Una experiencia increíble: Córdoba y Sevilla - parte I [an unforgettable experience: Córdoba and Sevilla - part 1].

Hello again!  It's me, from Spain!  I thought I would update my blog [even though it's a week late] on my trip I took recently!  3 of my friends and I took coach buses down to southern Spain and spent a weekend in two different cities, Córdoba and Sevilla.  We left Valladolid late Friday night and arrived in Córdoba early Saturday morning.  We spent all day and that night in Córdoba, and then Sunday morning we took a train to Sevilla.  We spent all day Sunday in Sevilla and returned to Valladolid on Monday morning on another overnight bus!  It was a weekend of fun, and exploration.  We were able to see a lot of really amazing architecture, and a lot of interesting things!  I wanted to share it with all of you.

Some people say it is best to go to Southern Spain during the Spring and Summer when there is a really nice tropical climate.  But for us, it was a perfect time to go in February.  We went February 3rd through the 5th, and it turns out we escaped Valladolid in just the right time.  In Valladolid that weekend, the weather was hitting an all time low in about 40 years, thanks to a cold from coming in from Siberia.  It was not exactly hot down south, but it was definitely better than the weather they were having back here! 

Anyway, the last time I was in Spain in 2006, we visited Sevilla, but we never went to Córdoba.  It had always been a city I was really interested in seeing, and two of the people with us had never seen either city, so we decided to do them both in one weekend, since they are relatively close to each other (it was only an hour and half train ride!)

I´ll start with the city of Córdoba.  We arrived and after some bumming around the city, we went to the mosque (it is the third largest Muslim mosque in the world) and we got to experience it during mass.  In the middle of the Muslim mosque there is a Catholic cathedral (all thanks to the Reconquista - when the Catholics took Spain over from the Muslim people that once inhabited the Iberian Peninsula).  Since we went in the morning during mass, the entrance fee was waved, and it was a really neat thing to experience!  This mosque is famous throughout the world for the amazing Muslim architecture and the red and white arches.  Every mosque has a patio with gardens outside of the main prayer building representing paradise.  Here, it truly felt like paradise.  There were palm trees and fountains all over.  Water is a very important thing to the Islamic nation, and because of that, they try and incorporate it whenever possible. 

 We just learned in our art class that every mosque built has a large tower outside of the main building and outside of the patio.  This is used to call the Muslims to prayer.  They pray five times a day.  It is no longer used as a mosque, so the bells don't still ring during the day, but it was interesting to see nonetheless.  

The Muslim culture was a really influential part of Spain's history - so much that many Spanish words come from Arabic origins.  Most words that start with the letters al- are Arabic in origin  (almohada = pillow, albacora = albacore, alfombra = carpet, alcázar = fortress/palace).  These are just a few examples.     

 This is my traveling buddy Sarah Vowels and I inside of the Mosque.  It was truly a breathtaking experience.  These photos you're seeing right now do not give the grandeur of the mosque justice.  It was absolutely beautiful, and to be standing inside of a building that was built in the first century was magnificent. (Construction began in 768.  It was converted into Catholicism in 1238) 

Arches, as you see to the left, are one of the most telltale Arabic architecture symbols.  The Muslims decorated the interior of the mosque with geometric shapes, writing, and vegetation, since the Koran prohibits the display of animal and human figures.  You can also see a lot of this decoration at the Alhambra Palace in Granada.  Hopefully we'll (my parents and I) get to go there while they visit in March/April! 

  Here is a photo of the Catholic altar that was built in the middle of the mosque.  It was very beautiful, with a lot of gold surrounding the paintings and sculptures.  I found it really interesting that the king at the time the cathedral was built (Carlos V) said [about the construction of the cathedral in the center of the mosque] that his clerics "destroyed something unique in the world to build something [they] could have put up anywhere."  It's interesting to hear that from the point of view of a Catholic king, especially one who was the grandson of the famous "Reyes Catolicos" (King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are the royals who funded Columbus' expedition to the new world, who also fought a long war against the Muslims and started the Inquisition against those who weren't Christian.) 

Here are photos from the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos that we went to after the mosque.  It was built by Christian monarchs on a site that used to be a Moorish fortress.  The Alcazar (fortress) was a really interesting building alongside these beautiful gardens.  There were fish in the ponds and we fed them some bread!  (We also discovered they don't like bananas!)  Here we picked some lemons (which ended up being the best lemons I have ever eaten in my life) and we just enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  It was nice to have the change from the cold wintery north in Valladolid.











                                                  

We found some neat Roman columns in the middle of the city.  The city of Córdoba was conquered by the Romans in 206 b.c. and under Caesar, Córdoba was the capital of the province in middle Spain. At the height of the Roman Empire, Spain was used to produce the food that was required by the rest of the vast empire, so it was a pretty important city.  

This is another photo I think you'll enjoy of the fountains and gardens at the Alcazar. 

  And this photo is a photo of the three other friends (and I) who came along on this weekend trip.  From left to right, it's Joe, Sarah, me, and Will.  We had a lot of fun together, so I had to include a photo of the four of us! 


Since this is such a long entry, I'll make a part 2 about the city of Sevilla.  Watch for that update soon!

besos y abrazos,
Erin