THE ALAMBRAH - GRANADA - SPAIN

It is now 2 weeks since my return from The Cruise, and it now that I take in what I saw, sadly or perhaps even better, when I am at these truly wonderful places, be it Saville, Cordoba or Granada, well to see these wonderful buildings, centuaries old the stone-work, the gardens the craftsmanship, could it be done to-day? no si ! To see what The Moors did with water, the way gullies were guided through the gardens, with flowers, tree and shrubs.
to some people a building, a Mosque or a Palace is just what it is, but no ! In those days no fast drying cements, machinery, etc., or cranes, thousands of workers did so much for us to see the beauty, even with the wall tiles. I can sit back a re-live every moment, the guide Reccardo was brilliant, these guides are good, they know so much, and so do some those who venture into these places. I know many people read so much about these buildings of wonderment, for me I like the suprise of being informed. For me to go to these places, was far beyond my wildest dreams. Next stop for me is Morocco . . . Casablanca and Fes, these are penciled in at the moment, I hope to be there for 3 weeks. Casablanca for me had a draw . . . a draw to delve deeper into the place, I did get on well with some of the people there, one has to be careful, not the fear of getting hurt, but these guys are shrewed, they love to barter, I even had a gift from one guy who ran a coffeee shop, I did ask for it, as I wanted to remember him, I did say to him "I will be back", and I can't wait to see his face, I am going to take him a gift from Cornwall, what I do not know. Going to different places on a Cruise ship is not every-ones desire, but I am lucky enough to get a feel for a place within a few hours, and Casablanca did it for me. Remember the film . . . "Casablanca" - well I have walked pass Rick's Cafe where it was not - filmed back in the 40s, next time there, I will go in for lunch. This is I did, but it is not from the film, but a mock up, it is good the way it has been done, and there is a Grand Piano, which I had lunch beside, there is Black Paino Player . . . Lennie Blue, who it is alleged played for stars in Hollywood, he is in his 90s. Many Americans stop off here from the Cruise ships, I had my picture taken with one guy, and he was great fun.