inside Madrid, I really wouldn't advise it - they have high speed trains so if you can travel without a car I would do that for sure.



Yeah, I was just thinking about how the news stations were pushing the terror angle and how that extrapolated into 'home grown' terror. In reality, Spain has its own terror issues with ETA, so they too are no stranger to it.

I love Spain, but never drive. I remember when the trains were ridiculously slow and so now it is so great with the fast trains. Every place you went is so worth visiting. I absolutely adore the Basque region too. ETA spooked away a lot of tourists for a long time, but people should not avoid it now. It is one of the least visited but most fabulous parts of the country and the safety issues are no different than the rest of the country.