'He who has not seen Granada, has seen nothing....'

"Dale Limosna, mujer, que no hay en la vida nada como la pena de ser ciego en Granada"
These words, written by Spanish poet Francisco de Icaza, can be spotted all over the legendary city of Granada: on T-shirts, wall tiles, pottery and posters. The words tell the story of a gentleman and his wife who are walking down a street in the Zacatín marketplace. They stroll pleasantly along, taking in the sights and sounds of Granada in the early evening, and they come upon a blind beggar. The gentleman, clearly moved, turns to his wife and says, "Give him alms, my wife, for there is no pain in life greater than that of being a blind man in Granada."

For centuries, Granada has been a mecca for poets, playwrights, philosophers, artists and hopeless romantics. Such is its beauty that the entire city has been declared a national landmark by the Spanish government! There is a dreamlike, mystical quality to Granada, a medieval elegance that seeps into you and slowly seduces. Everywhere you look, you'll see the reflections of Granada's glorious past where, for 800 years, Moorish sultans presided over a tiny but rich and powerful mountain kingdom. So powerful, in fact, that Granada became the last bastion of Islamic rule before its cataclysmic fall at the hands of King Ferdinand, Queen Isabel and the Catholic Reconquest in 1492. Still, the majestic Alhambra palace, perched high above the city on the Sabika hill, serves as a testament to the lyrical elegance and enduring influence of Moorish culture in Spain to this day.

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