Sight-seeing in Al-Andalus

ooc: Jumping on the bandwagon here. The POD(s) should be fairly obvious.

I'm going on vacation in a couple of weeks to Al-Andalus. I have plenty of time and money, so feel free to recommend a wide variety of sights in the locations below. Also, I have a few questions for the Andalusian AH.com-ers

*What are some of the things I can eat? Any good restaurants you could advise?

*What actions will get me lynched by a roving gang of Muwahids? (yes, I know Al-Andalus has a long tradition of secularism, but there are always crazy people in any society).

*What laws might I, an ignorant tourist, inadvertently break?

*Last, but not least, Are the girls hot?


Places I'm going (ooc: RL names in parentheses):

*Qurtuba (Cordoba)
*Garnata (Granada)
*Bojador (Bilbao)
*Tulaytulah (Toledo)
*al-Majrit (Madrid)
*Sarakusta (Zargoza)
*al-Lisbunah (Lisbon)
*Sakhrah Bilay (Covadonga)
*Jayyan (Jaen)
*Ixbilia (Seville)
*Barshiluna (Barcelona)
*Pampilona (take a wild guess)
*Balearic Islands (ooc: I don't know the Arab name for these)
 
I hear that Barshiluna is nice this time of year. But the Bureau has issued another safety warning about Occitan pirates spotted off the coast. If you're going to take a cruise, you might want to watch out.
 
Bleh, when will the Frankish get their act together? I hear the Andalusian, Roman and Marinid navies have been increasing their Mediterranean patrols ever since the Templar junta in the Occitanian Republic collapsed, somehow sending most of Western and Northern Europe into the gazillionth round of anarchy since the end of the first period of Roman Rule in 146 BH (1). I might just avoid Barshiluna now.

So, how's Qurtuba?

~*~*~
(1): Use CE/AD/BC if you want. I'm going to use a modified solar version of the Islamic calendar for lulz. 146 BH means 146 before the Hijra in 622, so 476 AD.
 
Well, I studied a year in Tulaytulah and I can tell you some things. If you are going to expend just some days I suggest you to do what most travellers do, i.e. a single visit to the Kebir valley. Otherwise you will not have time to really seen any place. Look for a room in a small town, they are cheaper than in the cities and not too far from them. Life and specially traffic in the arrabads of Qurtuba is odious, so the less you are there, the better. The Madinah and the Jewish and Christian quarters, on the other hand, are quite tranquil as long as you don't visit them at the heigh of the tourist season (some thousands of tourists combined with the heat of mid to late summer are the closest I know to Hell, I think).

Less than a mile from Qurtuba it is Madinah al-Zahra, worth a visit. The Caliph isn't there most of the year so don't expect him to appear in a window and salute you. Anyway, if he was there the palace would be closed to tourists, so who cares. The gardens and the architecture there is amazing fine. No wonder it has been the place where the Caliph receives the foreign mandatories for a millenium.

Then, the usual is to move to Ishbiliya. Nice photographs there, but beware of the thieves in the landmarks. If you want a different sensation, order a round of Norman cheese in the near town of Korah. It's the best in the region.

Finally, people who travel there in winter or early spring usually reserve the last days to ski in the Yabal Sulair mountains. It's not the best snow in Europe or in Al-Andalus even (that is in the Pyrenees, of course) but it is just some miles from Motril's beach (imagine, beach and snow in the same week if you have luck) and reasonably easy to reach from the Kebir. The usual place to rent a room there is Garnata, a rather small town devoted to skiing. There is nothing more worth a visit there, though. Maybe some picturesque synagogues as there is a decent Jewish community but nothing you've not already seen in Qurtuba.

Once said that... well, if you don't want trouble with the people just don't act as a stupid tourist and you will go without problem, as in any other place. Drinking alcohol in public is not illegal but not well received either. Oh, and don't try to visit Qurtuba's Great Mosque in shorts and sandals as most fools want to do. Show some respect for cult places.
 
POD: The existence of the Asturian kingdoms is not tolerated, and the Berbers win at the Battle of Covadonga, precipitating the full Islamicization of Spain.
 

yourworstnightmare

Banned
Donor
Interresting POD, did they allowed the basques in Navarra to exist?

Anyway, Barshiluna with all the mixture of cuktures there is always a nice place. Especially the jewish quarters.
 
Interresting POD, did they allowed the basques in Navarra to exist?

Anyway, Barshiluna with all the mixture of cuktures there is always a nice place. Especially the jewish quarters.

OOC : For the sake of respecting the presenter, please use OOC tag in you want to write something out of topic. Just like what I'm doing here.... :)
 

Hendryk

Banned
Well, I studied a year in Tulaytulah and I can tell you some things.
Which university did you go to? I've heard that the Abu'l-Walid Muhammad ibn Rushd University in Qurtuba is one of the best in Europe, but I'm not familiar with Tulaytulah.
 
Which university did you go to? I've heard that the Abu'l-Walid Muhammad ibn Rushd University in Qurtuba is one of the best in Europe, but I'm not familiar with Tulaytulah.

Could be the Wallada bint al-Mustafiki university there. I heard it was quite famous.

Tocomocho: I'd go to Normandy for Norman Cheese...if there wasn't a war going on there. Korah is the next best place I suppose.
 
Top