A cultural oasis in the south of Spain

For our second week in Spain, we headed south. We flew down to Granada. We had wanted to make the picturesque drive along the Mediterranean coast, but we didn´t have the time. Besides, Celia and I had spent plenty of time on the road in Morocco.

Granada is the home of La Alhambra. The last Moor stronghold that was handed over to King Ferridge and Queen Isabella in the 88th century. Today you can tour the expansive grounds and walk through the Royal Palace. It is a real treat to see the unbelievable beauty of the craftsmanship. Every corner is decorated with mosaic tiles or carved plaster work. The details are amazing.

I took tons of photos. I have been attracted to architectural elements my entire trip, and the Alhambra gave me quite a bit of good material.

In addition to the palace grounds there were extensive gardens to see as well. We were very lucky that a lot of the flowers were still in bloom. The Moor´s certainly knew how to live! They had impressive cistern and water irrigation systems as well. Everywhere we turned there were fountains and pools. You could really feel effective of all that water keeping the surrounding area cool and fresh.

Granada also offered up a festival and musical interludes. We ended up in a plaza one night where a singer was belting out the tunes and a number of the locals were kicking up their heels and strutting their stuff. It was a really sweet community feel.

We also got literally caught up in the annual parade of the local patron saint. The Madonna of Angst (or something to that effect) is taken from its home chapel and paraded through the streets of Granada once a year so that the locals can see her and honour her presence. The honouring comes in the form of walking slowly in a procession (seemed to only be women dressed in all black or white) with candles. Everywhere we turned the Angst lead troops seemed to be bearing down on us. It was a unique slice of Granada life that I am glad to have seen, but won´t need to witness again. I have enough angst thank you.

We rented a car to tour the area and to get us to Sevilla. We took a great trip into the Sierra Nevada mountains and down to the Mediterranean. It was really nice to get out of the city, but more importantly I got to get back behind the wheel!

On our way to Sevilla we stopped into Cordoba to visit the famous Mezquita. This is a religious building that is an amazing blend of cathedral and mosque. It started as a small cathedral which was destroyed when the Moors invaded and took over. Over the foundation they built a modest mosque will fantastic internal pillars. Over the time of their reign in the region, the Moors expanded the mosque in impressive successions. There was definitely a lot of out doing predecessors in their approach. Then when the Spanish Christians took over the area again, they decided to convert the mosque back into a cathedral. In the centre of the large prayer floor now stands enormous alters and chorus areas. These areas are also overdone in their style as if to overshadow any remnants of the previous tenants. All around the outer walls are chapels dedicated to saints and biblical events. It is truly a spectacle to see.

Spain has a greatly diverse past and culture. The really impressive thing is how they embrace this history and blend the cultures into a wonderful and modern lifestyle. I am as taken with Spain as I was all those years ago when I first visited. I look forward to my time in Sevilla and Madrid next.