Andalucia

After a quick, one-hour flight, we arrived in the enchanting city of Seville (Sevilla) o

n Thursday evening.  Our hotel had been around since 1914 and was run by a crippled, grumpy, but nevertheless kind old man.  The first night, we walked around the main part

s of town and struggled to navigate the narrow, curving streets, the names of which change every two blocks (if one can call them that).  We awoke, had an inexpensive breakfast o

n a nearby plaza, and quickly went to the largest cathedral in the world, La Catedral de Sevilla.  It had the first elliptical domed room as well as the (supposed) remains of Christopher Columbus. We found the sheer size of the building as well as its main tower to be the most impressive aspects.  The Giralda bell tower sits on a Roman foundation.  One can even read the latin inscriptions at its base.  The Muslims destroyed the original Roman church when they took over in the 8th century.  The majority of the tower was built by Muslims, but the Christians altered the top w

hen they replaced the mosque with the cathedral upon regaining power in the 13th century.  The muslim, red bricks of the tower are thus the only remaining part of the original mosque. For lunch we shared nine different tapas at a nearby restaurant.

Although one cannot deny the splendor and importance o

f the cathedral, what stood out to us most is the Alcazar, which is the Arabic word for palace. Interestingly, the Alcazar was built by Muslim architects for the Christian rulers yet contains minimal Christian architectural influence.  The layout of the palace seems to be without an organized system. Each time one enters a new room, one has the feeling of approaching a mysterious surprise. This overall feeling was most impressive, though the details of each room were incredible.

After spending an hour or so in the gardens, we decided to visit an important plaza on the other side of the city.  Not realizing how hot it had become, we thought we could walk . . . bad idea.  The temperature had risen to 105 degrees, which, during the day, remained constant in each of the three cities we visited.  We were therefore unable to make it as far as we wanted and headed back to the hotel to get ready for a flamenco show that evening.

We had heard that Seville was the best place to hear flamenco, of both improvisatory and "higher" types, and we were not disappointed.  We saw a one hour performance in a central courtyard of an attractive building decorated with typical Arabic tiles.  From the powerful technical mastery of the guitarist to the exotic allure of the dancers; from the foreign rhythms pounded out by the singer to his entrancingly dissonant voice - we could not have asked for a better spectacle.  We concluded our night by having sangria and a few more tapas at a restaurant near our hotel.

The next morning we had breakfast at the same cafe as well as churros (a sort of long, thin doughnut) with chocolate. We were lucky to catch the rapid train to Cordoba, a much smaller city. We were able to walk everywhere easily, though we still got lost in the narrow streets. The Mezquite of Cordoba is a strange mix of Muslim and Christian architecture. When the Christians conquered Cordoba they converted the center of the mosque into a beautiful cathedral, but left the rest as it was. The building is filled with seemingly endless columns and red arches, symbolizing infinity.

We walked around the old Jewish quarter and got lost in the heat, surrounded by white-washed walls and streets that dead-end without warning. We did manage to find the statues of Averroes and Maimonides, two philosophers Ian has studied recently.

We traveled to Granada for the evening and were thrilled to find that our hotel was located just off the main plaza, on the road with the sign directing travelers to the Alhambra. We arrived too late for the praised sunset, but we did have dinner with an incredible view. The restaurant we went to was located in a little street with no more than a little sign. We actually had to ring a doorbell and wait for it to be answered to enter the restaurant. We sat outdoors, on a patio that looked out at the Alhambra, with the snow-covered mountains of the Sierra Nevada as a backdrop. We ordered the tasting menu and were given more food than we could eat, all of it delicious! This included multiple courses of Spanish and international dishes, bred, wine, a dessert plate and coffee. Back at our hotel we found an attic room on the roof, and shared a bottle of wine with another impressive view of the city.

We rushed to the Alhambra in the morning. We really rushed (uphill, running, with backpacks) because we thought we were going to miss our thirty-minute reservation for entrance. Fortunately, we actually had a reservation for two hours later than we thought. This worked out just fine because it allowed us to tour the Generalife Gardens before entering the palace. It was cool to be in a place that was so old and has inspired so much poetry. The palace was beautiful, but we actually were more impressed by the palace in Sevilla.

We also visited the Capilla Real where the first king and queen of the Spanish empire, Ferdinand and Isabel, "the Catholic kings" were buried, along with their daughter Juana "la loca" and her husband Felipe "the beautiful". They chose Granada as their burial site because it was the last city of Spain to be re-conquered from the Moors. We had run out of energy for any more major tourist sites, but walked up the hill for one last view of the Alhambra. We sat in front of the church of San Nicolas on a bridge famous for its view of the palace. It was raining in the distance so we got to watch a patch of rain move over the countryside toward the mountains. We weren't able to stay late enough to see the reds of sunset, but the changing blues and grays have left a strong impression. This site also happens to be the hangout of a group of gypsies selling their hand crafts and playing flamenco guitar (singing and clapping included). The atmosphere was festive and we got a kick out of seeing their reaction to an approaching police car. One man yelled "agua" a few times and all the goods for sale disappeared. This was a great way to conclude our weekend trip, which will remain one of our favorite memories.