Blogs from Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain, Europe - page 12

Cordoba, in the beautiful province of Andalucia, was once the capital of Islamic Spain. The main drawcard of the city is the beautiful Mezquita (Mosque), which took two centuries to build and was at one time the second largest mosque in the world. It is now a Roman Catholic cathedral. Unfortunately we arrived a little late in the day to go inside (don´t let the light fool you, it was about 8pm), so we wandered around the old jewish quarter of the city with all of the other tourists. For dinner we headed arounded the corner from our hostal, La Fuente, to Taberna Plateras, where Jane had her new favourite dish Anchoas Fritas (Fried Anchovies) and some vino tinto highly recommended by the waiter. By 11pm, the place was pumping and we decided the give ... read more

Dnes jsem se byl asi na hodinu projít po starém centru. Jsou tu strodávné stavby, mnoho arabského půvdu přestavěné po dobytí křesťany. Je trochu smutné, kolik prostředků se ve investovalo na takové monumentální věci a přitom ještě ve 20. století ve Španělsku lidé umírali hlady. Jako jinde ve světě je centrum turistická oblast zaměřená na vydělávání peněz. Mě nejvíce fascinují zahrady, které tu jsou skoro všude a kterými se Córdoba vyznačuje. Všude kvetou pomerančovníky a omamně voní. Mentalita Španělů je taková, e nikdo není ochoten udělat ani to nejmenšÃ­ pro zájem ostatních lidí, i kdyby tím ztratil jen vteřinu času. Například spláchnout na veřejném WC či hodit odpadek do koše. Nebo jný příklad, do kontejnerů na tříděný odpad hází kadý všechno a obsah těchto kontejnerů vůbec nezávisí na tom, co je na nich napsáno. Takový ... read more

Odpoledne jsme jeli nakoupit něco k snědku. Cestou jsme si alespoň z auta prohlédli město (viz. fotky). Obchody jsou tu jinak stejné jako všude na západě, komercializace je tu podstatně větší ne např. u nás.... read more

South from Madrid we headed to Cordoba. This small town is known for a giant mosque called La Mezquita. The temple standing in the center of the town surrounded by a labyrinth of smaller buildings is basically the main reason to go to Cordoba. The mosque was created by Abd ar-Rahman 1 when the Moors ruled most of Spain. Started in 756 AD the temple continued to expand over the next couple of generations. The interior is a forest of red and white pillars that support a double archway. The pillars run in such a pattern to allow up to forty thousand worshippers to face Mecca and still see the priest. After the Moors lost power the mosque was converted into a Catholic church. The entrance to the mosque has a beautiful classic Islamic court ... read more

If there's one thing that I love most about Spain, it's the need the Spaniards feel to take a break from their already relaxing lives. If there's a holiday on Thursday, they take Friday off, too. The calendar is sprinkled with one holiday after another, so many that I feel like I've been off work more than I've been at work. Last week we celebrated White Week, a holiday I'm still struggling to understand. You see, all the towns in Andalucía have a local festival once a year to celebrate life according to local tradition. It's called a feria and always includes dancing, drinking, staying out all night and eating lots of local foods. And to ensure that one can take advantage of all the ferias in the region, the celebrations are spread through out the ... read more