That's-a Spicy Meatblog: It Spains Me to Delay So Long

Hey folks, sorry for the delay. Here's another post about my trip to Spain that started, well, about two months ago now. The first bit of this (through the Cordoba section) was written shortly after the trip. The rest I've just written.

At the end of October, I had my first major break in the program, so I decided to pack up for a week and head to Southern Spain. As you may know, I have a particular interest in Arab-Islamic culture/history, and since the Eastern Mediterranean and North African states aren't exactly travel friendly at the moment, I decided to visit Andalusia, which maintains much of the cultural heritage left by nearly 800 years of Islamic rule. To break it down easily, I will separate the trip into three sections corresponding to the cities I visited:

Seville (Sevilla):

I landed in Sevilla early, picked up a city map from the tourism office, and spent the whole day exploring. I saw quite a bit of the city, but I'll give the highlights One of the first things I did was find a place to buy a bit of food, since it was about lunchtime (American lunchtime anyway), and sit down in a nearby plaza to just relax a bit. As I was enjoying my apple and baguette, drum and brass music began emanating from a church at the corner of the plaza. Apparently, it was procession time:

The head of the procession

The altar supported from below by about 18 people with turbanesque cushions on their heads

I later found out that these processions aren't everyday, every-church occurrences, so I guess I lucked out and got to watch one up close.

Later that day, I saw perhaps the most impressive (simply aesthetically, not historically) building since I've been in Europe. The "Plaza de España" in Sevilla was only built in the early 20th century and holds no real historical significance, but pulled an audible "wow" out of me when I saw it. I have plenty of pictures (I spent nearly 3 hours there), but none of them really do it justice:

The southern tower

From just next to the southern tower

An attempt at pseudo panorama (see last photo)

A wall along a staircase leading to the second floor

From the second floor

One of the dozens of murals periodically placed along the semicircle

Detail of the hand railings of the bridges leading to the middle fountain area.

The middle of the building

Hey that's me

Like many buildings in Andalusia, Plaza de España is huge, but the decoration is detailed and complex. Oh and it's bordered by an expansive and beautiful park. And it's free. Can't beat that.

Overall, I enjoyed Sevilla. I only spent a day there and wish I had spent more. It's a more modern city than the others I saw, but it is also the biggest and I think I spent too little time there.

Córdoba:

I left Sevilla for Córdoba early in the day while it was pouring rain harder than it has since I've been here. Of course, I had no umbrella and wore only two sweaters. Basically I arrived in Córdoba quite soaked and not in the best mood. It took the discovery of a cute, "Arab" style tea house and a pot of Andalusian tea to get me back on track.

After that, I spent a good amount of time at the main tourist draw in Córdoba. Depending who you ask, it might be called a few different things: the Great Mosque, the Cathedral of Córdoba, the Mosque-Cathedral. Basically, it was originally built under Moorish rule as a Mosque and, after the city was retaken by the Catholic kings, converted into a Cathedral. However, despite the conversion, the Great Mosque maintains much of its original heritage:

Former minaret

Horseshoe arch

Inside the Mosque

From one end of the Mosque

Outside the Mosque

The other major draw in Cordoba is the Roman Bridge which begins just a few steps away from the Mosque. The presence of a Roman work so close to Islamic building hammers home the deep sense of history found here.

The "far" end of the bridge

Roman Bridge and Great Mosque

Bridge and Mosque after dusk

Granada:

What's in Granada, you ask? The "Alhambra". That's about the major draw. It started as a palace/fortress complex in the 12th/13th century and remained occupied by Muslim rulers until 1492 when Granada fell to the Catholic Kings, completing the Christian "Reconquista" of Spain. Today, it's known as a prime example of intricate tile work and geometric art, key motifs of Medieval Islamic art.