Spain

Extra, Extra read all about it! The city of Córdoba has relinquished its swealtering hold on weary and homesick foreigners, and officially fallen into, well, Fall. I woke up this morning to the first real rains in Córdoba. A.K.A. the air is clear, i wasnt sweating when I got to school, I am actually wearing shoes, not flip-flops (*tear*), AND the place smells nice for once. But the real reason Im writing is because I had a near ´Sex and the City´ experience this morning (or as they call it here ´Sexo en Nueva York´). I was walking to la parada (bus stop) in en la marea (drizzle), when this extremely thoughtful driver, sped through the large puddle that gathers at the bus stop. Me in my little winter outfit and new (although not $400 Manolo Blahnik) shoes, was splashed by the tidal wave of Córdoba´s street/sidewalk run off and rain. Lucky for me, I, unlike miss SJP, got out of the way and only the hem of my pants (well, up to about my calf) would indicate that I had been in the rain. Ahhh Córdoba, the city of a thousand and one experiences!

Ok, first thing first, me being half lazy and then half forgetful, forgot to finish writing the ´Back to Madrid´entry...so if you care about the details of Goya, take a look, if not, read on my friend........

When I first heard about Granada, I knew little of the city and its fame! In Granada, as anyone there will proudly brag/tell you about “it has the second most visited tourist site in all of Europe, second only to the Eiffle Tower.” So, what is this magnificent site that they speak of, well, let me build up the suspense a little more (and no scrolling down to see what it is, cheater!). It was the last Moorish (Muslim) stronghold in Europe and taken over by the Christians during the Reconquista in 1492, and used as their palace…blah blah blah…more boring history….if you care that much check out the pictures (and order your tickets ahead of time…yes, its that popular at www.alhambratickets.com). This famous place is called the Alhambra. Same name as the water company with obnoxious green trucks and cool blue sparkly sequins on the back. Same name as the (not absolutely horrible) light beer served proudly in Granada and the rest of Andalucia. But, unlike either of those, this place is something to write home about (or at least online).

The Alhambra is divided into 4 parts, all gorgeous in their own way

Part I: Carlos I/V Palace: The conquering king who took hold of the Alhambra from the Muslims (ooopppps sorry, some more history slipped in…enjoy Daddy!) had to build his own palace (of course!) And so, built by Pedro Machucha, “devotee of Michaelangelo and Rafael” (courtesy of Rick Steve´s: Spain) this Spanish palace was entirely Roman in design. A circle in a square, this palace was entirely financed by the defeated Muslims (who were stoked about the idea), and was never finished because the next king wanted his own palace elsewhere…can we say ´Greedy??´ Anyway, its pretty cool to see a miniature collosium in a Spanish castle.

Part II: Alcazaba Fort, the actual “Alhambra” or “Red Castle” is the oldest part and also most ruined, where the Moorish King, Boabdil´s army resided. The tower at one end is climb-able and has the most gorgeous view of the city of Granada and the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountain range (one of the few places to ski in Spanish winters).

Part III: Palacios Nazarios. The “Jewel of the Alhambra” (thank you Rick) is the Moorish royal palace. This part of the Alhambra shares the same intricate carved walls as the Mezquita and Medina Azahara. Also housing what they call “stalactite” ceilings which are stucco 3D tessellations sculpted into the arched techos (ceilings), ceramic tile walls, and tons of windows to let in light. The place used to be lavishly painted in bright colors signifying different things according to the Koran, red (blood), blue (heaven), green (oasis), and gold (wealth), and has the same Arabic carving around all of the walls with the translation saying something like “Allah is the winner.” Also in this section is the Court of Lions named for the circular fountain supported by 12 lions. The fountain Christians took it apart to see how it worked, and it hasn’t worked since. Also in here is the Washington Irving room. Named after the US embassador to Spain in 1829 who lived in the Alhambra and wrote “Tales of the Alhambra.”

Part IV: Generalife (Henn-err-all-ee-fey) Gardens. Mom, this part is for you! It is supposedly the closest thing (or was) on earth to the Koran´s description of Heaven. Ponds, hedges, flowers, paths, trees, views of the Alhambra and city…you could stay all day and not get tired of looking at the place.

Ok…sorry for the history lesson, but Granada was basically the visual for all the history I have been learning in class here.

Next we went to lunch where I had the best Paella I have had so far here. Lots of saffron (and the bright orange powder they use to actually make it that bright), plenty of veggies and meat (pork and seafood) to really just finish the morning and afternoon off right!

No one in the program went back on the bus to Córdoba, we all decide to stay and make a weekend trip out of Granada, so we headed to our hostal up in the hillside neighbourhood across from the hill the Alhambra caps. After winding our way through yet more cobblestobe (the worst I have seen yet: heels that night were a definite NO!) and carefully navigating between dog dropping we arrived at our completely “chill” hostal. Lots of hammocks, a “chill out room” (actual name listed on brochure) and good location to the other things to see. We didn’t stay long and headed back out, through the Alcaiceria, originally the Arab silk market, still a seda (silk) and jewellery market punctuted by tetarías (Arabian tea houses), and very much a tourist hot spot. It was still pretty, very colourful, and made me want to go to Morocco that much more!

We popped out into the Bib-Rambla square filled with coffee shops, florist kiosks, formerly a place of public executions.

After that we had had enough sight seeing for the day and headed out for some tapas for dinner. Granada is an extra special place for tapas because EVERY tapas bar serves free tapas with every drink you order. Finding good food is not a problem, but finding a table is! We (Marissa, Cody, Chris, Jessica, Jen and I) sat down and didn’t leave until we had had enough (cigarette smoke that is, you can almost never have too many tapas). Then, because its kinda what you do in Spain, we moved to the next relaxing place to eat and/or drink something. This time it was desert, then out on the town.

Granda is a city of more than 60,000 students (the city is only 300,000 people), and thus the going out scene leaves little to be desired. We strolled the streets, stopped in a few bars including one called the “Rock bar” (which played an unimpressive selection of rock music). Not in the mood for the crazy party scene, we instead decide to take a look at the Alhambra lit up at night, which looks entirely different.

We hike our way up through the hillside neighbourhood until we found a great little ledge and vista of the fairy tale castle all lit up! Marissa, Cody, Phillip (who we met up with) and myself talked until we couldn’t feel our toes (apparently cities near the mountains get cold at night, go figure!). We headed back to the hostel and called it a night (or a morning) because even our less-than-crazy night didn’t get us back until 2:30am.

Saturday morning we got up to the sweet smell of Churros which the owner of the hostel had bought for us…(he was fun to talk to cause his Madrileño accent allowed us to actually understand what he was saying, Andalucians speak horrible Spanish, ´S´s don’t actually exist in Andalucían Spanish). We headed off to the only other site I felt I could not leave Granada without seeing, La Capilla Real (the Royal Chapel). Built in only 15 year (ridiculously short for that era) it used up ¼ of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel´s wealth to build. Lucky for them,they got their money´s worth because this chapel, is where they, their daughter Jauna “La Loca” and son-in-law Felipe “El Hermoso” are all entombed under a marble Renaissance style carved sculpture of themselves. The chapel itself isn’t anything fabulous, but these are the Reyes Catolicos, and the reason that the Spanish empire was so big (and a huge part of my history class) and so it was pretty cool to see.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sampling tea at the As-Sinat tea house. My favourite is the Almendra (almond) tea with a little bit of milk and sugar, but the tea called “El Pais que no Existen” (the country that doesn’t exist) gave it a run for its money. After that Marissa and I were off, back to Córdoba to spend at least one weekend day at ´home´. It seems like I am never here, although I am not really complaining, its not like im doing nothing on my weekends.

Kiki is coming this week!!!!! And I have to open up my books/notes cause I have some tests coming up, but other than that there is just more travelling and Spanish-learning on the agenda for me. Hope things are going well at home(s). Miss you all and talk to you soon!

(P.S. sorry about the British spelling of everything, I kinda like it,but autocorrect on computers is to British English, so your favourite colour is that of your travelling neighbour´s jewellery was typed with normal letters and turned out like that!)

Sunday morning i woke up much too early to the sound of my ever-so.obnoxious alarm clock (who decided that a sequnece of 3 screaming beeps, much like the fire drills at school, was an acceptable wake up call anyway??? They and I need to have a little heart to heart). Despite my reluctance wake up, as soon as I realized why the alarm was going off, I jumped my tired little tush outta bed and got ready. Not only was I going to go to Madrid to see a Real Madrid fútbol (soccer) game, but I was going to get to see Kiki, one of my future roommates, teammates, and friend!!! After a solid week of homesickness, I was ready to see a friend!

Sunday morning i woke up much too early to the sound of my ever-so.obnoxious alarm clock (who decided that a sequnece of 3 screaming beeps, much like the fire drills at school, was an acceptable wake up call anyway??? They and I need to have a little heart to heart). Despite my reluctance wake up, as soon as I realized why the alarm was going off, I jumped my tired little tush outta bed and got ready. Not only was I going to go to Madrid to see a Real Madrid fútbol (soccer) game, but I was going to get to see Kiki, one of my future roommates, teammates, and friend!!! After a solid week of homesickness, I was ready to see a friend!

So, onto the train I went at 8am on sunday morning and 2 hours later I was standing in the Madrid station and staring at the old station, bombed in March of 2003 by terroriest, and since then made into a sort of tropical garden and cafe as a memorial. While gazing, half in wonder at what exactly I was looking at, and half ridiculously excited to see Kiks, she popped up right in front of me. And like giddy school girls who just got a note from the cute guy in the back row we screamed with excitement and hugged....yeah, i kno, really mature...but hey, i miss my fam and friends!

From there, it was off to the stadium to knab some tickets for that nights game against Mallorca. Before heading to the Museo del Prado, one of Spain`s most famous art museums, and home to the works of Goya, Velasquez, a Rembrant, Rubens, Vecellio, and various other Italian, French and Spanish artists.

I am not a musuem person (if you can typify people as museum or non-museum people), let alone an art museum person, but considering I am in a country with a history in art almost as rich as Italy, it wouldnt be right to pass up the opportunity to see (what is essentially) culture on canvas. The work in the Prado are very representative of the significant events in Spain´s history, and the moments of pride in thier culture. Since it would take hours to describe (and most likely 16 cups of coffee for both of us) I will save you the play by play and run through my fav artist at the Prado: Fransico de Goya. Goya´s specialty is eyes and faces. He has painted many portraits, all of which share the same intense, clear, large and staring eyes. The eyes of all his subjects have this sort of piercing, almost enchanting feel, and you really do just have to (excuse the cliché) stare into their eyes. While his eyes are not so realistic, almost a little fairy tale or something, the way he captures bodies is much more realistic. He uses color very well to accentuate every part of the body he paints. Even the series of works known as the “Pintas Negras” (dark, grotesque, and graphic paintings), uses paint to almost illumintate the bodies. As a souvenir of my positive experience at the Prado (and yes, I would probably go back), I bought a slide of my favorite work by Goya, Cristo Crucificado, also the work that best exemplifies Goya´s almost romantic interpretation Christ on the Cross. Jesus´ body is posed, almost femininely, and it is the most innocent and peaceful depiction of Jesus. Its the most beautiful of all the crucifictions I have seen, and being in Spain, that’s saying a lot.
After the Prado we walked up to Retiro Park, famous for all the staues and sculptures littering the Central Park-like atmosphere. You can rent row boats on the pond, walk your dog, sit on the edge of a fountain, munch on some frutos secos (snacks), chat with your friends, take pictures, or just people watch (my visit was a combination of the later 5). Kiki, her friend Will, and I soaked up a beautiful day in Madrid on that bench. As much as I hate to let summer go, all the great weather, days on the beach, relaxation, friends with similarly vacant agendas, its days like Sunday that make me welcome the fall. A little brisk, slightly windy, trees rustling, people dog walking, colors changing...i love summer for all it means but autumn really is the most beautiful. Sitting in the park made me change my mind about Madrid. After my first visit to Madrid, I didnt really like the city. It is huge, dirty in parts (like most big cities), a little too crowded at times and slightly overwhelming. But on Sunday, when we leisurly made our way around, I absolutley loved it. Maybe it was that I loved the weather, seeing a friend, and learning to appreciate art and a new artist´s work, or maybe the city really was different. Who knows, but it was a day well spent.

THE GAME: As if the day wasnt good enough, we still had more things to do....the Real Madrid game. Real Madrid (the most famous of the regional teams in Spain, notorious for their star mid-fielder David Beckham, thier flashy all white home uniforms, and thier crazy fans), was not to be missed. Although their opponent, Mallorca, was no major competition (Real won 4-0) we got into the spirit purchasing the notorious “fútbol scarves” (you will know what Im talking about when you see it) uncapped our water bottles (mandatory as you walk in so that if the fans get rowdy and start to throw them they will be empty, or nearly empty that is), pulled out the digital cameras and climbed up, up, up to our nose-bleed, but still great seats. Having never been to a pro football game in the states (i know, real american of me, huh?) i cant actually compare the feel of it. But the sheer mass of people, crazy and loyal fans sporting thier teams´ colors and going crazy for goals, or for fouls was fabulous!!!!!!!!! Unfortunatly, 90 minutes later, the game was over (that was pretty much the only time i wished for ´football´ minutes) and we were hurded out of the stadium.

NIGHT LIFE...even on sunday. Our sunday night out on the town left nothing to be desired out of our trip to Madrid (except maybe some sleep). Our hostel that night was hosting a night out on the town for all the guests and we headed out with an obnoxious group of Austrian soccer players (too old to be staying in the hostel) and some other travellers from all over. 7 hours, 5 versions of “Tengo mi Camisa Negra”, two salsa dancing partners, and almost too much fun later, i was back at the hostel, showering, packing and heading back to the train station (note that its now 6am on monday morning) to catch my train to Córdoba. I got on and slept for the first time in 24 hours, setting my alarm to be sure I woke up at my stop. At 9:15am I rushed off the train, hailed a cab to school and at 9:30am was in my seat, with the rest of the (not so tired) students in my program. Needless to say, a siesta that day was nothing less than mandatory!

Madrid was exactly what I needed. I miss you guys so much...I think Kiki might be coming to Córdoba soon, which will, im sure bring more good times, but until then, i pretty sure i still have some sleep to catch up on.

If the weekend starts on Friday mornings, then my weekend was off to a horrible start…. This Friday there was no excursion for us, instead they filled the morning with another of my favourite activities: exams. On top of having to take an exam, they (being the ever-so-thoughtful UCO staff) decided to have just MY class arrive a half an hour earlier than the rest of the students, (I know, I was excited too). Two hours later it was over, and I was free to enjoy the rest of the day, and weekend.

After class, I decided to play tourist in Córdoba…you sometimes forget to do all the tourist stuff in your own town cause you either forget its there, or just assume it will always be there and you could technically go whenever so it gets put off. Since, I cant exactly say that either of those are true for me, I didn’t really have any reason not too enjoy the rest of the morning visiting the Sinagoga (synagogue) and Alcázar (castle and gardens). Lucky for me, lots of sights in Córdoba are free to the public on Fridays, which also meant battling the hoards of tourists that visit Córdoba. Although to us here, Córdoba seems pretty remote and far away from the rest of Europe, that distance doesn’t seem to divert the masses that arrive every weekend.

SYNAGOGA: The synagogue is the old synagogue in the Judería that is not in use anymore, if fact there is no active synagogue in Córdoba at all. It is one rectangular room with some ornate designs carved into the walls and around the few windows near the ceiling that provide the only light in the room. Its disappointingly not much to look at, and although there was a significant Jewish population in Cordoba over 1000 years ago, their culture and religion has been pushed aside for the richer and more grandiose Christian and Islamic influences.

ALCÁZAR: was actually the 3rd site on my list, but the museum about the history of bullfights was closed for `obras´ (renovations) and I found my way out of the labyrinth of streets, and popped out just north of the river and west of the Mezquita at Alcázar. The Alcázar de los Reyes Cátolicos, is the castle Isabel and Ferdinand built for themselves in Córdoba (although they never lived there together). The castle itself is only slightly imposing with two towers, which you can walk up, around and between. The more impressive part of the castle is found in the chapel where there are huge mosaics (not part of the original castle) that have been placed there and cover almost the entire wall of the Chapel. The sheer mass of a huge mosaic of black,white, and red tiles is pretty impressive. Still, the best part of the day was yet to come. I headed out to the courtyard and gardens and was greeted first by the large marble baths surrounded by flowers and flowing water (the Arabic influence) before walking past a roman column (remnants from some of the first developers of the area) into the gardens of los Reyes. Essentially a miniature version of the gardens at the Palace of Versaille, the ponds, flowers, trees, statues, and paths extend out from the terrace behind the castle. Mom, you would have loved this! It was so nice to see so many flowers in Cordoba, which are few and far between during the hot summer months. After taking a few pictures, establishing myself yet again as a tourist, I reluctantly left the gardens to browse the crowded streets before heading back for lunch.

FRIDAY NIGHT: This was the first night I would have considered myself to have acted like a true Spaniard. And by that I mean staying out until 6am. We headed to the Botellón en Jardín Victoria, the long narrow park running up the middle of the main drag in the Jardín district (where I live). Its here that I got to hang out with my American friends, but also meet more Spaniards and speak in Spanish....slowly but surely i WILL get better!!! (Si se puede, Si se puede: I think I can, I think I can!). After that, the discoteca was calling our name, so Cody and Chris and I, headed to Cortuva, one of the clubs in Córdoba. We danced the night away and before I knew it, the numbers were dwindling, exhaustion set it, and I was ready to go home!

SATURDAY: wasnt much of a day actually due to the fact that I slept all of the morning and a good chunk of the afternoon away before lounging around for the rest of the day....a complete lack of productivity: I love weekends!

SUNDAY: Sunday was great, and Ill tell you all about it....in the next entry!

The reason you should visit Córdoba isnt for the great location or the vivid night life but the Mezquita and the surrounding old Jewish quarter called the Judería.

Fridays here are rarely for class, they are for excursions, projects, the occasional exam or a day off. This last friday (Sept 23) was the 2nd of our excursions, and we didnt even leave Córdoba. We walked through the Puerta de Almodovar which was the entrance into the center of the Caliph´s city before he built himself a new palace at Medina Azahara.

We wandered through the old cobblestone streets lined on either side by old stucco buildings forming a literal labyrinth through an area of Córdoba just north of the Guadalquivir river. Winding through the narrow streets, our guide, Antonio, also our history teacher, led us through the archway into the Patio de los Naranjos (orange patio) in the middle of the Mezquita (pictures at http://images.google.es/images?q=cordoba+mezquita&hl=es&btnG=B%C3%BAsqueda+en+Google).

The Patio is enclosed on all sides by the walls of the Mezquita. On one side is the Mezquita itself, and the other the Torre do Campañas (bell tower). The patio is raised in the middle and has tons of orange trees planted between all the small channels that the muslims used to collect water (they had a huge obsession with water). They neither the orange trees or the patios cobblestones are part of the origninal 10th century architecture, although the mezquita and bell tower are. The gorgeous patio, with a fountain in the middle and all the ambiance of a garden in bloom was formerly the place used for worship when the muslims came to the mezquita for services.

Next we headed into the mezquita. Built in 784 A.D. it is the only mezquita left intact in Spain. Inside the mosque, there are 850 granite and marble columns supporting hundreds of striped arches made of rock and brick that create the red and white striped look. At one end is the prayer niche, Mihrab, covered in inscriptions in Kufic of the 99 names of Allah. The Capilla Villaviciosa lies in the same end and is where the Calipha (muslim king) worshipped, apart from the rest of the Muslim community. The muslim architecture, art, inscriptions and influence still remain in the former mosque, although during the Crusades, in 1236, Córdoba was conquered by the christians and a cathedral was build directly in the middle of the mosque. As you walk through the muslim mosque, you are all of a sudden thrown into the Cathedral which has all the same features as any other medieval church in europe including the ornate metalwork, carvings, and statues. On sunday mornings the sacerdotes (priest) even use the coro (choir dome) to sing.

The place is absolutely amazing. The architecture is different than anything else I have ever seen, and although coming to Córdoba i knew that there was influence from many different religions who had occupied the area, the Mezquita is the proof the the coexistence of the religions in the city.

After gauking at the beauty like a regular tourist or "giddies" as we foreigners are called here, we left the Mezquita and crossed one of the tiny streets to a place called Bar Santos, famous for its Spanish tortilla. Different from mexican tortillas, Spanish ones are made of egg and potato and are thicker. This one is so thick that they serve it in slices, like a pie. Santos lived up to its reputation, and I would call friday a successful (and educational) day in the life of Córdoba.

After that, it was back home for me to pack, because in a few short hours, I would be on the road to Portugal!!